Petitioning for a Shirtless Wrestling Uniform Option

It was recently suggested on the Facebook group, "Wrestlers should be allowed to train and compete shirtless!" that advocates of a shirtless uniform option should write letters and emails to the governing bodies who make the rules for wrestling. A list of the organizations responsible was compiled with address, as well as email addresses or links to lists of email addresses. I am reproducing the list below, for any interested parties.

I would suggest that interested wrestlers should send letters, and high school wrestlers might ask their parents to write supporting them as well. As always, if you want people to listen to you, your letter should be polite and well-reasoned.

FILA

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The international governing body of wrestling. High School and College wrestlers around the world might want to write to them, as well as submission wrestlers. While submission wrestlers do generally have the option to train and compete shirtless, FILA is the only governing body I'm aware of that requires submission wrestlers to wear a shirt, or rashguard. It is noteworthy that FILA also recognizes a wrestling style called beach wrestling where shirts are not required.

Rue du Château, 6
1804 Corsier-sur-Vevey
SWITZERLAND
fila@fila-wrestling.com (for high school and collegiate wrestling)
info@fila-grappling.com (for submission wrestlers)

USA Wrestling

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The national governing body for wrestling in the United States. High school and college wrestlers in the USA might want to write to them, as well as specific organizations listed further below.

6155 Lehman Drive
Colorado Springs, CO 80918
http://www.themat.com/section.php?section_id=1&page=staff also lists a number of email addresses.

NFHS

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The governing body for high school wrestling in the USA.

PO Box 690
Indianapolis, IN 46206
http://www.nfhs.org/ContactUs.aspx

NCAA & NAIA

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Both govern college and university athletics, including wrestling.

NCAA
700 W. Washington Street
P.O. Box 6222
Indianapolis, Indiana 46206-6222
tksmith@ncaa.org Teresa Smith, email contact for playing rules regarding wrestling

NAIA
1200 Grand Blvd.
Kansas City, MO 64106
http://naia.cstv.com/member-services/about/staff.htm has a number of email addresses.

NJCAA

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Governs athletics, including wrestling, for junior and community colleges.

1755 Telstar Drive
Suite 103
Colorado Springs, CO 80920
http://www.njcaa.org/contactUs.cfm

Wrestling Around

One of guys' favorite past-times is wrestling around with their friends. Even for guys who don't wrestle as athletes on a team, it just seems to come naturally. From early childhood, little boys will wrestle around playfully in the floor. They love to wrestle with Dad in the living room, wrestle their friends at play time. And it continues at least through the college years. Even some grown men continue to wrestle around with each other on occasion. And Dads will wrestle their sons, passing on the tradition.

It also just seems to come naturally for guys to pull off their shirts when they wrestle. I suppose this could be an additional argument in favor of a shirtless uniform option for wrestlers. I'm sure you've noticed this, I've even seen girls ask, "Why is that guys always have to pull off their shirts to wrestle or fight?" For us guys, it just seems natural.

Guys often wrestle around shirtless with each other around the house or dorm,

in the yard,

or even in the park or a field.

If you've ever been nervous about wrestling around with your friends, or pulling your shirt off, go ahead and give it a try. It's natural. And it's a lot of fun. It's not all about winning or losing, just give it a good try and have fun. It's a bonding experience. So pull your shirt off, throw your friends around a bit, and have a good time!