My son’s football team finished the season 10-0 and winning their JV (7th grade) Championship 22-0. It was a great season and, like all good things, must come to an end. And, so, wrestling season begins. He has been practicing with his club one day a week through the football season, but now it gets serious. He is, of course, ready for the season.
If you read this blog regularly enough, you know I love wrestling. I was never a great (or really good) wrestler, but it is by far my favorite sport. I love that my son is participating in multiple sports (football, wrestling, and lacrosse), but wrestling is the keystone sport. I have worried in the past that he might wrestle to please me, but it has emerged as his decision. And, while I hope he is a much better wrestler than me, I know that, whether he wins or loses, he will be a better person for having wrestled. The benefits are many. If, as a parent, you are looking for a sport to occupy your child in the winter months, give wrestling a try. Our club coach doesn’t even encourage the youngest kids to compete. It is all about learning the sport and having fun. There is plenty of time to compete as they get older. Until then, they will:
1) Make friends. We wrestle as individuals, but we practice as a team. Many of my best friendships have been made in the wrestling room. Beyond wrestling, I have made countless other friends are former wrestlers. There is a brotherhood in wrestling (that we now share with the growing number of women who are joining and growing our sport).
2) Learn discipline. Wrestlers are disciplined. Whether it is managing their weight or drilling in practice, wrestling teaches self-control.
3) Develop a work ethic. I never worked as hard at anything as I did wrestling. Wrestlers have a twisted love-hate relationship with conditioning. To this day, I still do not feel like I have had an honest workout unless my shirt is drenched with sweat (the kind of sweat you can wring out of the shirt). It carries over into my occupational and household work—my wife knows when the bark dust (mulch) is delivered, she won’t see me for the rest of the day.
4) Gain skills that will carry over to other sports. I see the benefits in football and lacrosse. My son plays goalie in lacrosse, and his movement to the ball reflects his hours of wrestling practice. Many of lacrosse’s best face-off guys are wrestlers (some only do face-offs—referred to as FOGOs or face-off and gos). In football, the balance and quick hands and feet of wrestling are a big benefit. I would be hard-pressed to name a sport for which wrestling is not of some benefit.
5) Gain self-confidence. My shy son can get lost out on the football field, but in wrestling it is man against man (or woman). A wrestler wins or loses as an individual. There is nowhere to hide. One believes in himself or herself or one does not. Wrestling can put an athlete in difficult positions. The wrestler learns to struggle and to overcome. There is a phrase: “In wrestling, there are only winners and learners.” Failure breeds the desire to try again. Practicing from a disadvantaged position, teaches the wrestler to fight to the finish and never give up.
6) Learn life lessons. Life is very much a wrestling match. As legendary coach, Dan Gable, said: “Once you have wrestled, everything else in life is easy.”
Whether competitively or only in physical education, I think every kid—boy or girl—should try wrestling. True, I am biased, but I know of no one who has ever regretted wrestling.
Monday night, as the season kicked off with the annual welcome meeting, my son’s coached announced the largest number of participants in the club’s history. This is great news for a sport that has seem some decline—a sport that has rallied to remain an Olympic sport and remain a priority to the NCAA. More importantly, this give hope for the sports lasting influence in the lives of these young boys and girls and the men and women they will become.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow!
Carpe momento!