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The following letter will be mailed this week to USA Wrestling age-group female members about the USA Wrestling camp for girls this summer in Colorado Springs. It is coming from Stephanie Murata, one of the featured clinicians:
Dear wrestler:
I am excited to be on the coaching staff for the USA Wrestling Women’s Developmental Camp, that is scheduled for Colorado Springs, Colo., July 1-6.
This is an exciting new camp for girls in the Schoolgirl, Cadet and Junior levels, who are young athletes on the junior high school and high school levels. This camp is designed just for girl wrestlers, and the instructors will be experienced and talented women wrestlers and other coaches who have worked with female athletes.
Our featured clinicians are talented and experienced. I am Stephanie Murata, a silver medalist at the 2001 Women’s World Championships. I have won seven U.S. Nationals titles and have competed for the United States at many major events including the World Championships, Pan American Championships and tournaments all over the world. I have been coaching young women athletes for many years and understand the challenges and joys of being a female wrestler.
Our other two featured clinicians are also among the best wrestlers in the world. Sara McMann has won three U.S. Nationals title and competed at the World Championships two times for the United States. Katie Downing was a Junior World medalist and one of the nation’s best college wrestlers at the Univ. of Minnesota-Morris. All three of us are looking forward to working with you and teaching you the moves and strategies needed to become a champion.
The camp will be held at the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind, right next to the U.S. Olympic Training Center. This campus has been used for many wrestling camps and activities, including a few training camps for U.S. World wrestling teams. As you may know, Colorado Springs is the city where both USA Wrestling and the U.S. Olympic Committee have headquarters.
The staff at USA Wrestling Camps has made great efforts to provide you with a memorable and exciting experience. Our counselors will be current college women wrestlers, and our staff will be staying with the girls in the dormitories. We have a full schedule of activities, including technique instruction, drilling and motivational talks. It will be a challenging camp, but should also be a lot of fun for those who attend.
Summer wrestling camps are a tremendous way for a young wrestler to improve. By attending this camp, you will be working out with other girls, and learning moves that are effective for women athletes. You will also have an opportunity to make new friends from across the nation, other girls who enjoy competing in wrestling and are also looking to become champions.
I encourage you to join me in Colorado Springs this summer. Women’s wrestling is now an Olympic sport, and we are all working together to build the sport and help our young athletes to achieve their goals.
Sincerely,
Stephanie Murata
2001 World silver medalist
Seven-time U.S. Nationals champion
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Las Vegas 2003 United States National Wrestling Championships set for May 7-10 at the Las Vegas Convention Center
5/13/2002
Gary Abbott/USA Wrestling
USA Wrestling and the Las Vegas Sports Committee are pleased to announce that the site and date for the Las Vegas 2003 United States National Championships have been determined.
The competition will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, May 7-10, 2003. This will be the 14th time that USA Wrestling and the Las Vegas Sports Committee have partnered to present the United States National Championships.
The massive tournament, with over 2,000 athletes expected to compete, will include the U.S. Freestyle Nationals, the U.S. Greco-Roman Nationals, the U.S. Women’s Nationals, the U.S. Veterans Nationals and the Western Junior Regionals. It will be the 11th time the event will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
“USA Wrestling is excited to once again work with the Las Vegas Sports Committee to showcase our National Championships in Las Vegas in 2003,” said Pete Isais, USA Wrestling Director of National Events. “This is a spectacular event that brings the entire wrestling community together each year. We are looking to build on the lessons learned from past events, and provide a fitting presentation for these tremendous athletes.”
The tournament will be hosted in the Convention Center’s North Halls 1 and 2, the same exact halls used to present the successful 2000 United States National Championships.
“After some of the challenges we experienced in the halls we were provided this year, it is a welcome delight to have the tournament back in the halls we used for the 2000 Championships,” said Larry Barnson, LVSC President. “It will easily hold the mats that we need, as well as offer the ability to present a great seating arrangement for the finals. I am delighted to have the tournament here in Las Vegas again next year. This is a perfect city to hold this competition, and the athletes, coaches and fans enjoy coming here.”
Each year, America’s best men and women wrestlers compete at the United States National Wrestling Championships, battling for coveted national titles and all-American honors. This event is the major qualifying tournament for the 2003 World Team Trials in all three Olympic styles.
The Veterans National Championships is a growing event that features the nation’s best wrestlers who are 35 years old and above. The Western Junior Regionals showcases many of the nation’s top high school freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestlers, including numerous age-group national All-Americans.
Officially, the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority is title sponsor of the event.
For 17 years, the LVSC, a non-profit organization benefitting the youth of Las Vegas, has been producing special events in the Las Vegas area. Other major wrestling events produced by the LVSC include the 1997 USA Wrestling Freestyle World Team Trials, the 1998 NAIA National Wrestling Championships and the 1998 Junior World Freestyle Wrestling Championships. In July of 1999, the LVSC presented the U.S. Taekwondo Junior Olympics with over 5,000 participants.
