Danny Struck
Danny Struck has traveled across the globe in his 28 years as a wrestling coach, and now he shares his adventures in a new book.
The Jennings County native and Jeffersonville wrestling coach published his new book “Climbing for Gold” that is available through Amazon.
Struck has been the wrestling coach at Jeffersonville for the past 23 years. Prior to that, he coached at Greencastle for three years, New Palestine for one year and at the University of Indianapolis for one year.
Struck graduated from JCHS in 1995. He then attended University of Indianapolis and graduated with a degree in history education.
When Struck was at Jennings County, former longtime coach Howard Jones always mentioned to his wrestlers to experience the world through wrestling and have the experiences that last a lifetime. Struck took those things to heart.
“I tried to take my kids to see the world through wrestling. I tried to do the same things that Howard Jones used to do for many kids,” Struck said.
Struck’s adventures have expanded around the world through 48 states, 30 countries and six continents.
“Wrestling is not my favorite thing to see the world through it in. I tell the kids that you’re doing a disservice if you don’t go out and see anything,” he said. “I took kids hiking in Columbia to the highest point there. When we went to Mexico, I took them to the pyramids. When we were in Guatemala last spring, I took them to Antigua, just to experience more culture. It’s those things that make it more memorable than just going to a wrestling match.”
Jennings County native and Jeffersonville wrestling coach Danny Struck has written “Climbing For Gold” about his 28 years of coaching.
The book has 24 chapters with all the highlights all of his sightseeing abroad. The price is $17.99 for the paperback and $27.99 for the hardback copy on Amazon. It also has an introduction, epilogue and acknowledgements.
“I hope the readers get the humor in it. I put some the funniest things that happened from every country and the most adventurous things that happened in every country.” Struck said. “My thought is, if I can just teach people about what I’ve learned through it, that is kind of the intent of the book. It’s not to make money, it’s really just to teach more people. They would tell me they’d like to know more about that trip you were on, and then every chapter has a trip. The parents from the kids on the trip weren’t there most of the time, so this allows families to see what kids did.”
Struck is an avid book reader and said he reads approximately 50-60 books a year that are mostly coaching books. He hopes that will make readers see there is a lot more to the world than on the wrestling mat.
“It’s kind of a coaching lesson book and how I learned that through the wrestling adventures and the friends I made through the wrestling adventures,” Struck said. “Now after 30 countries, I really don’t feel uncomfortable anywhere. I never feel alone anywhere. It teaches the kids that the world is our home, not just the area that they live in.”
