Shawn Fields of Flowery Branch, Ga., was named USA Wrestling State Chairperson of the Year. This award honors a USA Wrestling State Chairperson for service and leadership within the organization.

The announcement was made during USA Wrestling's annual State Leaders Conference, held at the Crown Plaza hotel in Colorado Springs, Colo. this week.

Fields has served as State Chairperson in Georgia for six years. The organization is known as Team Georgia USA within the state. He previously served two years as the Secretary and two years as the Kids Director for Team Georgia, with a decade of service on the organization's Board.

"I am very flattered, especially considering the company among the state chairpersons of USA Wrestling," said Fields. "We are very proud of what has happened with USA Wrestling in the state of Georgia during the last 10 years."

Team Georgia USA had a membership total of just shy of 5,000 members this year, more than double the number of members from when Fields joined the organization's Board. In addition, numerous new programs and initiatives have been started which have helped the organization to succeed.

"The reason for growth is that we have tried to run a customer-based organization. Our customers are the wrestlers, the coaches and the parents who come to our events. We have based a program based on them. If you build a better product, you don't have to worry about competition. Judging from the membership, the customers appreciate that," said Fields.

Among the successful initiatives is a pre-registration program, where athletes sign up in advance for their tournaments. Tournament pairings are determined in advance, and the events are run in a more efficient manner. Team Georgia attempts to keep wrestling sessions down to four hours at the events, which has proven very popular. The organization has increased the number of tournaments held, with more convenient locations for the wrestling families.

Other successful programs are a Middle School Dual Meet State Championships series, a mandatory skin check program, and a recreational Mat Rats program for 3-4 year-old beginners. 

Team Georgia now sends teams in both freestyle and Greco-Roman to the Schoolboy National Duals, the Cadet National Duals and the Junior National Duals. This year, Georgia brought its largest delegation to the combined ASICS/Vaughan Junior Nationals and Accelerade Cadet Nationals in Fargo, N.D. 

Fields credits three other Board members who have worked alongside him for the last decade for the success of the organization, Larry Holloway, Doug McDaniel and Stacy Davis. He also applauds the efforts of Anthony Flatt, who has taken a major leadership role in Georgia.

"The reason we are so successful is our volunteer base. We have many volunteers, but certainly need more. We have had a great Board. I could not ask for a more supportive, knowledgible resource," said Fields.

Fields wrestled for four years at Lumpkin County High School in Georgia, and also competed for four years in the U.S. Marine Corps on the Cherry Point base team. He was a folkstyle wrestling official for four years while attending college, and in recent years, has become an international wrestling referee within USA Wrestling.

He has five sons, all who have been wrestlers. His son Carson Fields was a Cadet Nationals champion, and is currently competing at UT-Chattanooga. His wife Tara has been named Volunteer of the Year in Georgia for all of her behind-the-scenes work for wrestling in the state. Shawn Fields works as the Vice President for Out-Sourcing for Chorus.

"I feel privileged to be involved in the sport of wrestling. It has given me more than I can give back. I can never properly thank the countless volunteers who have worked with Team Georgia over the last 10 years. It is their accomplishment, not mine. They have done the work, and they will get the benefits in the future," said Fields.

State Chairperson of the Year
1978 - Leroy Evans, California
1979 - Dave Dozeman, Michigan
1980 - Frank Rader, North Carolina
1981 - Ted DeRousse, Illinois
1982 - Dave and Bobby Schneller, Connecticut
1983 - Mick Pickford, Iowa
1984 - Bill Crum, New Jersey
1985 - Tom Canavan, Pennsylvania
1986 - Kay Lacher, Minnesota
1987 - Jack Harcourt, Virginia
1988 - Mark Scott, Wyoming
1989 - Leroy Evans, California and Charlie White, Colorado
1990 - John Welch, New Jersey
1991 - Dave Mellon, North Dakota
1992 - Bob Labat, Minnesota
1993 - Al Kastl, Michigan
1994 - Chuck Elvin, Kansas
1995 - Haswell Franklin, Sr., Maryland
1996 - Archie Randall, Oklahoma
1997 - Fred Lehrke, Wisconsin
1998 - Bob Walker, Florida
1999 - Mike Dowden, Indiana
2000 - Paula McGahee, Georgia
2001 - Tom Shaw, Washington
2002 - Dave Black, Wisconsin
2003 - Jim Considine, Illinois
2004 - Mike Juby, Kansas
2005 - Tom Knupp, Ohio
2006 - Craig Ewing, Missouri
2007 - Bill Grant, Florida
2008 - Shawn Fields, Georgia