Inaugural Wrestling Week Across America Engages Thousands

How much of an impact does social media have on sports, including wrestling? On March 18, USA Wrestling staff members held an NCAA Championships viewing party at the Olympic Training Center (OTC) in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Tony Black, Director of State Services for USA Wrestling, took a photo of the event, where staffers, family members and fans watched the NCAA Division I finals on three 12-foot screens inside the rotunda of the OTC. Black shared it on Instagram and within a short time, the post had nearly 2,000 likes and even motivated one wrestling fan in Colorado to join the viewing party.

Just like that, with one picture and one social share, thousands of wrestling fans from around the world were connected, including that fan who showed up at headquarters to celebrate NCAA wrestling’s greatest night.

“That shows how fast, and how easy it is to connect with wrestling fans,” Black said. “It showed we have a great opportunity to spread the word about our sport and engage with both diehard and casual fans, as well as those completely new to the sport.”

That social share was also done in coordination with the inaugural #WrestlingWeek Across America, a USA Wrestling-sponsored promotion that asked all current and former wrestlers, coaches, officials and parents to engage in a week-long promotion from March 13–19 to raise the profile of wrestling nationwide. Each day of the week had a specific call to action for the wrestling community, and everyone was asked to use #WrestlingWeek in all social media posts for what Black called “a great way for the wrestling community to rally around a cause to promote the greatness of the sport.”

The timing of the promotion was perfect. More people watch wrestling on TV over NCAA championship week than any other week of the year. In fact, over 8.6 million viewers were exposed to wrestling during ESPN's broadcasts Thursday through Saturday. Thousands more were engaged on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.

“The goal of the promotion was to raise visibility of the sport and to get people excited about and engaged in wrestling,” Black said.

Mission accomplished, and then some. Friday of #WrestlingWeek Across America was Wrestling Shirt Day, and on that day a USA Wrestling staff member was at a Colorado Springs grocery store and saw a young wrestling fan wearing his favorite wrestling shirt, because of the #WrestlingWeek promotion.

The promotion also caught the attention of Mindy Sutton, an East Colorado Springs resident who is the mother of first-year wrestler Jaiden Sutton, age 7. Mindy has been involved in sports her entire life. She played basketball and softball in college and previously worked for USA Hockey. Her husband wrestled and participated in mixed martial arts, but this year was Mindy’s first exposure to wrestling as a parent. Jaiden wrestled for his school, Evangelical Christian Academy, as part of the Christian School Athletic League (CSAL) of Colorado Springs, which features seven teams of Christian/Catholic Schools for wrestlers in first through fifth grades. 

Sutton first learned of the #WrestlingWeek promotion via Facebook and eagerly joined in, posting a photo and video of Jaiden on the first day of the campaign, which was Wrestling Highlight Day. Jaiden was excited about the posts, Mindy said, and encouraged that so many family and friends liked it.

Jaiden loved his first year of wrestling, especially because he liked “having that time with my friends,” he said. But the #WrestlingWeek Across America campaign only further piqued his interest and exposure to the sport. Jaiden spent the week viewing throwback pictures of wrestlers and watching YouTube videos of past NCAA championship matches, while also learning about the history of the sport. He watched the video of Rulon Gardner's historic win over Aleksandr Karelin in the 2000 Olympics the night before his final tournament, something he said was “was pretty cool.”

And in one photo of Jaiden, Mindy used the hashtag #teamUSAbound.

“Because of this campaign, he now is convinced he is going to be an Olympic wrestler,” she said.

Jaiden told his mom, “Why not? They were all little like me before they got big!”

It was also encouraging for a mom who was learning about wrestling for the first time.

“Seeing the photos of wrestling highlights and throwback pictures reminded me that every college athlete and Olympian started somewhere,” Mindy said. “They all put on the ‘weird’ singlet and headgear for the first time. They all had a first meet. They all had wins and losses. They all overcame.”

This wasn't the first time Mindy was part of a campaign like this. She worked at USA Hockey when they launched #HockeyWeek Across America. That started as a digital promotion, but grew exponentially, and helped evolve into popular USA Hockey programs like the Try Hockey For Free Day, which allows youth ages 4 to 9 to try hockey for free, with all equipment provided, before the season starts. It also created a number of other grassroots programs promoting the sport to both youth and adults.

“A digital driven, interactive campaign like #Wrestling Week or #HockeyWeek allows fans and athletes to be a part of the sport's promotion,” Mindy said. “It enables the sport community to interact, share their stories and see others like them. Campaigns like these shine a light on the younger (and older) athletes who are also pursuing their dreams on a slightly smaller stage. These campaigns strengthen the feeling of community in the sport.”

Mindy quickly felt like a member of the wrestling community even though she was new to the sport this year.

“As a first-time wrestling parent, I had no idea what a tremendous sport wrestling is nor did I have any idea about the size and quality of the wrestling community,” she said. “I learned so much about the rules, the technique and the varying strategies depending on your opponent, just by watching his matches, listening to his coaches, and talking to other parents. I learned the best thing I can do when cheering is to echo whatever the coach is saying and just encourage him no matter the outcome."

Same for Jaiden.

“He liked being on a team of boys of different ages, which gave him an opportunity to make friends he might not otherwise have made,” Mindy said. “At the same time, he liked that he was solely responsible for his matches' outcome. He liked the physical tests of each practice and meet. And of course, the post-meet team snacks.”

The promotion also helped Mindy learn about other resources, videos, schedules and educational material available through USA Wrestling.

“#Wrestling Week Across America changed that for me and drove me to TheMat.com where I was able to find information on local wrestling opportunities,” Mindy said.

Black is hoping for even greater participation in #WrestlingWeek Across America next year, when it is once again scheduled during the week of the NCAA Championships. It’s safe to say the inaugural promotion was a success.

“We want to continue to spread the word and continue to grow the sport,” Black said. “It was a great experience for a first-year campaign. We want to continue the movement, continue to get people involved and promote how wrestling impacts people on and off the mat.”

Those who have ideas or are interested in participating in promotions and campaigns for #Wrestling Week Across America 2018 should click here to get involved.