30 years of J Robinson Intensive
Camps: Changing Lives – Forever
By Matt Krumrie
It was the late 1970’s and J Robinson was then an assistant coach at
the University of Iowa. John Marks, his roommate and fellow Iowa
assistant, came home and had an idea he got from a brochure he saw
about an intensive swimming camp held at Iowa.
He told Robinson “we should have an intensive wrestling camp to teach
kids how to train the way we train here.”
Little did they know then that conversation and idea changed the
history of wrestling camps as we know it – forever.
In the summer of 1978 the first J Robinson Intensive Camp was held in
Iowa City. The camp attracted only 102 kids to the 28-day camp that at
first parents and coaches quite frankly, didn’t think would work.
By the third year the camp exploded to 280 participants – with
registration closed on April 1 for the summer session.
Now, this summer, J Robinson Intensive Camps, will proudly celebrate
its 30-year anniversary.
The numbers are amazing - over 40,000 kids have completed the Intensive
Camp that is now held at these four locations throughout the country:
It has become the model for intensive camps around the country and
while it teaches campers how to improve their wrestling ability, it
does much, much more than that - excelling at teaching life skills that
not only benefits kids in the sport of wrestling, but in their everyday
life, school work, and future careers.
“The first few years people denounced it and didn’t see the benefit of
it,” says Robinson, who is a Distinguished Member of The National
Wrestling Hall of Fame, and has coached the Minnesota Gophers to five
Big Ten titles and two NCAA titles in his 21 years as head coach. Since
1997 Robinson has guided the Gophers to eight top-three NCAA finishes,
the most of any program in the country over that stretch. The Gophers
are currently ranked No. 1 in the nation and a favorite to win the 2007
NCAA team title.
While those accolades and accomplishments speak for themselves, you can
hear the passion and pride in Robinson’s voice as he describes the
astounding growth and explosion of what is the most popular and
well-respected camp in the market.
Everyone knows completing this camp commands instant respect from your
peers.
“As it grew the word spread that it was an effective way to teach young
kids to learn,” says Robinson. “It was hard, it was intense, but
campers left not only better wrestlers, but better people. It was a
life-changing experience.”
Robinson based the Intensive Camp on four principles:
Discipline
Sacrifice
Dedication
Hard work
He combined the wealth of knowledge gained as a wrestler (he starred at
Oklahoma State and was a member of the 1972 U.S. Olympic team), as an
elite Army Ranger (he served a tour with the first Cavalry Division in
Vietnam during 1971-72), and as a top-flight coach (He coached at Iowa
from 1976-84 and during that span the Hawkeyes won seven NCAA and eight
Big Ten crowns. He became head coach at Minnesota in 1986.)
“Once you teach them the four core values, then you have them, and
that’s how you change them,” says Robinson. “Discipline is doing what
you don’t want to do when you don’t want to do it. At camp they get
stiff, they get sore, and when the alarm clock goes off, they don’t
want to get out of bed, but they have to get out of bed. As a result,
we rewrite what discipline means. Sacrifice is about what they have to
give up to get through camp. They have to eat, sleep and wrestle. They
don’t have time to play Playstation and mess around. The dedication is
the length of the camp. Anyone can do something for two or three days.
But when you do it for 10, 14, 28 days, it’s a different world. As for
hard work, my parents taught me a very simple concept. They taught me
that you can outwork 90 percent of all Americans. You can be in the top
ten percent of everything you do if you are willing to work longer and
harder. Hard work is not about genetics. If you’re willing to pay the
price you can go on and do exceptional things. That’s what we teach,
and these kids now have that foundation presented to them and it
doesn’t matter if it’s wrestling, education, business, or the military
– they now have these skills rewritten which will allow them to apply
those skills to anything in life.”
To show his dedication and sacrifice, Robinson spends all 66 days of
the four Intensive Camps sleeping and eating in the same dormitory as
the campers. That may sound crazy to some – a coach of this magnitude
and with his credentials and background living with the campers - but
it’s all part of the process and unique methods that Robinson applies
to make the Intensive Camp the elite camp that it is.
“It’s a statement of your involvement,” says Robinson. “When you are
there everyday it’s basically telling the kids that I’m here with you.
I’m living in the dorms with you too, I’m away from my family too. I’m
also here to commit to help you learn as much as you can. I’ve been
doing athletics and wrestling for 50 years, if you do as I say I’ve
pretty much made all the mistakes, so I am going to make less mistakes
than you and I can help you get from Point A to Point B if you will
listen to me.”
For Robinson, staying in the dorms isn’t a sacrifice, it’s a reward he
cherishes.
“They want to know that you care about them and you want to relay that
to them in different ways,” says Robinson, whose eyes light up when
mentioning this. “Staying in the dorms 66 days a year for 30 years is a
lot of days in a dorm, but it’s very rewarding because you see the
difference you make in kids lives when you are there.”
On the very first day of camp Robinson has another clear message for
his campers. He’s not Mr. Robinson, he’s not Coach – he’s simply J.
“My name is J, and just talk to me as J, I’m no different than you and
I’m no better than you,” he says. “I’m here to help you and we’re on a
first name basis. When you break down those barriers - they see me in
the dorms, they see me around in camp - that opens the door for a
better relationship. We try to live what we tell the kids and that’s
manifested itself different and that’s what’s a lot different about
this camp.”
While Robinson is the headline, the main attraction at his Intensive
Camps, he is the first to admit that the success wouldn’t be possible
without the outstanding work of the numerous camp counselors who have
worked alongside him for these 30 years. Sure, it’s a world-class list
of some of the best coaches and competitors in the sport, such as Mike
Sheets, Kevin Jackson, Johnny Johnson, Randy Lewis, Ed Banach, Kevin
Dresser, Jim Zalesky, Lenny Zalesky, Tim Hartung, Marty Morgan, Joe
Russell, Sam Barber, Luke Becker, Jared Lawrence, Cole Konrad, Dustin
Schlatter, Mack Reiter – the list goes on and on, the medals,
All-American honors and championships attained by the counselors
continues to grow each year. Those same legends and stars of the sport
are the same people pushing kids to set goals and complete their
workbooks. They are the one’s encouraging and preparing kids for the
15-mile run on the last day of camp that must be completed to receive
the famous “I Did It” t-shirt signifying completion of the camp. They
are the one’s sharing their personal stories during nightly
motivational sessions. Not to better themselves or brag, but to change
and enhance the lives of kids at the camp – forever.
“It’s really not just J Robinson changing their life,” says Robinson.
“It’s those staff guys who are out there running them in the morning or
leading drills in the afternoon. The staff is what’s really critical
and I don’t think a lot of times the staff realizes how important what
they do is in the whole concept. They look at it as part of the camp,
but they are the one’s interacting with them. They are the one’s making
them do the pushups, or holding them accountable or motivating them
after a session. The staff for us is critical, but it’s not just about
what they’ve done as far as winning medals and titles, it’s the
attitude in trying to help these young kids reach their goals in
wrestling and as a result change their life.”
Mike McGivern, a 1977 All-American at 158 pounds for Iowa, and head
coach at Des Moines Lincoln High School since 1985, has worked at every
Intensive Camp since 1979.
“People look at J as being a gruff, hard-nosed guy, but I’ve never met
somebody that’s a more kind, conscientious, and caring person,” says
McGivern, who enjoys the camp because he sees first-hand the amazing
growth and transformation of campers from the day they arrive to the
day they leave. “He would do anything for anyone of his guys - and I
mean anything in his power - and that’s always impressed me. I think
it’s his Ranger background - you leave nobody behind, you’re right
there for him. It’s amazing how year-after-year he addresses them with
all the enthusiasm he does. How he stresses how important they are,
they’re unique, special in their own way, not better than anybody, but
they have their own opportunities and that this camp can help them
accomplish and make the most of those opportunities.”
What also stands out is that this concept isn’t just for the elite
wrestler only. All wrestlers – and all people – who want to better
themselves and grow can – and will – succeed if they follow Robinson’s
proven methods of training and teaching. It’s for the wrestler who went
15-10 but wants to make it to state the next season. It’s for the
wrestler who has had success but can’t overcome mental barriers holding
him back in the big match. It’s for the wrestler who wants to learn how
to succeed in life - as well as sport. It’s for, really, anyone who
wants to improve their life, because their life will be changed –
forever.
“The beauty of it is when you get older and you have experience, you
can look back at the nay-sayers who didn’t believe this could work, and
know that you were changed, forever, by attending this camp. Over the
course of 30 years it’s validated that this is something that is a
benefit to young people that can change their lives. There’s a need for
this and what’s beautiful is you can actually impact and change some
people, you can change kids lives – forever.”
Thirty years ago no one gave J Robinson Intensive Camps a chance.
Today, every kid wants a chance to have their wrestling career and life
changed – forever.