Watch out for more beach wrestling and sombo competitions

For many years, the wrestling community in America has discussed the three styles of the sport which are practiced in our nation, freestyle, Greco-Roman and American folkstyle wrestling. Almost every wrestling competition at any level was conducted in one of these styles, and most wrestlers, coaches and parents understood the differences between the styles.

Freestyle and Greco-Roman are the Olympic styles of wrestling, practiced worldwide. Folkstyle, also called scholastic or collegiate wrestling, is the traditional style of wrestling practiced only in the United States.

There are no longer just three styles of wrestling contested in the United States. FILA, the international wrestling federation, has expanded its scope in recent years, and added two more styles of wrestling which are being recognized worldwide.

In 2004, FILA announced that beach wrestling would be added as a new international wrestling style. In 2005, FILA announced that sombo, a combat sport which includes action similar to wrestling and judo, would also be recognized as part of international wrestling.

Beach wrestling was a brand new concept for modern international wrestling, but based upon centuries of wrestling tradition from cultures across the globe. Wrestling mats are only a recent development in the history of our sport. Grappling in sand or dirt has been going on since the beginning of civilization, and is still popular in many nations.

Sombo was a sport which was managed by FILA in the past, and has had previous World Championships hosted by FILA. In the mid-1980’s, FILA announced that it no longer considered sombo a form of wrestling, and ceased hosting sombo competitions. The announcement that FILA had decided to take back management of sombo basically brought this form of competition back into the wrestling community.

In addition to recognizing these styles of wrestling, FILA also announced that during the 2006 calendar year, the World Beach Wrestling Championships and the World Sombo Championships, which will be held in Antalya, Turkey, October 13-15.

These styles are not included in the Olympic Games, nor is there any indication that they ever will be. Hoaever, starting this year, both styles will be contested on the world level and will be included in the annual FILA international schedule.

USA Wrestling is the national governing body for wrestling in the United States, and is a national federation within FILA. It is USA Wrestling’s responsibility as a member of FILA to conduct programs and competitions in the international styles within our nation. Thus, with the birth of beach wrestling and the recognition of sombo within FILA, these styles are now included in the activities of USA Wrestling.

Beach wrestling got a strong start in the United States last August, when the ASICS East Coast Beach Wrestling Championships was hosted in Long Beach, N.Y. Over 225 participants entered this competition, and those who were there had a tremendous experience. In addition, there were a handful of other beach events in the United States last year, including local competitions in Oregon, New Mexico and Ohio.

Al though FILA has not recognized sombo for two decades, the sport has continued to be practiced within our nation, with events and programs hosted by a variety of organizations. As the organization affiliated with FILA, USA Wrestling will now be involved in handling sombo activities in our nation, including the selection of teams to participate in the major FILA events on the continental and world levels.

You can expect to see news about this year’s Beach Wrestling and Sombo competitions and programs within USA Wrestling very soon.

USA Wrestling has formed a new ad-hoc committee for Beach Wrestling and a new ad-hoc committee for Sombo. These ad-hoc committees will work with USA Wrestling’s staff and other volunteer leaders to help develop the direction for each sport within the United States.

The USA Wrestling staff liaison to the Ad-Hoc Beach Wrestling Committee is Gary Abbott. You can contact him with questions about Beach Wrestling at 719-598-8181 or via e-mail at gabbott@usawrestling.org

The USA Wrestling staff liaison to the Ad-Hoc Sombo Committee is Mitch Hull. You can contact him with questions about Sombo at 719-598-8181 or via e-mail at mhull@usawrestling.org

Soon, there will be specific information about the USA Wrestling competitions that will serve as qualifiers for the FILA international competitions in these styles.

FILA recently announced that there will be a sombo competition at each of the continental championships in 2006. That means that sombo will be included at the Pan American Championsihps in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, May 31-June 4.

USA Wrestling will host a qualifying event for the U.S. Pan American Championships team in sombo. Details are being finalized right now, but this event is expected to be held the first weekend of May. Please watch TheMat.com for more details on this event very shortly.

USA Wrestling has decided to combine its Beach National Championships and its Sombo National Championships in the same city this year. The events serve as the qualifying events for the World Championships in each style in Turkey.

The date for the USA Wrestling Beach Wrestling Nationals and the Sombo Nationals will be August 18-19. The deadline for cities to bid on this event is this week, and a number of cities have shown an interest in hosting these championships. USA Wrestling will make a major announcement concerning the location for these events, as well as all of the other event details, quite soon.

In addition, there are expected to be a number of local and state level beach wrestling events organized by USA Wrestling state associations and clubs during the spring and summer this year. USA Wrestling will provide information on these activities as soon as they become available.

Many expect both of these sports to grow rapidly within USA Wrestling. Because of the popularity of martial arts in our society, sombo has great potential for growth. In the past, numerous wrestlers also participated in sombo. Likewise, as more people get a chance to witness beach wrestling and participate in competitions, the sport is also expected to increase in size and interest.

Stay tuned. More beach wrestling and sombo is coming soon…

Gary Abbott is the Director of Communications and Special Projects for USA Wrestling and is a founder of the National Wrestling Media Association and is a 2005 recipient of the NWCA Meritorious Service Award.

Gary Abbott