The sport of wrestling in WA was originally governed by the Western Australian Amateur Boxing and Wrestling Association since the early 1900′s.
Up to the 1950′s, boxing tournaments incorporated wrestling bouts because both sports were conducted in the same boxing ring.
When the international rules of wrestling were changed to require wrestling to take place on a circular mat in contrast to the square boxing ring, it became more difficult to conduct joint tournaments with boxing. Wrestling then parted from boxing to form its own body known as the Western Australian Amateur Wrestling Association (WAAWA); a trend that occurred in other states of Australia. The word “amateur” was important at the time because it denoted that its members were not paid to compete. The Olympic Games then required that all its participants have amateur status and that sportsman that were deemed to have turned professional could no longer take part in the Olympics. A clear distinction could then be made between professional and amateur wrestling, the former involving matches that were staged and generally choreographed.
WAAWA became an incorporated body in the 1980′s and later changed its name to Wrestling Western Australia Incorporated given that amateur status no longer had relevance at the Olympics and other world sporting events. However WWA remains amateur in the true sense of the word which literally means “lover of” as its members do not wrestle for money and its officials are volunteers.
