WCWA LEADS GROWTH IN GIRLS WRESTLING

Young minds are especially in need of great leadership and inspiration.

John Calvin Maxwell is an American author, speaker, and pastor who has written many books, primarily focusing on leadership. Titles include The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership and The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader. His books have sold millions of copies, with some on the New York Times Best Seller List.

He was once quoted as saying, “A word of encouragement from a teacher to a child can change a life. A word of encouragement from a spouse can save a marriage. A word of encouragement from a leader can inspire a person to reach her potential.”

The great leadership of the WCWA continues to help the freestyle female wrestlers at their dynamic universities reach their athletic and academic potential.

At nwcaonline.com they share the goals of the WCWA:

• The WCWA is the Women’s College Wrestling Association.
• WCWA serves as the governing body for women’s college wrestling.
• WCWA competes at NWCA National Duals.
• WCWA National Tournament will have 200+ athletes competing at it.
• There 30 current college teams that are current members.
• Most college teams have 30+ members per team by the third year.
• Most members offer athletic scholarships to athletes.
• WCWA follow International Freestyle Rules.
• WCWA members also compete in USAW Senior and Jr. Fila events.
• Most members offer athletic scholarships to athletes.
• WCWA college recruiting fare is held during the USAW Girls Folkstyle National.
• WCWA members must follow eligibility rules similar to NCAA and NAIA rules.

As of this July 1, 2017 writing, here is what research indicates are the colleges and universities that sponsor girl’s wrestling programs.

Adrian College, Bacone College, Brewton Parker College, Campbellsville University, Eastern Oregon University, Emmanuel College, Ferrum College, Grays Harbor College, Jamestown University, King University, Life University, Lindenwood Belleville, Lindenwood University, Lyon University.

Yes there are more.

MacMurray College, McKendree University, Menlo College, Midland University, Missouri Baptist University, Missouri Valley College, Oklahoma City University, Ottawa University, Pacific University, Simon Fraser University, Southern Oregon University, Southwest Oregon Community College, The University of the Cumberlands, Waldorf College, Warner Pacific College, Wayland Baptist University, Wentworth Military Academy.

The first WCWA Women’s College Nationals was hosted at Oklahoma City University in 2008 and continues to this day. Other colleges which have hosted the WCWA Nationals have been Missouri Valley College, Menlo College and King College.

The National Wrestling Coaches Association has also been sponsoring a national dual meet championship for women’s intercollegiate teams for the past 5-6 years or so. These teams compete in the international style of Freestyle. Each year, 16 of the top teams are invited to participate in this premier event. The 2016 National Championship concluded with NCAA member institution King University winning the championship.

The National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) provides a league and national championship for college club women’s wrestling teams. Currently, they have 17 college club women’s teams that pay $400 membership dues to compete in the NCWA League. They compete in “folkstyle” competition.

In 2008, the coaches within women’s college wrestling came together to form the Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Association (WCWA). The group created a set of bylaws, instituted eligibility and recruiting rules, and elected leaders for the organization.

The WCWA ultimately determined the official women’s college season to be in the fall, with a national championships set for late January. The WCWA rules/regulations are aligned with the NCAA with the exception that their women’s teams compete in the international style of Freestyle as opposed to the collegiate style (Folkstyle).[adToAppearHere]

There is a movement to influence the NCAA in pursing emerging sports status for women’s wrestling in the NCAA.

Regarding the ability to make that happen at ncaa.org they educate us about their requirements.

“The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics is charged with identifying and managing progress of emerging sports for women. An emerging sport is a women’s sport recognized by the NCAA that is intended to help schools provide more athletics opportunities for women and more sport-sponsorship options for the institutions, and also help that sport achieve NCAA championship status.
When the NCAA adopted the recommendations of the Gender Equity Task Force in 1994, one of the recommendations was the creation of the list of emerging sports for women. Nine sports were on that first list. In the past 21 years, some have become championship sports (beach volleyball, rowing, ice hockey, water polo and bowling), while others have been added to or removed from the list.

Bylaws require that emerging sports must gain championship status (minimum 40 varsity NCAA programs for individual and team sports; with the exception of Division III requiring only 28 varsity programs for team sports) within 10 years or show steady progress toward that goal to remain on the list. Institutions are allowed to use emerging sports to help meet the membership minimum sports-sponsorship requirements and, in Divisions I and II, minimum financial aid requirements.”[adToAppearHere]

At Female Competition International we will continue to monitor the progress of this important cause.

It’s encouraging to know that female wrestling is thriving at the collegiate level.

“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”… John C. Maxwell

With the continued support and valuable leadership of the WCWA we sense we’re only at the beginning of the growth spurt of female wrestling that will influence girls from a very young age through their teen years that grappling is a life enhancing competitive sport that can positively propel them to a better life.[adToAppearHere]
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http://www.nwcaonline.com/growing-wrestling/growing-womens-wrestling/wcwa/
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/leader.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Maxwell