On December 16, 2022, five MYAS team members and I packed up two trucks and a trailer with supplies and headed south to the Alliant Energy Powerhouse Arena in Cedar Rapids, IA, for the Hawkeye Nationals, a wrestling competition for pre-K through 8th grade boys and girls from more than a dozen states.

I love the feeling of being on the ground level because I am, at heart, a programmer, something I did for 15 years of my career at MYAS. It is always rewarding to be a part of the experience, seeing the excitement of 500 wrestlers, including the new all-girls divisions.

The MYAS has conducted a wrestling program for nearly two decades, including the Hawkeye Nationals for nearly a decade. The event is part of the Midwest Wrestling Tour (MWT), which kicked off with the Yellowjacket Nationals in Rochester, MN, on December 4, followed by Hawkeye Nationals. The Badgerland Nationals will be held on January 21 in La Crosse, WI. The culminating event of the MWT will be the Gopher State Nationals on February 11-12 in Monticello, MN.

The MWT has a great following. It's a cool community of wrestlers and supporters who are very passionate, and I'm humbled by the excitement and appreciation of people at our youth wrestling events. We receive many positive remarks about how well things are being run, and it's awesome to hear because there are typically 8-12 mats going throughout the duration of a tournament.

One of the special aspects of our tournaments is the opportunity, at the beginning of each day, to be able to address everyone, from wrestlers to coaches to spectators. The head official was given the opportunity to emphasize the importance of respecting calls and that unsportsmanlike conduct and behavior would not be tolerated. I felt it set the tone for the event, and we didn't have any issues.

It's a unique opportunity that's very difficult to accomplish in other sports. For instance, given the number and size of the courts, it would be impossible to address everyone at a basketball tournament that is spread across six to eight courts, especially with different tip-off times.

I'm so proud of how the MYAS/MWT crew of Lance Klinkhammer, Jeremy Innes, Adam Klinkhammer, Eric Rathke, and Adam Cook conduct our wrestling events so efficiently, including the technology behind them. All of the laptops are connected to the scoreboards, brackets, and Trackwrestling, and everything flows seamlessly. The Hawkeye Nationals volunteers and the Cedar Rapids Sports Tourism staff were so helpful, and that is essential to make everything work.

This is just one of many examples of the pride and passion our team members, dedicated host groups, and partners have for the MYAS slogan of “Youth Sports Done Right”!

There were two other highlights for me. I had a chance to be a lead for the awards ceremonies on Saturday and present awards to the youth wrestlers who placed in their class. It's especially important because if you place in the top four at three MWT events, you are awarded a Midwest Wrestling Tour belt – a tradition since 2015!

After the conclusion of the event, I was approached by a college wrestler who was living in the Quad Cities and volunteering at the Hawkeye Nationals. He told me how special it was for him to participate in the Midwest Wrestling Tour when he was a kid and showed me multiple pictures of him with medals and a tour belt.

As one of our final events of 2022, I believe the Hawkeye Nationals provide the MYAS with a lot of momentum heading into 2023. There are so many new programs and services that we'll be offering. But more important is the tremendous opportunity to enhance and streamline our current programs, like our Winter Super Series and Gopher State Spring Series tournament schedule in basketball. For example, we'll be hosting the First Annual Deshaun Hill, Jr. "Stop the Violence" Tournament in February to honor the beloved Minneapolis North High student-athlete who was killed in February of 2022.

Among our other goals is to continue to focus on the strategic planning process/org chart, amplify the user experience for myas.org, and elevate our digital marketing efforts. We are also committed to bringing standardized playing rules within leagues and tournaments, and to continue to emphasize respect and civility among athletes, coaches, spectators, and officials by creating environments that are safe, positive, and productive for each role within the youth sports experience.

We are hopeful that you'll recognize and appreciate these efforts in 2023, and we invite your feedback.

Happy New Year!