FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Boys and Girls ranging from 5 years old to Seniors in High School can be a part of the club!
Go to our Membership page and complete the required registrations.
There is a $75 registration fee for the first child and $60 for each subsequent child within a household to be a member of the Mishawaka Wrestling Club. This includes approximately 4 months of skills development and coaching at tournaments. There is also a mandatory membership to USA Wrestling/Indiana State Wrestling Association which covers a number of liabilities issues and insurance, and is also necessary for competing in all sanctioned tournaments in Indiana. The cost of this additional membership is $40 and is good for a year.
Wrestling, particularly Folkstyle Wrestling, is a Winter sport. We typically begin practices in late November and carry through to the ISWA Folkstyle State Finals in mid March every year. Our practices are usually 2 days a week and last an hour and a half. There are intermittent breaks in our practice schedule due to Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years holidays, and we may also be required to cancel practices at times due to inclement weather or circumstances out of Club control. Our competition schedule consists of tournaments nearly every weekend, almost all of which are on Sundays. Our coaches are committed to representing our club and cornering your wrestlers at these tournaments. Most tournaments are within a 1 hour drive of Mishawaka, with ISWA State in Indianapolis being a notable exception.
All wrestlers must have a current USA wrestling card. They are $40 and can be applied for at www.usawmembership.com prior to the start of club practices. Wrestlers competing in Michigan tournaments will also need to be registered with Nuway / Myway. This registration is $18 and can be applied for at https://www.nuwaymembership.com.
For all practices and tournaments, wrestlers with longer hair need it pulled back and/or utilize a hair treatment/covering which integrates with headgear. Also, all wrestlers need to have fingernails trimmed neatly and tight to the finger. Wrestlers are required to have wrestling shoes for practices and tournaments. Headgear and mouth guards are required for tournaments, though some choose to use them for practices as well.
Attire for practices can range from shorts and a t-shirt, sweatpants, tights, compression shirt, or even a singlet (though most do not wear a singlet for practices). For tournaments, a singlet or approved compression shirt/shorts combination is required. Nearly all wrestlers, especially youth wrestlers, still prefer a singlet. However, compression competition wear is growing in popularity.
Club practices take place in our new facility at:
4614 S Burnett Dr, South Bend, IN 46614
Mondays and Wednesdays at 6-7:30 pm starting Monday November 9, 2020 with a special registration night and friendly practice on Thursday November 5th from 6-7:30 pm.
Mishawaka Wrestling Club competes in tournaments throughout Indiana and Southern Michigan. In the beginning of December a flyer will come home with the wrestlers indicating which tournaments we plan on attending.
No, tournaments are not mandatory. A flyer will go home from club practice in the beginning of December indicating which tournaments the club will be participating in / what tournaments we will have coaches present at. From there each family can chose on their own which tournaments they will attend / their wrestler will compete in.
A couple years ago USA Wrestling updated its age group names and classifications. Your child’s age division is determined by the calendar year of their birth, which will slot them in a 6 and under (6U), 8 and under (8U), 10 and under (10U), etc. division. For more details, here is a link to the USA Wrestling page on age divisions and weight classes.
Our team of communications volunteers post a full season schedule on our website and try to send weekly updates on tournament information and schedules. As a general rule, though, Michigan tournaments on our schedule will be registered through the NUWAY website and most Indiana tournaments will be registered through the TrackWrestling website. Although Michigan tournaments use a different registration system, nearly all tournaments, including those in Michigan, utilize TrackWrestling to keep up with match numbers and bracket progression for wrestlers throughout the events.
Absolutely. Although many families likely choose to participate in a single sport at a time, there is nothing we do to prevent multiple sports if another fits within your family’s and your wrestler’s schedule. Our practice and competition schedule may allow for participation in other sports, with some of our club members involved with indoor soccer, basketball, swimming, gymnastics, and off-season training for baseball or softball. It is worth noting, though, that conflicting practice schedules which result in excessive absences could very well have a detrimental impact on your wrestler’s development.
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