Jim Brown is a business owner AND a wrestling fanatic who writes a weekly blog, “The View From Section GG” (the location of his season tickets for University of Iowa home wrestling events at Carver-Hawkeye Arena).
Last week, he provided some fresh thinking of how some colleges without wrestling programs could use today’s challenges to work in their ultimate favor. This week, he builds upon that idea with the topic: “How I’d start a college wrestling program.”
Brown wrote about how he started his business 18 years ago… and thought that many of the same aspects of launching a business would apply to launching a new wrestling program at any college. He served up a four-step program that anyone might use. Here’s just one portion of Brown’s clear-headed presentation:
… A wrestling team would attract 25 – 30 new students (a women’s team an additional 15 – 20). Beloit College recently laid off 40 employees because 35 fewer students enrolled than expected. Startup costs could be as low $20,000 (the cost of 2 mats for a school that already has a weight room and space for the mats), but would more realistically be in the $75,000 - $100,000 range. Annual operating costs (including coaches salaries) will range from $125,000 (according to Baker University) to $250,000. Average 4-year private college tuition is $25,000. Let’s assume that scholarships and other financial aid discount that by 50%. Wrestling not only pays for itself – it has the opportunity to generate positive revenue for any school that is smart enough to add it.
Don’t forget the long term implications. Every additional enrollee is a potential future alumni donor.
We need more creative thinkers like Jim Brown and John Klein (sports columnist for the Tulsa World, who wrote about shifting the NCAA championships to April). Why don’t you put your thinking cap on…
Resources
College Wrestling Examiner's Moving the NCAA Wrestling Championships to April series
Author's March 2006 article for InterMat: Stop the Madness
College Wrestling Examiner's Predicaments series
College wrestling's predicaments
You've got to move 'em, move 'em, move 'em
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