KEEP THE YOUNG WRESTLERS OUT

by Jestin Bailey

Lake Gibson High School, Lakeland, FL

As we all know, keeping kids out is half the battle. My first year as a head wrestling coach was an eye opener. I had just finish wrestling in college and wanted to make an impact on wrestling. I had 42 kids the first day and thought I should take the Bear Bryant approach of weeding out the drift wood. I told myself every night I needed to make it harder, and that is what I did. Some days I would come in the room and see 30 kids, then it was 25, and in the end it was 13. The 13 kids I did have were tough as nails. They won the district for the first time in nine years. What I never thought about was the next year. With four seniors on the team I only had nine kids coming back. Not only that but all my time was spent on making things harder when I should have been checking on students grades and helping them on their fundamentals.

Here are some of the lessons I learned:

1. Be nice to them, especially the new kids regardless of their grade in school.

2. Make them run half of what the older kids run. When you are done with them for the day make them lift or watch the older guys. At the end of practice make them ALL come together to take it out.

3. Try not to get frustrated with them. Some kids learn slower then others and some may never get it.

4. Tell them it takes some people years to pick up the technique. How many of us have stories about kids going 0-30, 1-25 and then going 39-2, 30- 1?

5. Tell them the best way to get better is to practice. Show them how to practice at home by shadow wrestling, taking shots on the wall, etc.

6. Make sure you take the time to talk to the parents. Get them involved; get to know the kid from the parents viewpoint. If you get the parents to like you and respect you, it will be harder for the kid to quit.

7. From what I have seen kids want to be wanted. All they want is to fit in; be in that cool crowd. A wrestling team is the perfect crowd. Make your wrestling team like a family.

8. Show humor. It makes young kids feel relaxed. Smile. Show them how much you want to be there and how much you want them to be there. However, don't make everything a joke or let it get out of control.

9. Don't be that coach who has to scream and yell at the kids all the time.

10. All kids are different. Some you may be able to push from the start but most of them will have to be gradually brought into the program. When you get them hooked is when you can turn it up and make them winners.