LOS ANGELES, CA. – It all started for Paul Garcia during the summer of 1983 when his uncle Kevin suggested giving wrestling a try. As a high school freshman, wrestling guys in tights was not something Paul was interested in. It may sense since he grew up in Ventura, a hot spot for skateboarding and surfing.
However, after the first week of practice, Garcia was hooked into the sport of grappling. The fact that coach Paul Clementi came into his life, it made the experience unforgettable. Clementi became a father figure for Garcia who did not have the guidance of a father during his teenage years.
During his senior year, Garcia was projected to advance to the California state tournament and do some noise. However, an injury during the rugged CIT tournament held in Morro Bay derailed his dreams. Even though Garcia was injured, he still managed place third at the league tournament and advanced to CIF where he, unfortunately, did not make the second day.
His dreams did not stop there as he went on to compete for CCCAA power Moorpark College.
“I noticed my crosstown rival was also attending the same school and was wrestling too. I found out what weight and set a goal to challenge him for the spot. The day came for the challenge match and I defeated him and conquered what I had failed doing before.” said Garcia
After winning the spot, Garcia was confident he was destined to do greatness in college. Nevertheless, Garcia learned that God had other plans for him. Later that year, he re-injured his knee and was out for the season. His teammate, which he had defeated in the wrestle-offs, went on to take his spot at Moorpark. He went on to place third at the state tournament and become an All-American at 126-pounds.
Garcia began his coaching career at his alma mater by helping coach Clementi win various league and CIF titles. Since then, Garcia has been involved in wrestling by coaching at various clubs and schools throughout Kern County.
Nevertheless, his biggest achievement has been being the co-founder of Team Fluffy along with friend Ryan Meloche. Team Fluffy was established in 2014 as a non-profit organization. The idea was to provide all those former high school and college wrestlers another opportunity to compete in the sport of Gods. To educate and inform others about the causes and symptoms of diabetes. To encourage others to get fit and stay healthy. Laugh and unite with new friends and old. Inspire those around us, such as friends and family. To remain youthful in life and assist our local youth in our sport.
By 2015, 11 of their athletes competed at the 2015 Veteran’s Nationals. After six years of having the club, Team Fluffy currently has over 68 members throughout the United States and Canada.
“Team Fluffy is here to help people. To lend a helping hand to our fellow brothers. We have the testimony of how many of our members have lost weight trying to get back into wrestling.”
Due to the coronavirus, Senior Nationals was canceled along with many other tournaments throughout the country.
“We had intentions of sending 25 of our brothers to compete at Senior Nationals.”
Mr. Gabriel Iglesias allowed Team Fluffy to use his trademark logo and it is exclusively to those with permission and may not be printed by others. Thanks to Tri-Titans and its CEO Duke Le, Team Fluffy will be providing 2020 Team Fluffy uniforms to the public and in youth sizes. Those individuals who have shown us support over the last 6 years and our kids can now show their support as well. They can purchase entire uniforms, shirts, shorts, and doublets. We will be donating 2 face masks per $45 spent on uniforms and they will be donated to the Ronald McDonald House to help their youth, families, and staff. TFW is not profiting from any of the purchases.
“We (Team Fluffy members) voted to allow the public to use our merchandise. We believe one must earn the right to wear Team Fluffy. Nevertheless, we also want to thank the public for their loyal support and allow them to wear our gear.”
The reason Team Fluffy decided to go with Tri-Titans was due to the fact that their customer service was superb in all sense of the word. Garcia spoke to other companies attempting to get his project going before going with Tri-Titans. However, he found out that Tri-Titans stands by their word.
“I am big in communication; It is important for me. Tri-Titans made things happen without a glitch. I was in the business (of selling singlets) and they were super patient with me and treated me like family.”
For those interested in purchasing merchandise, they can click on the link and it will take them directly to Tri-Titans site. https://shop.tri-titans.com/collections/team-fluffy-gear-pre-order
