As we get ready to head into the fall of 2020, I think it's fair to say that we are still swimming in uncharted waters. But what I can tell you is that the Cyclone Regional Training Center and, most importantly, our donors saved the day this summer!
The dollars we raised from YOU and the guidelines in place that allowed us to continue conducting RTC workouts, resulted in most of our RTC athletes participating in an extended training period this summer.
The Cyclone RTC leased a wrestling facility near Ames called the Barn that gave RTC athletes a place for organized and consistent training during the months of June, July, and into August. This is crucial because most high school and collegiate wrestling facilities have been closed down.
It also is important to understand that our RTC athletes include post-college resident athletes, current qualified college athletes, and qualified area HS athletes who live within a 250-mile radius of Ames. In all, we had 60 athletes at the Barn throughout this summer.
Workouts at the Barn started in mid-June in groups of 10 or less and progressed into larger groups throughout the summer. In July, the C-RTC ran two workouts per day from Monday through Saturday to insure that our training complied with Covid guidelines.
While workouts were NOT mandatory, most of our current college athletes did participate in the summer RTC workouts at the Barn. Coach Metcalf, Coach St. John, and I were NOT allowed to participate or conduct any workouts due to Covid-related restrictions by the NCAA and the Big 12. However, Coach Carr -- Associate Director of the C-RTC -- was there every day. Ian Parker, Alex Mackall, Gannon Gremmel, Kyven Gadson, Jarrett Degen, and David Carr all jumped in to conduct various wrestling, running, and weight-training workouts these past couple of months.
The Cyclone RTC also hired a First Aid Responder (who took temperatures and checked overall health) for the entire summer, to protect our athletes as much as possible. The RTC made sure all athletes had nutrition supplements available after their workouts. And we hired a nutrition expert to be available for consultations with each guy.
The Cyclone RTC will NOT conduct any scheduled workouts this month, but the Barn will be available for individual workouts all month. It is our hope to resume normal RTC workouts on September 1st back at Lied Recreation Athletic Center on the ISU campus.
Click HERE to see a video clip of some Barn footage from earlier this summer!
Moving forward, as the director of the C-RTC, I must focus on fund raising these next couple of months. For obvious reasons, we lost all of our indoor socials and dinners this season. Our focus now will be on hosting a couple of golf events this fall, and once again, our Second Annual C-RTC Text-a-Thon (which we will hold outdoors).
WE will be getting information out very soon about two different sites in the state where we will host some golf days with my staff and many of our athletes. Our Text-a-Thon will happen as we get closer to our season.
All things considered, we had a very good summer. Our donors stepped up and helped us meet the $100k Double Down matching challenge we began in mid-May. Since then, we have raised $134,481. Overall, we have 111 donors and $292,481 in donations for all of 2020. This means we are in good shape for now.
Since we do not know how athletics will progress into the fall, however, we want to keep the Cyclone RTC strong and capable of jumping in to support ALL our athletes again. We also are still paying the mortgage on our new 4-plex in West Ames.
For this reason, we are keeping the We Will Wrestle Again challenge going through the end of August. Anyone who gets on our 2020 Tree this month by donating HERE will get all the regular donor gifts plus a bonus shirt with the logo below!
Once again, I want to thank you for your support and I hope you have a good remainder of the summer.
Coach Dresser
The dollars we raised from YOU and the guidelines in place that allowed us to continue conducting RTC workouts, resulted in most of our RTC athletes participating in an extended training period this summer.
The Cyclone RTC leased a wrestling facility near Ames called the Barn that gave RTC athletes a place for organized and consistent training during the months of June, July, and into August. This is crucial because most high school and collegiate wrestling facilities have been closed down.
It also is important to understand that our RTC athletes include post-college resident athletes, current qualified college athletes, and qualified area HS athletes who live within a 250-mile radius of Ames. In all, we had 60 athletes at the Barn throughout this summer.
Workouts at the Barn started in mid-June in groups of 10 or less and progressed into larger groups throughout the summer. In July, the C-RTC ran two workouts per day from Monday through Saturday to insure that our training complied with Covid guidelines.
While workouts were NOT mandatory, most of our current college athletes did participate in the summer RTC workouts at the Barn. Coach Metcalf, Coach St. John, and I were NOT allowed to participate or conduct any workouts due to Covid-related restrictions by the NCAA and the Big 12. However, Coach Carr -- Associate Director of the C-RTC -- was there every day. Ian Parker, Alex Mackall, Gannon Gremmel, Kyven Gadson, Jarrett Degen, and David Carr all jumped in to conduct various wrestling, running, and weight-training workouts these past couple of months.
The Cyclone RTC also hired a First Aid Responder (who took temperatures and checked overall health) for the entire summer, to protect our athletes as much as possible. The RTC made sure all athletes had nutrition supplements available after their workouts. And we hired a nutrition expert to be available for consultations with each guy.
The Cyclone RTC will NOT conduct any scheduled workouts this month, but the Barn will be available for individual workouts all month. It is our hope to resume normal RTC workouts on September 1st back at Lied Recreation Athletic Center on the ISU campus.
Click HERE to see a video clip of some Barn footage from earlier this summer!
Moving forward, as the director of the C-RTC, I must focus on fund raising these next couple of months. For obvious reasons, we lost all of our indoor socials and dinners this season. Our focus now will be on hosting a couple of golf events this fall, and once again, our Second Annual C-RTC Text-a-Thon (which we will hold outdoors).
WE will be getting information out very soon about two different sites in the state where we will host some golf days with my staff and many of our athletes. Our Text-a-Thon will happen as we get closer to our season.
All things considered, we had a very good summer. Our donors stepped up and helped us meet the $100k Double Down matching challenge we began in mid-May. Since then, we have raised $134,481. Overall, we have 111 donors and $292,481 in donations for all of 2020. This means we are in good shape for now.
Since we do not know how athletics will progress into the fall, however, we want to keep the Cyclone RTC strong and capable of jumping in to support ALL our athletes again. We also are still paying the mortgage on our new 4-plex in West Ames.
For this reason, we are keeping the We Will Wrestle Again challenge going through the end of August. Anyone who gets on our 2020 Tree this month by donating HERE will get all the regular donor gifts plus a bonus shirt with the logo below!
Once again, I want to thank you for your support and I hope you have a good remainder of the summer.
Coach Dresser
