Team Insight

TEAM SPECIALTY SPORTS SPECIAL TIMES AHEAD W h ile wrestling doesn't have the huge participation numbers of football, baseball and basketball, it does generate worldwide attention every four years while being included within the Summer Olympic Games, which was certainly the case in Paris this past August. Chad Clark, senior VP at Cliff Keen Athletic, attended the Paris Games and reports that the atmosphere inside the wrestling arena was strong and vibrant. "I can tell you that the crowds for wrestling were terrific and the wrestling community from around the world came out in full force," he says. Back in the U.S., according to the latest participation figures from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), there are 1.9 million wrestlers. Of those, 1.9 million 309,447 are high schoolers, based on the most recent research from the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). And, of those, 83.8 percent (259,431, to be precise) are boys. e promising number is that the balance of the high school wrestlers – more than 50,000 – are girls. And wrestling is becoming a more lucrative category for team dealers specifically because of this expanding female participation. In Iowa, wrestling is a major sport for high school boys and girls and, according to the NFHS, there are 6952 boys and 2935 girls wrestling competitively in the Hawkeye state. A significant percentage of them are purchasing their gear and apparel from Iowa Sports Supply in Cedar Falls, IA. "We have a strong wrestling business as we take care of all the basics in the sport," says owner Lisa Ellis. And nearby in Indiana a similar surge is primarily due to the steady growth in participation by girls. "High school girls have been wrestling in Indiana for roughly 20 years," reports Doc Claussen, GM of Coaches Corner, based in Terre Haute, IN. "For the last two years, we've had a state finals for high school girls' wrestling in Indiana." As a high school wrestling official in Indiana for more than 25 years, Claussen has seen first-hand how girls' wrestling has blossomed in the Hoosier state. One of the positive by-products of girls' high school wrestling in Indiana was the Olympic gold medal-winning performance in Paris by Sarah Hildebrandt in the Freestyle 50kg 12 • Team Insight ~ September/October 2024 teaminsightmag.com From wrestling and volleyball to track and lacrosse, dealers are benefitting from year-round participation. While football in the fall, basketball in the winter and baseball and softball in the spring are the mainstays for team dealers, they realize that the keys to their financial success are now based on their ability to cater to every sport being played in their area and not just the big boys. And for so many sports these days, their seasons extend beyond the few months that it is played competitively at the high school level. Let's take a look around the country and around the specialty sports for insight into how successful dealers approach them and make them a part of their everyday businesses. BY MIKE MAY GRAPPLING WITH WRESTLING FUN FACT During the current school year, Louisiana will become the 45th state association to sanction a girls' state high school wrestling championship. The sanctioning includes competing in 12 weight classes with girls' wrestling as adopted by the NFHS Wrestling Rules.

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