Editor's Note: Mike Juby, the Kansas/USA Wrestling State Chairman, is the recipient of the 2007 President's Award. As a reward for his great efforts and leadership in USA Wrestling's grassroots development, Juby was selected to attend the 2007 World Championships as part of the U.S. delegation.

This has been an interesting journey, and I'm not just talking about my trip to Baku, Azerbaijan, for the 2007 World Wrestling Championships. After an unremarkable high school wrestling career, I thought my wrestling days were behind me when I left my hometown to attend college at a non-wrestling school. This current journey really began 19 years ago when my oldest son decided that he wanted to try wrestling. In short order, I began finding myself being drawn progressively further into the sport.

I am fortunate to come from a state where wrestling has deep and strong roots. With the terrific support that I receive from the legions of people who put hours and hours of effort into the sport, I've felt an obligation to put forth extra effort to match to the high standards that they have set for themselves. By standing on the shoulders of those who have come before me and with the assistance of those still involved, I have been given the opportunity to become active in the organization of USA Wrestling at the national level.

Ask me about almost any successful wrestler from Kansas, or about many of the best wrestlers anywhere around the country, and I can speak intelligently about them as long as they are high school aged or younger. However, despite my increasing involvement in USA Wrestling, which has evolved to include positions on the Council of State Chairpersons, Junior Olympic Wrestling Committee and Finance Committee, I have not closely followed our elite athletes. I held great admiration for their accomplishments and would follow closely how they did in an Olympic year, but otherwise I was generally ignorant of how the individuals were doing.

Three months ago, I was surprised with a phone call from Jim Ravannack, president of USA Wrestling. Jim informed me that I had been selected as the first recipient of the President's Award, which he intended to turn into an annual honor. In addition to the recognition, the award included an invitation to accompany our national team to this year's World Championships! Truthfully, I felt that there were any number of other people who deserved this award more than I did, but once offered I wasn't about to let Jim take it back!

There were three elements of this trip that held special meaning for me. The first was the trip itself and exploring the city of Baku. Some of you may have heard comments about the shortcomings of Baku, and it certainly had its share of problems. My preference, though, was to focus on the positives of getting to experience an entirely new culture and people. Nearly every time that we were not wrestling I would use the opportunity to slip away from the hotel. This ancient city has treasures waiting to be discovered if you're willing to look for them, and the people that I met were nearly all very friendly and helpful despite the language barrier.

The second element was the wrestling itself. If you are a fan of wrestling, there could literally be no place on the planet where you would rather be.  My biggest problem was picking which mat to watch as there was something phenomenal happening on every one of them. As I would be watching a great match on Mat A, I would hear a sudden roar over some great action going on over at Mat D. And the crowds were certainly a big part of the joy that I got at the venue. With the stands nearly full at all of the sessions, I got to see the love and enthusiasm that the other nations were expressing for their teams. Particularly impressive were the fans from Iran. They would sing, chant, clap and play horns and drums to cheer for the wrestlers. Even when they weren't wrestling you could still hear them cheering (I was not always sure what they were cheering for, but they always seemed pretty enthusiastic about it). I talked with a few of the Iranians, and they were always quick to say that the Iranian people like Americans, and that it is the governments that don't get along. I'm not sure whether that is necessarily true for most Iranians, but the wrestling fans there seemed sincere.

Everyone associated with USA Wrestling was very helpful, going out of their way to help this neophyte navigate my way through the championships. Of particular help were Doc Bennett, who drew from his decades of international experience to give me some great perspective on what I was seeing, and Travis Shives, who patiently identified key wrestlers and matches for me so that I could appreciate some of the nuances of the event. I would have thoroughly enjoyed witnessing the matches at the World Championships even without this support, but it was greatly appreciated and definitely enhanced the experience.

The last element was the opportunity to meet with the wrestlers. In many ways this was the best part of the trip as well as my greatest personal regret. The wrestlers that I met were very personable and enthusiastic about competing for their country. Their work ethics were phenomenal - I wish I could have brought some of my Kansas wrestlers with me to allow them to witness the type of focus as they prepared for their matches and to hear the kind of preparation and dedication that it took for them to get to this point. The regret is that I did not get to meet and get to know all of the wrestlers. Frankly, this was my problem and not due to any barriers put up by the coaches and athletes.  My personality, perhaps my middle American upbringing, makes me reluctant to push myself on others. I prefer to let my work speak for itself and develop relationships slowly and over time. If I could do anything differently, I would have worked at being more forceful in introducing myself to all of the athletes. Based on those who I did meet, I believe they would have all been open and engaging and my experience would have been enhanced even further.

As a state leader, my principal focus is on providing wrestling opportunities for the youth in my state and in helping them develop their talents to progress as far in this sport as their talent, work ethic and desire can take them. I don't intend to change this focus, but I do plan on spending a little more time following our elite athletes on their journey to become the best in the world. After meeting and watching them at the pinnacle of our sport, I am confident that the more I see and learn of them the more I'm going to enjoy following their careers. Maybe at the next World Championships I'll be able to point out some of the finer points to someone else!