The Snake Pit
The Fields, Wigan Road,
Aspull,
Wigan,
WN2 1QX,
Greater Manchester,
United Kingdom

Join a seminar and submit an application here

Training times – 1.30 – 3.30 pm

25th February
24th March
28th April
26th May
30th June
25th August
29th September
27th October

(There are no dates for July as Coach Roy Wood will be at the Olympics)

Our International coach week is on Friday 2nd / Saturday 3rd  / Sunday 4th November 2012  – arrival dates.

Training to commence as follows -

Monday
10-11.30 am Wrestling specific fitness training
2 – 3.30 pm Pure Technique
3.30 – 4.30 Open hour
7 – 8 pm Evening session fitness, technique and wrestling

Tuesday
10-11.30 am Wrestling specific fitness training
2 – 3.30 pm Pure Technique
3.30 – 4.30 Open hour
7 – 8 pm Evening session fitness, technique and wrestling

Wednesday
10-11.30 am Wrestling specific fitness training
2 – 3.30 pm Pure Technique
3.30 – 4.30 Open hour
6.30 – 7.30 pm Evening session fitness, technique and wrestling

Thursday
10-11.30 am Wrestling specific fitness training
2 – 3.30 pm Pure Technique
3.30 – 4.30 Open hour
7 – 8 pm Evening session fitness, technique and wrestling

Friday
2 – 4.30 Technique recap
7 pm Weigh in

Saturday – Sunday Aspull International freestyle tournament

Catch Tournament – Times to be confirmed

All participants in either group MUST send in a seminar application form and the international week is for higher standard coaches / potential coaches.

Good Luck and thanks again!

Today whilst training Maria Dunn at The Snake Pit, BBC Radio Manchester and BBC Northwest Tonight TV surprised him both with this news and his award.

He is now going through for the national selection and will be at the BBC sport personality of the year event in December. Fingers crossed that he wins that too!

Checkout the live radio coverage here http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/p00lpfdm ( the coverage starts at 01:20:00 then carries on live at the gym at 2:17:00)

Here it is the raw footage of Roy being surprised this morning http://youtu.be/3Lzh-QqQCIg Please skip through the intro to 2:48 as we didn’t get too much time to film ourselves and also get involved. The BBC’s footage is being aired tonight on BBC North West tonight which starts at 1830hrs (sorry this isnt fantastic but it was a mad morning of planning behind the scenes and whispering)

From everyone involved CONGRATULATIONS Roy! You are one in a million!

Also check out:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/wrestling/15870552.stm

See below the BBC Press Release:

BBC North West Sports Unsung Hero 2011 winner announced live on BBC Radio Manchester

A dedicated servant of Aspull Olympic Wrestling Club in Wigan has won the BBC North West Sports Unsung Hero award for 2011.

Roy Wood, who is 68 years old, has been an inspiration to the young people he has coached, going the extra mile to change the lives of others through sport.

Roy was surprised with the news live on BBC Radio Manchester this morning (Thursday 24th November). Reporter Alice Gregr met Roy under the guise of talking to him about the history of his gym but instead revealed to him that he had been named the BBC Sports Unsung Hero 2011 for the North West.

Roy now progresses to the Unsung Hero final as the North West regional winner.

Richard Moore, who went along to Roy’s gym in his teens, nominated Roy for the award.

He said, “Roy is an unsung hero through and through. Come rain or shine he’s been at the gym, helping young kids, helping the local community for nothing other than the love of it. He provides guardianship for young people, they learn how to behave, discipline, how to treat people properly. Through the years, he’s helped so many people. This award is one way to tell Roy we think he’s one in a million.”

BBC Sports Unsung Hero is one of the categories at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, which will be held at MediaCityUK in Salford on 22 December. This year’s programme will be screened live on BBC One and BBC One HD from 8pm, and broadcast on BBC Radio 5 live.

A winner is chosen in each BBC English Region and in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Each winner then gets the chance to join the sporting stars of today at BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2011 where the overall BBC Sports Unsung Hero winner is announced.

Last year’s overall winner was Lance Haggith, of, Bedford. Lance, aged 51, who impressed the judges with his dedication to basketball coaching, making him the overall winner from the 15 regional winners across the UK.

Lance has been working with children and young people of all abilities, including disabled, vulnerable and disaffected youngsters, to provide support through basketball coaching for the last 30 years.

Now in its ninth year, the BBC Sports Unsung Hero Award recognises and rewards outstanding contribution by individuals at the grassroots level of local sport, who give up their time on a voluntary basis so that sport can be played and enjoyed by people throughout the UK.

ENDS

Press contact: Helen Holt / Tracey Gallagher, 0161 335 8220

In the 1940s, Billy Riley opened Riley’s Gym in Wigan, England. It soon became the worldwide home of catch-as-catch-can wrestling. It later also became known as The Snake Pit. Among many of the great wrestlers trained by Billy Riley were the late Karl Gotch, Billy Robinson, and Roy Wood. Today Billy Robinson and Roy Wood, along with a new generation of wrestlers, coaches, and others, are working to revive this great sport.

In recent years, Roy Wood has focused on training wrestlers in freestyle wrestling at the Aspull Wrestling Club in Wigan. With the international growth of interest in catch-as-catch-can wrestling, he has again started coaching wrestlers in catch as well as continuing to coach freestyle. Thus, The Snake Pit is back.

We spoke with both Roy Wood and Andrea Wood at length by Skype on Wednesday about The Snake Pit and the revival of catch wrestling. We discussed some of the background and history of catch wrestling, the influence of Billy Riley, the need for a united approach among those reviving this discipline, why the rules developed by Billy Riley did not permit either chokes or going to one’s back, how the rules for this latest incarnation of catch wrestling can develop, the establishment of affiliate clubs for The Snake Pit, the use of their web site and social media to educate people about and expand the influence of catch, and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred at http://nhbnews.podomatic.com/entry/2011-11-09T12_47_25-08_00.

You can also download No Holds Barred at http://www.mediafire.com/?di49cetd59udwuv.

If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher (http://landing.stitcher.com/?vurl=noholdsbarred).

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes at http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=150801513&s=143441.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called “The Heist”, by Ian Carpenter (http://iancarpenter.com).

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

MMA World Expo (http://www.mmaworldexpo.com). The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City, featuring the Renzo Gracie Gi Open 2011 tournament, a signing of his new book by MMA legend Randy Couture, grappling and muay Thai action, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, and much more. The third annual MMA World Expo (http://www.mmaworldexpo.com) takes place Saturday, December 17, and Sunday, December 18, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

Beezid.com – Penny Auctions (http://www.beezid.com). Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com – Penny Auctions (http://www.beezid.com).

American Top Team (http://americantopteam.com). Whether you’re a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com.

The American Sambo Association (http://www.ussambo.com), which is committed to becoming the premier association in the U.S. dedicated to the advancement of Sambo. Sambo is a form of sport, self-defense, and combat established in the former Soviet Union during the early twentieth century. For more information, go to ussambo.com (http://www.ussambo.com).

Thanks, Eddie Goldman

http://eddiegoldman.com

It is an honour to have such an amazing coach in Mr Roy Wood, by far one of the most professional and technically gifted coaches I have ever had the pleasure of training with.

I can see 2012 being an exciting year!

08/11/11
A female wrestler from a small island in the Pacific Ocean is hoping a form of wrestling practiced by the coal miners of Lancashire will help unlock her Olympic dream.

Maria Dunn, 25, arrived in Wigan in September from the island of Guam intent on “honing her skills and getting in shape for her qualifiers in early 2012”.

What she hadn’t expected was to be trained in Freestyle Wrestling by a coach with direct roots to the forerunner of her Olympic discipline – Catch-as-Catch-Can Wrestling.

Maria said: “I wasn’t looking for it, I didn’t know what I was looking for. I came here looking to train and qualify and get into the best shape of my life.
“It’s just by pure chance that I have found the best wrestling coach who has a whole different world of information.
“There are moves I have never ever seen before – I’m learning all the time.”

Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust (WLCT) invited Maria to stay in Wigan for her pre-Olympic training, opening up the borough’s public gyms for her use and teaming her up with world renowned coach Roy Wood from Aspull Olympic Wrestling Club, the club  also known around the world as The Snake Pit.
Mike Lyons, Head of Sport and Leisure for WLCT, said: “We’re delighted to have Maria here. Roy is a world class coach and we’ll do everything we can to help her fulfil her potential.”
Roy, now 68, trained under legendary wrestler Billy Riley who mastered the art of “Catch-as-Catch-Can Wrestling” or “submission wrestling”. Lancashire Catch-as-Catch-Can Wrestling first came to prominence as an amateur sport practiced by coal miners, gaining popularity in the late 19th century.

Freestyle Wrestling which Maria hopes to win a medal at in London 2012 is a descendent of “Catch-as-Catch-Can” and, although the rules may be different, Maria is hoping an insight from those early days could be a major factor in her Olympic ambitions.

Maria said: “I feel really positive, mainly because of this opportunity here in Wigan.
“Roy is coaching me Freestyle Wrestling but because his understanding of the sport is much deeper I am learning all the time. There are little bits here and there that I have never seen before, that nobody would ever expect, and usually a move that is something out of the ordinary allows you to win.
“There are things I can draw from by learning this Lancastrian style made famous by Billy Riley that I think can give me the edge.”

Roy added: “We are delighted to have Maria training with us. She is a pleasure to coach and is refreshing in her open-minded attitude towards Catch-as-Catch-Can Wrestling thus improving her freestyle performance.

“I have always known the value of Catch-as-Catch-Can Wrestling, as both a sport in its own right and one that compliments other disciplines. This is reflected in the global interest that we have seen developing recently with the rising popularity of Mixed Martial Arts.

“I look forward to watching Maria’s progress and feel that she will ultimately have the upper advantage on two levels. Firstly, the extreme level of fitness required by Catch-as-Catch-Can Wrestling to which Maria works on daily. Secondly, the appliance of the Catch-as-Catch-Can rule-compliant techniques that compliments her developing freestyle skills.

“Whether coaching freestyle or catch-as-catch-can, my passion has always been about passing on my knowledge to others which follows on from my own learning from Billy Riley. Ultimately, ensuring that such historical disciplined sports are not lost in the text books of history.”

Factfile about Maria:

Guam is part of the Mariana Islands that extend 1,565 miles from Guam to near Japan.
Guam is 7,000 miles from Wigan.
Maria started wrestling when she was 11-years-old in PE class. She watched for two weeks because she was too young to join in,  pretending to her mum that she was actually at football class. The coach gave in after two weeks started training and had first competition.
As the only female wrestler at high school she had to wrestle with the “guys” to practice.
She went on to study at Missouri Valley College, America and admits that “wrestling boys in Guam certainly helped to put me on the same level”.
Following college she went on to become an Art Major after studying at the University of Guam.
Maria competed in the 2008 Olympics. She was the first female wrestling Olympian her country has produced.

Anyone wishing to find out more about Roy Wood, catch wrestling or The Snake Pit should visit www.snakepitwigan.com

David Taylor,
Media and PR Manager,
Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust,
Haigh Hall, Wigan, WN2 1PE.

For more information on Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust visit www.wlct.org

ends

Later today we will be announcing new affiliate clubs in Wales. For updates keep en eye on our affiliate maps, facebook and twitter.

If you know of a club or gym that could do with catch seminars in their purest forms please do send them to www.snakepitwigan.com

*** New affiliate club now confirmed in Port Talbot

You can read about our history, chat on forums, apply to join seminars, keep up to date on news, read testimonials, view media galleries and most importantly of all to interact with Coach Roy Wood.As you already know, it’s really exciting times for Catch-as-Catch-Can wrestling in the UK.

More importantly, Coach Roy Wood and his affiliate clubs are looking forward to delivering pure catch wrestling seminarsaround the UK.Check out our website and support the cause by registering for our “plus” membership package at just £49.00 per year. Find out more about membership and click this link.

You can also show your support by visiting us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/snakepituk or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/snakepitwigan.