USA Wrestling Women’s Future Olympian Camp gives talented girls a look at their wrestling future
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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
07/09/2003
Camp Photos The first wave of U.S. women's Olympic wrestlers has met the next generation, and is passing on the secrets to success in freestyle wrestling. The USA Wrestling Women's Future Olympic Freestyle Camp is being held July 5-11 in Colorado Springs, Colo., with 40 of the nation's most talented and dedicated young female wrestlers in attendance. These girls are getting taught the fine art of wrestling from all of the members of the U.S. Olympic Training Center Women's Wrestling Resident Program, the same athletes who are now battling for spots on the first U.S. Women's Wrestling Olympic Team next year. Under the guidance of National Women's Coach Terry Steiner, today's women wrestling heroes are setting an example for the young athletes to follow. If you have ever attended a wrestling camp, this looks very similar to the hundreds of training opportunities around the nation. They slowly drift in at the beginning of each session, putting on their ASICS and tucking in their training gear. Perfectly normal, except all of the athletes are female. Nowhere else in the nation has this many young women trained together. Even more unique is that these girls are being taught to wrestle by women, rather than men. The whole concept is rather new, not only to the campers, but also to the women athletes who came up in a sport dominated by males. The fact that women's wrestling has grown to the point where women wrestling stars are teaching a camp full of young girl wrestlers is not lost on those who are there. USOTC resident athlete Nina Vernon of the Gator WC, who is helping coach the young women, notes that she had never seen an all-girls wrestling camp before, not has she ever seen so many girls working out together in one setting. Vernon has been nationally competitive since high school, and competed on an all-women's team in college. Yet this setting is new and exciting to Vernon, as well as the other resident athletes helping teach the young women. Resident athlete Sally Roberts, a 2003 U.S. Nationals champion, lines up the girls for attendance, shortest to tallest. This activity shows the variety of athletes in the camp this year, from small elementary school girls to almost-adult high school upperclassmen. The shortest was Katie Agey of Des Moines, Iowa, a seven year old who weighs about 50 pounds. The tallest is 5'10" Emily Strachen of Houston, Texas, a 17 year old who will be a senior at Pine Forest High School in the fall. Sunday afternoon's training session was more of a review, with athletes drilling technique and strategies taught in the first two sessions. Coach Steiner ran the first part of the practice, putting the young women through drills of specific situations, including a number of counter offense moves and positions. The student-teacher ratio is very high here, as about 10 resident athletes are there to help the 40 girls, meaning that almost every pair of training partners are able to get some personal attention as they attempt the drills. When a few of the girls were talking too much during the drilling time, U.S. Nationals champion and resident athlete Sara McMann offered them an opportunity to run extra sprints if they continued the chatter. In ways like this, it was like just about any other major wrestling camp held across the nation. The girls were getting some high quality technique, mixed in with a complete review of the basics needed for success. Coach Steiner showed a unique counter move where an athlete kicks out of a lower leg attack. "I love that move," said Steiner. "Dave Schultz showed it to me." Just as some of the Senior women stars had never been around so many young girls in wrestling, likewise, for many of the campers, it was the first time they had ever been instructed by women wrestlers. For a majority of the training session, resident athlete women wrestlers showed the techniques, answered the questions and assisted in the drilling process. Coach Steiner also scheduled a resident athlete workout immediately following the afternoon workout, providing an opportunity for the campers to watch America's best women wrestlers work out and wrestle in a live situation. Women's wrestling is quite new in public perception. The sport has not yet developed the well-known heroes for young girls to emulate, the Mia Hamms and Cammie Granatos who became famous because of the Olympic Games. One of the women at the training camp might become the first national hero from women's wrestling. The young athletes who are learning from them will remember this summer's training camp when watching the women wrestlers on television at the Athens Games. Wrestling is like a secret, passed on from one generation to the next. Now, women's wrestling is developing its own tradition of sharing the knowledge, from older to younger, just like the men in wrestling. WOMEN'S FUTURE OLYMPIAN FREESTYLE CAMPERS From shortest to tallest Katie Agey Erin Goldston Hannah Martin Alisha Pohren Sage Schell Katherine Williams Emily Smith Brieana Delgado Candace Workman Taylor Fredrickson Beth Johnson Amber Miracle Nickia Jensen Anna Matteson Shayla Iokia Linda Alverson Christina Johnson Mariah Eberhart Camie Yeik Valerie Prise Sara Collins Layla Chittim Emma Mercer Brittany Delgado Arenet Delmonico Lauren Lindsay Elizabeth Perkins Lizz Sanders Stephanie Egan Brittany Schell Chelsea Arnold Emily Duckworth Chandra Peterson Kate Klammer Jessica Allen Emily Strachen