Report from USA President Denise Wattles
February 2004
First
of all I would like to express my gratitude and thanks to all of those on Team
USA for the time and sacrifices you made to attend the XXV WAF World
Armwrestling Championships held in Ottawa. I am very proud of each of you and
congratulate you on your stellar performance. To place in the top 3 teams in
the World is a huge accomplishment and no one but the athletes can be credited
with achieving such a goal. Once again, Congratulations and Thank You!
The United States ArmSports has grown to 32 member associations
since 1998 and we are continuously being contacted for information about
membership. All promoters are welcome to join USA. There are still no
membership dues and all the member associations do their best to promote each
others tournaments. The website
www.armwrestling.com,
which first appeared in 1995, receives an average of 16,907 “hits” daily
and the total for the month of December 2003 was 508,669 “hits”. Member
Associations of United States ArmSports have been very successful in securing
media coverage. Turner Broadcasting, Discovery Channel, David Letterman,
Caroline Rhea and many others have taken notice of our sport and brought it
into millions of living rooms all over the World.
For the last year Caesar Productions has been taping footage for the
documentary “Pulling John” culminating with the competition at the Arnold
Classic Armwrestling Challenge 2004. “Pulling
John” will contain footage of many current Champions in our sport including
their daily lives and workout methods. It also includes some less known “up
and comers” in the sport. The development of
www.armwrestling.tv
will also be a huge boost for Armwrestling. Due entirely to the dedication of
its’ member associations, United States ArmSports has made great strides in
the advance of Armwrestling. I believe that as President Bush has his program
“Leave No Child Behind”, the United States ArmSports is promoting a
program of “Leave No Armwrestler Behind”. Armwrestling will only advance
to greater heights with the dedication, cooperation and support of all
promoters and athletes.
United
States ArmSports is recognized by the World Armwrestling Federation as the
official representative of the United States. It is the duty of United States
ArmSports to organize a team for the World Armwrestling Federation
Championship each year. United States ArmSports is also the only recognized
association in the U.S. that will take armwrestlers to the very prestigious
Zloty Tur in Poland November 6, 2004. This
tournament offers outstanding prize money and superior awards. Mr. Igor
Mazurenko, who hosted the 2001 WAF Worlds, definitely knows what it takes to
put on a superior event and the Zloty Tur will be no exception.
The United States ArmSports is in the process of finalizing all
the details of the 2004 USA Unified Nationals and will have all the details
posted within 2 weeks. All members of United States ArmSports have the
opportunity each year to bid for hosting the USA Unified Armwrestling
Championships. The bids submitted before the Unified Nationals each year will
be reviewed and approved by the USA Executive Board. Location, accommodations,
transportation, awards and benefits for the competitors are only a part of the
criteria reviewed by the Executive Board. In the past, the USA Unified
Nationals has been hosted by the International Armwrestling Federation,
Southern States Arm Wrestling Association, Illinois Armsport Association and
the United States Armwrestling Association. The qualifying tournaments are
open to all armwrestlers regardless of affiliation and no membership dues are
required to participate. The USA Unifieds have been great events growing in
number each year to the attendance of over 350 in Little Rock, Arkansas in
2003.
The USA team has been selected from qualifying athletes at the USA
Unified Nationals in each of 57 weight divisions since 1998. The 2004 WAF
World’s are being held in South Africa and promises to be an outstanding
event hosted by the South Africa Arm Wrestling Association. In 2004 the top 2
in each division at the USA Unified National Championship will automatically
secure a spot on the US Team should they decide to attend. If one of the top 2
finishers is not able to attend then the other armwrestlers in succession in
that respective class will be given the opportunity to attend until the team
is filled. The US Team that will be attending the World Armwrestling
Federation Championship in Tokyo Japan in 2005 will be selected in the exact
same process. The location of the 2005 USA Unified Nationals will be announced
by the end of 2004 and the qualifying armwrestlers at that tournament will
represent the United States at the XXVII WAF Armwrestling Championship in
Tokyo, Japan.
It is no secret that United States ArmSports has made several
proposals to Frank and Karen Bean to join USA in the promotion of
Armwrestling. American Armsport Association has been a great asset to the
sport of Armwrestling for many years. Just imagine what the United States
ArmSports and American Armsport Association could do together! Keep up the
good work and I hope to see you soon.
Yours
in ArmSports, Denise Wattles
President,
United States ArmSports
