Bill Crum is the quintessential “Jack of all trades” in the sport of wrestling.

As a coach, Bill began in 1972, assisting his Hall of Fame High School coach, Fred Pierro, as a volunteer workout partner in the room. The following year, he was hired as the school’s Freshman Coach. In 1974, he was hired as head coach in the fledgling program at St. Peter’s Prep in Jersey City. After five years at the helm at St. Peter’s, he moved to Union Catholic High School in Scotch Plains. After three successful years there, he was recruited to be the Head Coach at Rutgers Newark where he led the Division 3 School to a league co-championship. Bill was hired at the Dean of Students at St. Anthony High School in Jersey City where he once again started a new wrestling program. Years later, he coached at Monsignor Farrell High School on Staten Island.

Bill joined the New Jersey Wrestling Officials Association. in 1972. He remained as a high school official through the mid-1980s.

Bill served as the Assistant Competition Manager for the 1996 Olympic Games, the idea to marry his two passions, urban youth and wrestling, took shape in the form of a letter to Hall of Famers Al Bevilacqua and Setrak Agonian to begin an organization which would be called “Beat the Streets”. For his role in the 2001 world Championship at Madison Square Garden, Bill was awarded the FILA Silber Star, the second highest award given by The Metropolitan Wrestling Association.

Shortly after the World Championships, the MWA was awarded two successive grants from the Junior Olympic Committee of USA Wrestling, to form an urban wrestling and education program to be called “Beat the Streets”. That small program morphed into a single middle school program in Manhattan and eventually blossomed into what is now an organization serving over 3000 young people each year.

After years in service to the wrestlers of the New York Metropolitan Area, Bill moved to Florida where he continues to offer his services to the High School and USA Wrestling communities. He is currently in discussions with leaders in the community to form a Beat the Streets program for South Florida.