As I began to write this article, two simple statistics came to mind:

1) our team just completed a tough tournament Saturday and every place winner we had participated in some form of off-season wrestling, and

2) since our school added weight training classes several years back, every All-State wrestler that we have had has been involved in weight training. Athletes are not created equal. We all start out on different rungs on the ladder of success. In order to climb towards the top of that ladder, and especially to pass others on the way up, it is necessary to train both in season and out of season.

One difficulty in addressing out of season training is that there are thousands of high school and middle school programs in the country and they vary greatly. Certainly there is no program available that would fit each set of local needs and goals. At D. H. Conley H. S. we are located outside of Greenville, NC with a student body coming from a combination of subdivisions, small towns and the rural areas in between. Our area is better known for basketball and growing tobacco, but we have managed 29 straight winning wrestling seasons, a state championship, and five high school All-Americans.

What works here may not work everywhere. At any school and location certain questions must be asked: 1) are wrestling facilities available at the school in the off-season? 2) is there a local club to affiliate with? 3) is the local coach available for an off-season program or is an assistant? 4) are the athletes interested in other sports? 5) is off-season competition available in your area? and 6) are weight training facilities made available? Let's examine each of these issues.

Read on ......