Anyone volunteer for local/collegiate wrestling teams?
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Just curious to know if any of the wrestling fans on here volunteer for any local/collegiate wrestling teams.
I have a healthcare background so I've found it much easier to be accepted as a volunteer for some of the wrestling teams at the colleges in my area. While we help out in many various areas of the sport, one of my favorite areas to help out at are obviously the weigh-ins. You get to know the wrestlers pretty quickly since everyone strips down to their underpants, jockstrap or for some - just stay in their singlet. You also get to see the wrestlers from visiting teams as well.
Unfortunately, due to the issue of spycams in these weigh-in areas, wrestlers are no longer permitted to weigh-in completely nude, but seeing how even a tiny bit of weight difference can bump them into the next class, a lot of them wear very skimpy underwear before they get on the scale.
I think the only area where the wrestler does strip down completely is for skin checks - but that area is cordoned off and is restricted to a physician - which I'm not quite at that level…yet.
In anycase, wrestling season starts in a few weeks/months - so keep an eye out for calls for volunteers from your local teams. :cheers:
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I have a healthcare background so I've found it much easier to be accepted as a volunteer for some of the wrestling teams at the colleges in my area
The "weigh-in" as a semi-public event operated by high schools and colleges is essentially a relic of the past. It lives on in pop culture consciousness mainly through its depiction in movies and as public spectacle for the boxing-based entertainment industry.
What has taken the place of the public weigh-in for colleges and high schools is an automated system that focuses on practical and scientifically based weight management programs which are more private, paperless, and cost-effective. Like any secure system of recording and accessing information, that means only those in the immediate coaching and parenting circles — not those with just healthcare backgrounds — have access to a student's weight or any process of determining their weight.
This information is used by a broader system which validates a student's right to wrestle by issuing regionally-based certification. The NCAA took the lead in cobbling together framework for this broader-based system over 20 years ago. They slowly expanded it through patchwork design to high schools and colleges across the country, although it may be noted that participation is not mandatory.
The need for this newer system became evident in 1997, when three college wrestlers were killed at the end of a 35-day period engaged in unsupervised, unsafe weight management practices just prior to their weigh-in.
