Tours to China, France, Greece and Brazil among the opportunities this season

World Sports Alliance, "The Official International Exchange Coordinator of USA Wrestling," has established  its 2006 schedule of international wrestling tours.  Applications are now being accepted for all tours.

Beijing, China, which has been a very popular destination over the past six years, is back on the schedule in 2006.  China will be offered in both July and August for high school and college age athletes.  This tour has it all, with its great wrestling, sightseeing and first class hotels.

This year, World Sports Alliance has taken two of Europe's most popular travel destinations, Paris and Athens, and for the first time, paired them together for one great wrestling exchange tour. 

Paris and Athens are two cities loaded with world famous attractions.  USA teams will visit such sites as the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral and Arc de Triumph in Paris. The Athens itinerary includes visits to the Acropolis with its awesome Parthenon and the very popular Plaka area. This tour will be offered in June.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is a new destination for 2006. U.S. wrestlers will train and compete against Brazilian wrestlers at a new training facility located at Gama Filho University.  Although Brazil is by no means a power house in wrestling they are improving. They have hired Cuban coaches and their results are improving. This will be a good tour for school and club level teams.

"Coaches have been requesting South America so we made it happen" said, Wade Genova, President of World Sports Alliance. 
 
Rio is famous for its Ipanema and Copacabana Beaches as well as the great "Carnival".  The weather is warm year round in Rio so U.S. teams will spend much of their free time at the beach. Other attractions that will be visited include the Monument of the Christ, Maracana Stadium and Soccer Museum and the Tropical Tijuca Forrest which features exotic trees, thick jungle vines and a delightful waterfall.

Two dates for Rio de Janiero are planned. Teams will travel to Brazil in April and August. Olympic Champion Brandon Slay will lead the August group. 

There is also great news for coaches. Coaches can now travel for free on a World Sports Alliance tour by finding just seven athletes to participate.  Interested coaches should call for complete details.

Athletes and coaches wishing more information on any World Sports Alliance tour should call 1 877 WSA Tour (972-8687).  Information is also available on the web at: www.wrestlingtours.com.