Full Text of SR0232 98th General Assembly
SR0232 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The Executive Board of the International Olympic | 3 | | Committee has proposed eliminating the sport of wrestling from | 4 | | the Summer Olympic Games beginning in 2020; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, The proposal remains to be approved or disapproved | 6 | | by the full committee at its September 2013 general assembly; | 7 | | and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, Wrestling was one of the original sports of the | 9 | | ancient Greek Olympic Games in 708 B.C. and of the first modern | 10 | | Olympic Games in 1896; it may be the world's oldest sport; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Wrestling has been a traditional strength of the | 12 | | United States Olympic team, with 124 medals having been awarded | 13 | | to the United States throughout history; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, The sport of wrestling builds great strength, not | 15 | | only of body, but also of character, including the virtues of | 16 | | self-confidence, self-discipline, courage, and sportsmanship; | 17 | | and | 18 | | WHEREAS, Wrestling has produced many outstanding national | 19 | | leaders, including presidents, United States supreme court | 20 | | justices, members of congress, and business and military |
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| 1 | | leaders, as well as many outstanding leaders in Illinois; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, Wrestling provides mainstream opportunities to | 3 | | athletes of all physical builds and body sizes, including the | 4 | | visually impaired, hearing impaired, and otherwise physically | 5 | | challenged student athletes who may not otherwise have the | 6 | | opportunity to participate in athletics; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, Illinois has the second most high school wrestlers | 8 | | of any state in the nation with 17,112 high school boys and | 9 | | girls wrestling in the 2011-12 year; the Illinois Kids | 10 | | Wrestling Federation, USA Wrestling's state association in | 11 | | Illinois, has the largest membership in the nation within USA | 12 | | Wrestling, with almost 19,000 members ages 5-14 last year and a | 13 | | complete program of events and opportunities for wrestlers of | 14 | | all levels in the State; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, Many of these young Illinoisians dream of | 16 | | representing the United States on the international stage at | 17 | | the Olympic Games; Illinois has produced numerous Olympic team | 18 | | members including Ellis Coleman, T.C. Dantzler, Jim Gruenwald, | 19 | | Joe Williams, Kevin Bracken, Derrick Waldroup, Michial Foy, Rob | 20 | | Eiter, Mike Farina, and others plus world medalists and team | 21 | | members in all 3 styles; and
| 22 | | WHEREAS, Illinois is also active in college wrestling, with |
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| 1 | | 18 college programs including Division I universities Northern | 2 | | Illinois, Northwestern, Southern Illinois University at | 3 | | Edwardsville, and the University of Illinois; Division II | 4 | | McKendree University; Division III universities Augustana | 5 | | College, Elmhurst College, Knox College, North Central | 6 | | College, the University of Chicago, Wheaton College, and junior | 7 | | college programs Kennedy-King College, Lincoln College, Rend | 8 | | Lake College, Triton College, Waubonsee CC, Wilbur Wright | 9 | | College, and William Rainey Harper College; former Speaker of | 10 | | the House Dennis Hastert of Illinois was a college wrestler at | 11 | | Wheaton College and successful high school coach before | 12 | | entering public service; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, Wrestling is so ingrained in the life and history | 14 | | of the United States and the State of Illinois that even the | 15 | | 16th U.S. president, Abraham Lincoln, was an accomplished | 16 | | wrestler; his prowess as a grappler earned him enshrinement in | 17 | | the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and he is noted to have | 18 | | only one defeat in approximately 300 matches over 12 years; | 19 | | therefore, be it
| 20 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL | 21 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we request that the | 22 | | International Olympic Committee reinstate wrestling as a core | 23 | | sport of the Summer Olympic Games and that the United States | 24 | | Olympic Committee continue to support wrestling and work |
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| 1 | | actively toward the reinstatement of Olympic wrestling; and be | 2 | | it further
| 3 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 4 | | presented to the International Olympic Committee and to the | 5 | | United States Olympic Committee.
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