WHAT ARE WE ABOUT?
MISSION STATEMENT
Wrestling is an incredible sport for boosting a youth’s self-esteem, mental strength, and overall athletic ability. By having youth participate in a positive and supportive team environment in which youth can achieve their potential through dedication and commitment, they can learn to believe in themselves and become champions on and off the wrestling mat.
OUR GOALS
Our goal is to build better well-rounded athletes through the sport of wrestling. We believe that wrestling builds character, discipline, better athletes and teaches kids how to set and achieve goals in life.
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Building Better Athletes - One of the foundations of all great athletes is “body control.” Wrestling teaches kids how to control their bodies in many unique and challenging ways. Through both wrestling-specific drills and general athletic movements, we will focus on core strength, speed, quickness, and endurance.
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Character & Discipline - One of the many unique characteristics of wrestling is that it is a 1 on 1 sport. It takes tons of self-confidence and bravery to step out on that mat against another person. Although you have a team behind you on the edge of the mat, once that whistle blows, it is just you and your opponent. The amount of “intangibles” that are developed in these 1 on 1 moment are hard to replicate in other settings.
WRESTLING PHILOSOPHY
Our goal is NOT to build the best 9-year-old wrestler, our goal is to build a wrestler that continues to improve and fall in love with the sport. By the time a wrestler leaves our program we hope they have developed a love and appreciation for the sport of wrestling and along the way have developed the core skills that are successful at all levels of wrestling.
Like everything in life, kids develop and learn at different rates. Wrestling is no different. A wrestler’s success is not measured by wins & losses but by their ability to improve and adapt to different challenges and obstacles.
PreK to 2nd Grade Program
Our goal with our PreK to 2nd-grade program is to develop an INTEREST and BASIC understanding of the sport of wrestling. We will do this through fun, high-paced practices, where we will focus on the basic FUNDAMENTALS of the sport.
3rd to 8th Grade Program
Our goal with our 3rd to 8th-grade program is to take that INTEREST in wrestling and turn it into a LOVE for wrestling. Along the way, we will hammer home the BASICS and start to ENHANCE those basic skills through active drilling and technique.
Advanced Program
This program is for those that have already developed that LOVE for wrestling. Here we will continue to foster that LOVE, while CHALLENGING them to push their bodies both physically and mentally. We will also start to introduce HIGHER LEVEL techniques and drills that will hopefully allow them to jump to the next level in the sport.
COMPETITION PHILOSOPHY
One of the most common questions that we get each year is “Should my wrestler wrestle at ABC Tournament?” or “How many matches should my child be wrestling?”
And the answer is “it depends…”
There is no one size fits all answer to this question. The most important thing to ask when deciding on when or how much to compete is “does your child want to compete.” If the answer is yes, then it is ok for them to compete. If the answer is no, it is ok for them to just practice.
After that first competition don’t ask your wrestler about a specific match, move or result. Simply ask them if they “had fun.” This will tell you whether they are ready for another competition. You will sometimes be surprised by the answer. There will be kids that go 3-0 with all pins and answer “No” or more likely “I guess” or “kinda” (those mean no) and there will be kids that go 0-3 and have a blast. Again, success should not be measured by wins and losses.
Below is a general guide to the number of matches/tournaments that have been adapted from some of the best coaches and athletes in the country.
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7 years old & Under - 0 to 10 Matches or 0 to 3 tournaments - Most ‘experts’ lean more towards the zero side of things. If they are really enjoying practice and asking for competition then maybe a little is ok.
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8 & 9 years old - 10 to 15 or 3 to 5 tournaments - Here it is suggested starting to ease them into competition. Again, if they are loving it, it might be ok to add a few more, if not a few less is just fine!
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10 to 11 years old - 15 to 30 matches or 5 to 10 tournaments - This is the age where kids truly start to develop a love for the sport. Depending on skill level, you might start to mix in some “higher level” tournaments.
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12 to 14 years old - 30 to 50 matches or 10 to 20 tournaments - This is the age where kids start to develop their OWN goals beyond youth wrestling. For those that have set high goals beyond youth wrestling, this is where it is ok to start to push them through high-level matches and competition. It is important that these goals are truly their OWN GOALS and not the parent’s goals or what the parent wants their goals to be. If your child is not ready to compete at a high level or wrestle that many matches it is ok. Again, everyone develops and sets goals at different rates.
Again, there is no magic formula to how much to wrestle and become the best wrestler. However, there is one constant when looking at wrestlers that have achieved at the highest levels. They all LOVE the sport and that has been developed at every age and skill level.