Is Title IX Shifting School Funding Away From Wrestling Programs? How will wrestling serve Chael Sonnen against Anderson Silva?

Title IX is shifting money away from wrestling because school officials feel it is not a money making sport. Wow is that myopic especially since MMA is growing exponentially and wrestlers have been doing extremely well in MMA competitions.  Chael Sonnen,  Brock Lesnar, Shane Carwin, Cain Velasquez, Randy "the Natural" Couture, Chuck "Iceman" Liddell, Dan Henderson, Sean "the Muscle" Sherk, Dan Severn, Matt Hughes, Tito Ortiz, Don Frye, Jake Rosholt, and numerous others have wrestling backgrounds.

Sean Sherk has been wrestling since he was 7, "The Muscle Shark" Sherk competed in nearly 400 matches. Sherk won the UFC lightweight title in 2006 and successfully defended it against Hermes Franca at UFC 73 as shown in this picture. 

It was this flawed view that caused us to miss an amazing opportunity to train in wrestling when we were younger. We have been scrambling to learn wrestling because we love it as another art to master in addition to our previous study of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ), Muay Thai (MT), Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do (JKD), Kendo (Japanese Samurai swordsmanship), etc.

For more information on the negative effects of Title IX see:
Gender Equity in Intercollegiate Athletics: The Inadequacy of Title IX Enforcement by the U.S. Office for Civil Rights (Working Paper, No 69)

We hope private wrestling events will bolster faltering wrestling programs at schools.

This was recently reposted from Shane-Carwin.com's website :
"Everyone has a path in life. Some make their own paths in life and others are guided down a path by the influencers in life. My mom (a single mom) did her best to make sure my brothers and I had a good set of values and were influenced in the right manner. She encouraged us to Wrestle and felt that the discipline and respect that the sport would teach us would only benefit us when we get older in life.

We had a few small requirements before we could play sports. We had to have our schoolwork done, grades had to be better than average and last but not least our chores and work around the house had to get done. As I grew up I played Baseball, Basketball, Football and Wrestling. I was a really good athlete and in a small town sports stars can be viewed as heros.

As I progressed in sports it was easy to see the fan and community support was focused on Football, Basketball and Baseball in that order. Wrestling wasn't the most popular but it had really appealed to me and I knew I wanted to Wrestle in college. Once I shared these thoughts with my friends and coaches they all looked at me sideways. I was told over and over that I was a natural at the other sports and I could earn a full ride scholarship and maybe even go pro some day. There was no "pro" for wrestling and full ride scholarships were few and far between for wrestling. My Wrestling Coaches told me I could do anything I wanted, including getting a scholarship for wrestling.

I wasn't phased by the negatives, my mother had already instilled in me that if I wanted to play sports I had to contribute to supporting my family and myself. I knew I wanted to wrestle and I was willing to work for it. I wasn't worried about getting easy A's for being the star football player, having full ride scholarships or the potential fame I just wanted to be a part of the sport of wrestling.

Wrestling had filled in where my absent father failed us. It was a part of the man I was becoming and I know even though I choose the sport I also took it for granted.

Wrestlers did not have the UFC or MMA to work towards. Everyone involved in the sport are involved because they love the sport and they were driven by the passion they had for the sport. You could have spent your whole life as a part of wrestling and never make a dime. I saw it over and over and the one thing they had in common was a love for the sport of Wrestling.

Now we have a NFL (MMA) and wrestlers can go on to become millionaires pursuing the sport they love. At the same time Wrestling programs are being removed from Universities and Colleges across the country. As the sport finally begins to blossom into something more Title 9 has wrestling fighting for its life. Without the coaches and the sport I would not be who I am today. I would not be fighting for the UFC. You also wouldn't have Brock Lesnar, Cain Velasquez, Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz and MANY MANY more elite MMA athletes that make this sport what it is today. I am trying to help fight to save the sport."



We want to include this powerful quote from a legendary martial artist, Dan Inosanto:


"We are all climbing different paths through the mountain of life, and we have all experienced much hardship and strife. There are many paths through the mountain of life, and some climbs can be felt like the point of a knife..

Some paths are short and others are long, who can say which path is right or wrong? The beauty of truth is that each path has its own song, and if you listen closely you will find where you belong.

So climb your own path true and strong, but respect all other truths for your way for them could be wrong."