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The Person: Scott Glabb
The Cause: Santa Ana High School Wrestling
Santa Ana, CA --
Scott Glabb walked into the Athletic Director's office at Santa Ana High School and immediately got the job as head wrestling coach-- but, of course, the competition was lean. Not a single other person had applied for the job at the school, which was known for students to be in gangs and dealing drugs.
Coming from a school of upper-middle class students, Glabb was unsure of how disciplined the wrestlers at Santa Ana would be -- he soon found out that the commitment level he was used to from athletes was not the norm at Santa Ana High School. The first season, Glabb dealt with wrestlers not being eligible to compete because of grades, and students in gangs and on drugs. His team of 20 wrestlers had a losing season of 11 wins and 16 losses -- once even getting beat by a score of 72 to zero.
Glabb figured he would never have the winning wrestling team he dreamed of at Santa Ana, so he decided to stop focusing on winning and start investing more time in these kids -- and that is when things started to change. Glabb began to focus on the relationships he had with his wrestlers and started hanging out with them outside of practice -- taking them to movies and theme parks and learning more about their lives and cultures. The next season the team was 26-3 and the team that had previously beat them by 72 points, only beat them by 6.
Because many of these boys did not have father figures and had to grow up too fast because of their family life situations, Glabb became the role model they needed to break their negative cycles. He believed in them when no one else would, and took the time to get to know them. Since Scott started focusing on his wrestlers rather than winning, there have been major changes among his team -- wrestlers are no longer skipping practices, and the training has become much more serious because everyone's attitude is better. Scott too has benefited from working with the Santa Ana wrestlers because he says it has given him a purpose and hope.
Since Scott started coaching in 1991, the Santa Ana High School wrestling team has had a record of 294 wins and 53 losses, 48 state qualifiers, and two high school national champion wrestlers.
If you would like to learn more about the Santa Ana High School Wrestling Team please visit: Santa Ana Wrestling Team
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