We need to do a better job of promoting our sport!

• DeyDurkie5

  

  They don't print anything because no one cares about high school wrestling.
• cruiser_96

  

  DeyDurkie5;1707087 wrote:They don't print anything because no one cares about high school wrestling.

  Thanks, DeyDurkie. Quality contribution. :sad face:
• It is what it is

  DeyDurkie5;1707087 wrote:They don't print anything because no one cares about high school wrestling.

  :huh: :RpS_flapper:
• 112in84

  

  rassler;1706973 wrote:Let's not put all the blame on the media. The wrestling community needs to look at some of our own promotional issues. The highlight of our sport is the post season yet we do a horrible job in making it fan friendly. Anybody have any idea when the semi finals start at the Newark sectional? The finals at Upper Arlington? Mom, Dad, and grandma will be there all day but the interested public simply is not interested in watching mismatches in the opening rounds and sitting around all day. When to show up and watch any decent wrestling is a crap shoot at best. Set a start time for the semis and finals and stick to it. Fans will come back but not until they know when to come back.....

  
  Wow, great post so so true ! The more results that are posted and the more details, the better...
• Cradleman

  I can tell you that as far back as 1966 the Dispatch has published team and individual rankings. They may not do a great job of additional stories, articles, etc, throughout the season but they did publish the rankings. In my last few years of coaching I saw some breakdown in this and it was entirely due to the coaches assigned to get the information in. One season, throughout December I recall Division II and III were in but not I. When I ask the coach responsible he said he didn't want to put them in until January until he had a chance to see more wrestling results. Ridiculous!!! I don't know when it changed but it use to be that the kids selected for the All-Star meet made up your initial listing. You have all season to tweek it. I haven't followed closely the last couple of years but I'm just guessing if the results and rankings are not showing up in the paper, it is due to coaches and not the Dispatch.
• Coach Ramirez

  Cradleman;1707198 wrote:I can tell you that as far back as 1966 the Dispatch has published team and individual rankings. They may not do a great job of additional stories, articles, etc, throughout the season but they did publish the rankings. In my last few years of coaching I saw some breakdown in this and it was entirely due to the coaches assigned to get the information in. One season, throughout December I recall Division II and III were in but not I. When I ask the coach responsible he said he didn't want to put them in until January until he had a chance to see more wrestling results. Ridiculous!!! I don't know when it changed but it use to be that the kids selected for the All-Star meet made up your initial listing. You have all season to tweek it. I haven't followed closely the last couple of years but I'm just guessing if the results and rankings are not showing up in the paper, it is due to coaches and not the Dispatch.

  Spot on! Each division's rep needs to get it done!
• kennypowers

  Coach Ramirez;1707223 wrote:Spot on! Each division's rep needs to get it done!

  Re-read post #4. The division 2 rep IS submitting them. They are not being put in the paper. This has been an issue and brought up for the past several years.
• wraith51

  

  Coach Ramirez;1707223 wrote:Spot on! Each division's rep needs to get it done!

  Two years ago, my first year as the D3 rep, the dispatch would actually contact me for my rankings so they can put them in the paper along with D2 and D1. Off the top of my head I don't remember if they posted anything last year that I sent in, I know this year they never did.
  
  Is there a particular day, time of year they want them and we're not producing them in time? If that's the case then it needs to be communicated to us coaches before the season that way we're more diligent in getting that done in a timely manner. It's not like they don't have our contact because it's the same 3 reps from 3 years ago when they contacted me directly.
  
  State tournament coverage is horrid at best, when I wrestled, graduated in 2002, each division had a full page spread the entire week leading up to state, if not the whole week at least Wednesday-Sunday they did. Finalist and champs had half page stories each, now the entire state tournament for all 3 divisions has been widdled down to half a page, full page if central Ohio did well.
  
  Someone pointed out, I don't remember if it was here or another thread, print media is dying and maybe the dispatch isn't "wasting" time anymore. High school sports coverage in general is down in the dispatch, not just wrestling, I noticed in the fall they aren't running as many stories throughout the week about teams/individuals like they had in the past.
• Gold eagle

  I think we need to do a better job of connecting in the community. I know schools have their football players visit elementary schools on game days, why not send varsity guys to hang out with kids and show the true side of wrestling. The family environment of wrestling, the brotherhood. People need to see more than just things in the gym. Plus coaches need to keep their kids in line at tournaments. Watching the Missouri iowa match today made me think about how awful it is to see kids mouth off and act like punks. That hurts our sport to have kids like that
• Coach Ramirez

  kennypowers;1707269 wrote:Re-read post #4. The division 2 rep IS submitting them. They are not being put in the paper. This has been an issue and brought up for the past several years.

  kudos to D2 rep but I don't think Dispatch will print unless all 3 are reported together along with team rankings? Sort of like just having one statistic in basketball or baseball and nothing else. But maybe I am wrong?
• wraith51

  

  Coach Ramirez;1707305 wrote:kudos to D2 rep but I don't think Dispatch will print unless all 3 are reported together along with team rankings? Sort of like just having one statistic in basketball or baseball and nothing else. But maybe I am wrong?

  See my post above. You may be right though in that they may want us all to report before printing them? Like I said in my previous post, the first year I was a rep they contacted me directly to get my rankings in to post everyones together, last year and this year did not happen. If it's as simple as sending our rankings in at the same time for the same date then we need to figure out when that is so it can be printed.
• Cthelites

  So sad about no rankings AT ALL! ALL YR!
  our kids deserve better.
  and as far as waiting til January or "after the holiday tourneys to turn them in to get a more accurate account" that was D1.
  which I totally disagree withW
  howdid that work out for us this yr?
  out of site out of mind.
  heck I don't even know when the last rankings were done by our beloved ambassador Cruiser and co.
• Cthelites

  rassler;1707086 wrote:Blame the length of tournaments on silly pool formats and lack of organization, not lack of set times. Pools tournaments have RUINED the fan experience. Nothing can be followed. In the end, all the pool format does is pad the records of the better kids and the lesser kids just end up getting hammered another round. It also makes it more difficult to accurately predict when the semi finals or finals will begin.
  
  Set the finals for 5pm. Who cares if you finish the semis at 2pm? Take your team out for a team bonding dinner between sessions like we used to do when tournaments were organized and fans were in the stands. Parents/relatives can also plan accordingly. Can you image the uproar if they announced the Darby finals will start after the semis somewhere between 2pm-5pm? Let's at least give the general public a chance to support the sport.
  
  PS The WPIAL semis were at 11:30 this morning and the finals will be at 7pm. No doubt the gym will be packed for both sessions.

  Ant the Pittsburgh post will have alot of info and stories on it. You can count on that.
• 80baby

  We had out City League Championships Saturday. Well no dispatch coverage at the meet and when I looked at the results on line they had the team scores wrong. However, the West Side Messenger reporter was there covering the tournament. I know he talk with and interviewed quite a few coaches and I know they will print an article about the tournament. That might be where we need to start at with our local community paper. These papers are always looking to promote our local kids and get the stories out about them. Those newspapers are free to the community and are delivered once a week to every home within their coverage area.
• Tony Mead

  the free papers are doing way better then the big name papers!
• Dust_E_Roads

  Tony Mead;1707476 wrote:the free papers are doing way better then the big name papers!

  Totally agree Tony.
  
  I think ThisWeekNews is doing a admirable-to-good job filling the void left by the Dispatch. This is probably the best avenue for coaches to go with regard to reporting results and promoting their teams rather than continually running up against the brick wall that is the Columbus Dispatch high school sports section.