USA Wrestling is proud to announce a new venture set to kick off in 2009 entitled Beat the Streets USA Wrestling.
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Beat the Streets USA Wrestling will offer help and guidance to individuals in suburban and metropolitan areas nationwide to start, grow, and sustain wrestling programs and opportunities for "at risk" youth.
The mission and goals of this new program will be very similar to the Beat the Streets Wrestling Program, which has been highly successful in New York City in getting kids off the street and onto a wrestling mat.
Beat the Streets has provided thousands of school-aged children the opportunity to become part of a wrestling team. Since 2003, when the program began, over 3,500 kids in New York City have been part of the Beat the Streets program. To date, 59 high schools and 61 middle schools have added wrestling through Beat the Streets. By doing this, the program has provided the youth of New York City an opportunity to fill a number of after-school hours in a meaningful, yet fun activity that stimulates the mind and trains the body.
A key emphasis in the Beat the Streets USA Wrestling project will be teaching life skills through the sport of wrestling, not just the sport itself. With this approach, Beat the Streets USA Wrestling will be appealing to many outside of the sport of wrestling.
Though Beat the Streets USA Wrestling will focus on more than just the programs in the public school system, this will be a component of the newly-developed program.
Participants in Beat the Streets USA Wrestling will benefit in many ways. Improved self-esteem, as well as improved grades and behavior in school will likely be benefits of being involved with a Beat the Streets USA Wrestling program. The biggest benefit, though, may be the sense of achievement and accomplishment with their involvement in an Olympic Sport.
USA Wrestling is partnering with wrestling leader Al Bevilacqua on Beat the Streets USA Wrestling. Bevilacqua has an extensive background in wrestling and has been a key figure in developing the Beat the Streets program. Bevilacqua, USA Wrestling's Man of the Year in 2005, will serve as the volunteer chairperson of the program.
"With someone like Al (Bevilacqua) working together on this project with USA Wrestling, we are sure that it will be a success," said Mark Scott, Director of State Services for USA Wrestling. "We hope that this will help wrestling reach kids in our most populated areas, meaning so many more kids will be positively impacted by this great sport.
"The model has been shown to be highly successful when individuals like Al Bevilacqua are committed to the cause, which is why USA Wrestling is so excited to work with him on this venture," concluded Scott.
When speaking of Beat the Streets, Bevilacqua notes that the program has "made tremendous inroads in providing an opportunity to mainstream the sport of wrestling in America's largest city. We are in competition with 30 other sports in recruiting and motivating the 1.1 million pupils that wrestling is a great activity for kids."
Though New York City is the largest city in the nation, USA Wrestling realizes that there are other major metropolitan areas that do not have much, if any, wrestling programs.
A driven Bevilacqua will aim to help USA Wrestling reach membership milestones. "Our goal is to have 1,000,000 wrestlers participating by 2016, said Bevilacqua. "The last frontier for wrestling is the large urban centers, which represent 60% of the population in the USA."
With the proven leadership and capabilities of Al Bevilacqua, combined with the resources and national system of USA Wrestling, considerable growth is expected.
Individuals or organizations interested in more information on Beat the Streets USA Wrestling should contact Tony Black at USA Wrestling. He can be reached at 719.598.8181 or tblack@usawrestling.org.
The mission and goals of this new program will be very similar to the Beat the Streets Wrestling Program, which has been highly successful in New York City in getting kids off the street and onto a wrestling mat.
Beat the Streets has provided thousands of school-aged children the opportunity to become part of a wrestling team. Since 2003, when the program began, over 3,500 kids in New York City have been part of the Beat the Streets program. To date, 59 high schools and 61 middle schools have added wrestling through Beat the Streets. By doing this, the program has provided the youth of New York City an opportunity to fill a number of after-school hours in a meaningful, yet fun activity that stimulates the mind and trains the body.
A key emphasis in the Beat the Streets USA Wrestling project will be teaching life skills through the sport of wrestling, not just the sport itself. With this approach, Beat the Streets USA Wrestling will be appealing to many outside of the sport of wrestling.
Though Beat the Streets USA Wrestling will focus on more than just the programs in the public school system, this will be a component of the newly-developed program.
Participants in Beat the Streets USA Wrestling will benefit in many ways. Improved self-esteem, as well as improved grades and behavior in school will likely be benefits of being involved with a Beat the Streets USA Wrestling program. The biggest benefit, though, may be the sense of achievement and accomplishment with their involvement in an Olympic Sport.
USA Wrestling is partnering with wrestling leader Al Bevilacqua on Beat the Streets USA Wrestling. Bevilacqua has an extensive background in wrestling and has been a key figure in developing the Beat the Streets program. Bevilacqua, USA Wrestling's Man of the Year in 2005, will serve as the volunteer chairperson of the program.
"With someone like Al (Bevilacqua) working together on this project with USA Wrestling, we are sure that it will be a success," said Mark Scott, Director of State Services for USA Wrestling. "We hope that this will help wrestling reach kids in our most populated areas, meaning so many more kids will be positively impacted by this great sport.
"The model has been shown to be highly successful when individuals like Al Bevilacqua are committed to the cause, which is why USA Wrestling is so excited to work with him on this venture," concluded Scott.
When speaking of Beat the Streets, Bevilacqua notes that the program has "made tremendous inroads in providing an opportunity to mainstream the sport of wrestling in America's largest city. We are in competition with 30 other sports in recruiting and motivating the 1.1 million pupils that wrestling is a great activity for kids."
Though New York City is the largest city in the nation, USA Wrestling realizes that there are other major metropolitan areas that do not have much, if any, wrestling programs.
A driven Bevilacqua will aim to help USA Wrestling reach membership milestones. "Our goal is to have 1,000,000 wrestlers participating by 2016, said Bevilacqua. "The last frontier for wrestling is the large urban centers, which represent 60% of the population in the USA."
With the proven leadership and capabilities of Al Bevilacqua, combined with the resources and national system of USA Wrestling, considerable growth is expected.
Individuals or organizations interested in more information on Beat the Streets USA Wrestling should contact Tony Black at USA Wrestling. He can be reached at 719.598.8181 or tblack@usawrestling.org.
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