New to Wrestling?

New to Wrestling?

Considering going out for Wrestling? Are you the parent of a student considering giving it a try?

It may be a little intimidating coming out for a sport you haven't ever done before. The coaches at Serra are great with kids who haven't ever wrestled before. It is a great workout and gives you a focus you may not have experienced. Many kids who are tentative initially decide that wrestling is their sport after just a few weeks in the mat room. It is also a great way to make a bunch of great friends.

What about Injuries? Being an athlete in any sport means a risk of injury. Based on some internet searching, Wrestling injuries come after baseball and water polo. The types of injuries and typically muscle pulls and orthopedic. Since wrestling is strength-based and not impact-based, traumatic brain injuries are not common -- significantly less than in water polo, soccer and football.

What about those ears? If you watch any YouTube videos on wrestling, you'll see guys with awful-looking ears. For any wrestling in school, kids must wear headgear to protect their ears. It is good practice to wear it any time people are live wrestling in practice. Many wrestlers have a long career, and their ears are perfect. If there is an ear injury, you can get them drained and they won't swell permanently. The bad ears come from injuries that are not addressed (and some hardcore wrestlers think that bad ears are a badge of honor).

Why Wrestle?

The best description of the benefits of having your child wrestle is provided by one of the sport's all-time greats, Cael Sanderson. The following is an excerpt from his article "Why My Kids Will Wrestle"

1. Foundation sport Wrestling is the perfect foundation for all other sports. Wrestling is about balance, agility, hand-eye coordination, flexibility, positioning, strength, speed, explosiveness, footwork, hustle, mental focus, mental toughness, core strength, concentration, competition, and endurance. Wrestling will make our youth better at all other sports.

2. Fun Wrestling is a game. It is the most basic and instinctual game. Toddlers wrestle. The sport of wrestling is the ultimate competition where two individuals take their individual strengths and match them up against each other. Wrestling is a battle of wits, technique, speed, agility, flexibility, and toughness. No two wrestlers are alike. Fun stuff!!

3. Exercise Wrestling is one of the world’s premier physical fitness sports. Wrestling develops strength and endurance. Poor health is a major issue in our society today, and wrestling will help develop a love of exercise and physical fitness in our youth.

4. Self-confidence Very little is accomplished without self-confidence. Wrestling teaches self-confidence like nothing else I know outside of religion and knowing that you are a child of God. Insecure people have the most difficult time learning from others and making progress even more difficult than it already is. Wrestling teaches hard work, self-improvement, a sense of accomplishment, the camaraderie of the team, one on one aspect, and self-defense to name a few. These promote self-worth, respect and confidence.

5. Self-defense Although wrestling is not commonly considered a “martial art,” it is the #1 base discipline in the world of MMA. Wrestlers know how to defend themselves and neutralize threats quickly. Wrestling is controlling an opponent. If you want your kids to know how to defend themselves, put them in wrestling.

6. Humility Nothing teaches humility better than a 1-on-1 sport. Winning and losing in a 1-on-1 setting brings humility. There is nowhere to hide and no one to blame but yourself. All wrestlers will lose at some point and doing so in these conditions teaches humility. Hard work and discipline are two keys to success in wrestling and both teach humility.

7. Respect The challenges of being a wrestler teach you to respect yourself. After you learn to respect yourself, you will learn to respect others. You learn to respect your teammates as well as your opponents. You learn to listen to and respect your coach. After you learn to respect others, you can learn from them, a life lesson.

8. Self-discipline Wrestling is discipline. Repetition of drills, hard work, weight management, and continually doing the best thing instead of the easiest thing is discipline. Wrestling requires postponing instant “wants” to gain something more valuable long-term. It takes discipline and focuses on reaching goals.

9. Roadmap to success Wrestling is the perfect example of what it takes to be successful in life. Goal setting, hard work, determination, focus, love of challenges, love of competition, confidence, being coachable, mental toughness, discipline, creativity, teamwork and accountability.

10. Toughness Wrestling is a physical, contact sport. You learn that sometimes you just get poked in the eye. Physical and mental toughness go hand in hand. You learn that a little pain or struggle is part of the process of doing great things.