10 Ways to Recruit More Wrestlers this Season

When Tom Trautman took over as head coach of the Bishop Lynch High School (Dallas, Texas) wrestling program in 2015, there was a total of eight wrestlers out for the team. In 2019, the team had a roster of 60 and won The Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools state championship.

“We may get one incoming freshman a year who has some form of wrestling or jiu-jitsu background prior to high school, but I'd say around 95 percent of wrestlers who eventually join the team have no idea that high school wrestling exists,” Trautman says. 

Trautman cites one key reason for attracting so many wrestlers so fast: Culture.

“Once someone walks in the door of the wrestling room, the team and I make it clear to them that they have joined something bigger than just a wrestling team,” Trautman says. “Our team chemistry is our strength. The guys know they will be held accountable by me but also that they have someone they can talk to about the many challenges they face during their high school years. In turn, many of our wrestlers go out and recruit their friends because they want them to share in the experience of being on our team.”

Creating a family atmosphere and culture where people are welcomed has been the best recruiting tool for Pete Jacobson, head coach of the Edgemont Panthers (Scarsdale, New York) High School wrestling program.

“The number-one way to get more kids into our program was by creating a culture that kids love being a part of,” says Jacobson, who also operates WinSmarter, a system that helps coaches in all sports learn how to build a culture of excellence.

This year’s Edgemont wrestling team has 40 kids out for the sport—the most ever under Jacobson’s guidance.

“When you build a culture where kids love their teammates and coaches and feel like their teammates and coaches love them, not only will they flock to your program, they’ll tell their friends and bring them along too,” Jacobson says. “Their parents will speak to their friends and soon your program will be THE program in your community that everyone wants to be a part of.”

The ability to consistently recruit and attract wrestlers is a challenge every team and club faces. Strategies on how to recruit kids differ—those in the inner city may have to use different tactics than rural programs, for example. Some towns are wrestling hotbeds; in other cities, kids or parents might not even know there is a wrestling program.

Finding a way to recruit and retain wrestlers year after year is crucial to a program’s short and long-term stability and success, and crucial to the continued growth of the sport of wrestling.

Several coaches share their recruiting tips and strategies below:

1. Get to know the students at your school—not just the athletes. The students. “No one will be interested in what you do (wrestling) unless you are interested in them and what they do,” says Mike Clayton, Manager of USA Wrestling’s National Coaches Education Program. “Get to know them. Some may join your team just with one offer from you or team members. Some take time. Both are valuable additions.”

Trautman volunteers for things like lunch duty, Saturday School (where students make up absences) and serving as a game administrator for other sports. “I get to spend a good amount of time with students I might not otherwise meet,” Trautman says. As he gets to know the students’ names, they will lose that “fear of wrestling” that some of them have and start asking him questions, Trautman says. The result? “Answering their questions tends to lead to them attending a practice,” Trautman says.

2. Build relationships with other coaches. It’s no secret that Texas is a football state. “Without football coaches at my school giving me access to their athletes in the weight room, and allowing me to speak to them at the end of their season, I could not get as many recruits on my team,” Trautman says. “Our basketball coach also gives me the opportunity to visit with the athletes he cuts from his team. More than one of my starters was a student who came to me after being cut from another team on campus.”

3. Create an elevator pitch. Wrestling coaches are always competing with other sports, school clubs, family demands, jobs, video games, and more, Clayton points out. Do you have a 30-second “elevator pitch” to sell your program’s opportunities when you come into contact with a potential recruit or their parents? “Know what you offer recruits based on what they are looking for as well as what you know you can offer them,” Clayton says. “You may only get one shot to sell your program to them—are you ready to win them over?”

4. Make it fun. Wrestling, and wrestling practices in general, can be a grind. When Trautman recruits students for wrestling he tells them: “I’ll help you get in the best shape of your life, and you will laugh at least twice every practice. We get our work done, but I make sure each practice that there are times for everyone to relax a little and enjoy the brotherhood that is wrestling.”

5. Be patient, and prepared to coach: Don’t bring a newcomer into the sport and then just throw them to the wolves, Clayton says. Have a plan that allows them to learn, grow, and most importantly to feel safe while doing so. “Rome wasn’t built in a day and your program won’t be either,” Clayton says. “Patience as a coach may be your best tool for recruiting.”

6. Introduce the sport at a young age: Trautman takes a group of 10–12 wrestlers to area middle school PE classes. “It’s fun for the guys to go back to their old schools and we get to interact with fifth through eighth graders who may be coming to our high school,” he says. “We demonstrate a few wrestling moves, put on a mini-tournament for them and then invite them out to learn some basic wrestling fundamentals.” In an area where many of the incoming students have no knowledge of high school wrestling, these visits prove to be instrumental in teaching large groups of prospective wrestlers about the sport, says Trautman, who estimates 50 percent of his incoming freshman wrestlers each year participated in these events as middle schoolers.

About two weeks before every middle school season, Jacobson hosts a one-hour after school open house, featuring the middle school coach, and a mix of middle school and high school wrestlers. The focus? Wrestling games. “Kids walk away loving it and wanting to come out for the team, Jacobson says. “Once they experience it, they love it. We do as much as we can to talk up the Open House for about a week before we do it. We have the school include it in their daily announcements. We have the middle school Phy-Ed teachers mention it in class. We get the middle school football, soccer, and cross country coaches to mention it to their teams. We go all out!”

Put out a sign up list at these events and follow-up with their parents. If they’re undecided, continue to sell the benefits of the sport (perfect your elevator pitch first).

7. Utilize social media. The use of social media is an inexpensive and easy way to connect with fans, parents, family members, community members, and even those who are not familiar with the sport. Take advantage of the opportunity. “Society is centered around social media whether we like it or not,” says Kevin Corbett, Head Women’s Wrestling Coach at Lyons College in Batesville, Arkansas. Corbett has served as the men’s and women’s assistant coach for Team Hawaii, and as an assistant coach for Clovis West High School in California. “You can create different content that is going to attract more athletes to your program. This will give your program free exposure. A lot of these kids spend a huge portion of their day on social media and are constantly looking through their feeds. If you can create content that is going to catch their eye, you are creating potential interest in your program.”

8. Create a recruitment video. Jacobson's team hired a local college film student to produce a wrestling recruitment video for the middle school team. Can your school partner with a high school student or local college to help create a budget-friendly video? Perhaps it can be part of a HS class project. Jacobson’s team video was about two minutes long, but professionally done, featuring upbeat music and kids practicing and having fun.

“It’s been really powerful because it gives kids a visual experience of what to expect, and it lets us showcase the best aspects of our sport to kids and their parents,” Jacobson says. The best place to promote the video? Social media.

9. Make dual meets magical. Make your home dual meets an event that everyone wants to be a part of. Make it fun for fans, family members, and kids. Find ways to make it a big event—create promotional nights (pizza giveaways, wrestling T-shirts), bring the band (everyone loves music and parents will come to watch their kids in the band). Bring back alumni. And use social media to spread the word. “Create an atmosphere that student athletes want to be a part of, and you will see your program grow,” Corbett says.

10. Everyone gets a chance. Wrestling is one of the few sports where everyone gets the opportunity to compete no matter their size or skill level, says Corbett. The smallest kid may not get a chance on the football field, but there’s a spot for them on the wrestling team. “This should be communicated to the athletes you are trying to attract to your program,” Corbett says. “Nobody likes to ride the bench, so making it clear that they will have the opportunity to pull up their singlet straps and compete could be a huge deciding factor when it comes to joining your team.”

What recruiting methods work for your wrestling program and why? Share and discuss below!