The Friends of Freestyle Alliance (FOFA) was recently created by the leadership of USA Wrestling with the goal of making the USA Freestyle Wrestling Team the best in the world. The initial leadership team of FOFA consists of a group of volunteer leaders who have achieved success within international wrestling competition or the professional world.

FOFA will be hosting a social for those attending the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Iowa City on Sunday April 22, between sessions. The social will take place at the College of Dentistry Building across the east parking lot from Carver Hawkeye Arena at 801 Newton Road on Sunday April 22 from 3:30-5:30pm.

All members of the wrestling public who are in attendance at the Trials and would like to hear more about this new effort to provide crucial long-term support to the freestyle program are invited to attend.

Hors d’oeuvres will be served and a there will be a brief program introducing our new Olympians, discussing the mission of FOFA, and remarks from National Freestyle Coach Zeke Jones and other wrestling leaders.

“I am very excited about the potential of FOFA to provide crucial support to help us achieve our long-term objectives,” said Zeke Jones.  “We now have the ‘Team Behind the Team’ that we’ve been missing. I encourage all U.S. wrestling fans to come to the social on April 22 and hear how they can get involved and support us.”

In attendance at the event will be the newly crowned Olympians from Saturday’s sessions. Also in attendance will be the National Team Coaches who will discuss our progress and some of the history of the National Team. Legendary wrestler and coach Dan Gable will be there and will provide some remarks about FOFA’s mission. We also expect some former Olympians to attend who are being honored earlier in the weekend.

“On behalf of the leadership team of FOFA I am excited about our new organization,” said Jeff Waters, Chairman of FOFA. “We have a clear mandate from the leadership of USA Wrestling to marshal the ‘silent army’ of wrestling supporters to help us regain our place at the top of the wrestling world. We encourage those at the Trials to come to our social, hear what more about our plans and meet and greet with our new Olympians and former Olympians.”

The mission of Friends of Freestyle is to support the three stages of the lifecycle of an elite international athlete:  

First is a National Talent and Identification Program, which will help locate and support the development of talented young athletes, allowing them to train for international freestyle competition more consistently and at a younger age.

The second is providing increased funding for the National Team, allowing them to have the best coaching, training, and competition resources on a consistent basis.

The third stage is providing a program of mentoring and career guidance to help our athletes transition into the workforce when their competitive career is over. FOFA is currently in discussion with the USOC about their Athlete Career Program and how USA Wrestling can work to provide post-career opportunities for our athletes.

“While we have assembled an initial leadership team to launch FOFA, we are looking for additional wrestling supporters to get involved,” said Kevin Hummer, head of Marketing and Operations for FOFA. “We look forward to greeting old friends and new friends at our social on Sunday at the Trials, mixing with our new Olympians, and enjoying the company of the best people in the world, wrestling people. Come and join us.”