42 New York City Wrestlers from 20 different NYC high schools are currently participating in a leadership development program designed by University of Minnesota Wrestling Head Coach J. Robinson. The program is being run at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, OR. It began on Sunday, July 27 and goes until August 9th.
In May 2007, J Robinson was the guest speaker at the Beat the Streets Awards Dinner at the NYAC. He spoke of how important it is for America to begin developing its next generation of leaders. Robinson worked closely with the President and Chairman of Beat the Streets in designing the Intensive Camp for the Beat the Streets Wrestling Program that was originally created in 1976.
The two week intensive camp will be teaching a deeper understanding of the skills of discipline, sacrifice, dedication and hard work. The 14 day camps are designed to push young people to the limits physically, mentally and change the way they approach wrestling as well as life.
The camp is committed to training young people in a way no other program can, resulting in increased performance levels and obtaining specific goals. The camp provides athletes with quality training facilities, a skilled staff featuring current and former college wrestlers, professional athletes, and experienced high school coaches.
The goal of the organization was to invite 2 underclassmen per high school, as selected by their high school's coaches. These two wrestlers should have the potential to become the leaders at their school next fall. It was stressed by BTS that the coaches' selections didn't necessarily have to be the top athletes, but wrestlers who have demonstrated a great deal of passion and potential to work hard.
Team building requires leadership from within and we hope that next season these young men will become the leaders of their teams.
Aside from this special developmental camp opportunity, every other wrestler in the Beat the Streets Wrestling program was given the opportunity to travel to a summer wrestling camp and learn from some of America's elite coaches. The camp selection included top college coaches and former Olympians, including John Smith's Wrestling Camp, Rob Koll's Cornell University Camp, Bruce Baumgartner's Wrestling Camp, Tom and Terry Brands Iowa Camp at Binghamton, J. Robinson's Camps Cortland, Ken Chertow's Wrestling Camp, Brendan Buckley's Columbia University Camp, and the Army Wrestling Camp.
Beat the Streets Wrestling would like to thank the financial supporters that donated over $400,000 at the recent benefit at the Bowery Hotel in May, as their contributions provided over 400 New York City wrestlers an opportunity to participate in the wrestling camp listed above. These camps are an important part of the process to develop New York City wrestlers and America's future leaders.
