Josh Nelson, coach at Gadsden City High School, spoke at the city council meeting asking for support to establish a girl’s wrestling team.
Nelson began coaching the wrestling team in 2023. His first year the team won seven dual meets. The next year, the team doubled that and won 14. With the success of the team, more kids began signing up, so much so a junior varsity team formed. Nelson said nearly four times as many kids attended tournaments this year than the first year.
Several girls have come to Nelson and expressed interest in joining the team. Although he was hesitant at first, he made the decision to go ahead and start it.
However, he said, the school will need to purchase singlets for the girls, which is an estimated cost of $1,200 to $1,300. Nelson said they host fundraising events and ask for donations so the students will have little to no cost to participate in the sport.
“We make our kids buy shoes,” Nelson said. “If they can’t buy shoes, we figure out some way and get them, so they have what they need.”
In 2023, Nelson asked the council to help fund the purchase of mats. The mats allowed the school to host meets and a tournament at home. This year they plan to host the first ever Etowah County tournament, in which 22 teams have signed up to compete.
The mats also cut back on tournament fees, which range anywhere from $150 to $450 depending on how many teams participate. The addition of the JV and a girls team would increase those. However, Nelson said that because the wrestling community is really tight-knit they can offset the cost by trading out the use of mats for meets.
Earlier this year the team had to give up its practice space, due to the rapid growth of enrollment at the school. Mayor Craig Ford, owner of the Messenger, made arrangements for the team to practice at the YMCA. Nelson said he would like to purchase a utility trailer to transport the mats carefully without damage.
“I would like to get one large enough that we can store stuff without cramming in and potentially damaging the mats that we are so proud of,” Nelson said. “Our mats have been a huge blessing.”
Nelson also expressed his appreciation for the use of the buses to transport students to and from the YMCA safely.
“I appreciate you letting me come and speak, and anything the council can do to help us, y’all have done so much, and I hate to ask again.” Nelson said. “But I’m happy for the girls… Right now we have seven that want to wrestle, that we know for sure. I know when it gets closer, those numbers will increase.”
