USAW - BTSC Partnership: Membership Card Rules

Beat the Streets Chicago is excited to announce a special partnership with USA Wrestling, which will make wrestling more affordable and accessible to youth throughout the US.

USA Wrestling (USAW) is the governing body of our sport, affiliated with the US Olympic Committee.  Amateur wrestling benefits at all levels from this organization, which provides guidelines for the safe and proper way to conduct wrestling clubs, competition and tournaments for youth through elite athletes.

Membership in USAW is available to both clubs and individual athletes.  Beat the Streets Chicago is a USAW member club, meaning that it can host events under the umbrella of USAW.  These are known as "sanctioned events."

Athlete members receive special benefits.  In addition to assurance that coaches are experienced and vetted, information, communication and inclusion in the national wrestling community, all USAW members are covered under a national insurance policy which provides coverage for certain injuries that may occur at USAW events or while practicing with a USAW Club.

For this reason, ALL WRESTLERS WITH BTSC must have a current USAW membership.  Members receive their own membership number, which is often asked for on registration forms or at tournaments.

To encourage growth in the sport and to acknowledge the work BTSC and other Beat the Streets cities do for youth in under-resourced areas, USAW has created a special membership level for our wrestlers:  BTSC / USAW intramural membership.  ALL PARTICIPANTS who do not already have a USAW membership will be provided an "intramural membership."  This allows the wrestler to practice with his/her BTSC club and live wrestle with other member of the BTSC Club.

The intramural card is NOT a full athlete membership - which means that that the wrestler CANNOT participate in competitions, clinics or tournaments hosted by other USAW clubs or at BTSC events that invite members of other clubs.  Should a wrestler desire to train and compete outside of BTSC practices, he or she must upgrade the membership from intramural to full athlete membership. There is a cost to this, which should be discussed with one's coach.

BTSC wrestlers: if you are interested in competing at outside events, you should contact your coach to request an upgrade.  Please allow a few days prior to the competition to receive an upgrade so that we can work with USAW and make that happen in time for you to participate.  You only have to do this one time:  once you are upgraded to full athlete membership, the upgrade lasts through the end of the USAW year, August 31.

New wrestlers and wrestlers from other clubs participating in BTSC camps or clinics will receive an intramural membership if they do not already have a USAW membership when they register for our events.  However, to upgrade to a full athlete membership, these wrestlers should contact their home club head coach.

Beat the Streets Chicago and our partner cities acknowledge USAW's partnership.  We are grateful to USAW for creating the intramural membership, which allows us to bring the world's greatest sport to athletes in Chicago and throughout the US in a cost-effective manner.

For more information about USAW and to follow our elite US athletes competing on the world state, visit https://www.teamusa.org/usa-wrestling

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