What made your kid a better wrestler?
Posted by 15 Championship Steps on 5/9/2009, 6:07 pm, in reply to “What made your kid a better wrestler?”
I made my kid better–Here’s How!
1) I made him go to practice, even when he didn’t want to. He was glad after he went.
2) I got up early so I could wake him up for his morning run before school, even though he was tired. He really appreciated it.
3) I bought special groceries and prepared him personalized meals to eat so he got a balanced diet of cabbage soup, fruit shakes, and amino acids to keep him healthy and lean. He’s proud of how everybody can see his muscles. I make him flex around the neighbor girls and they all giggle. It embarrasses him a little but I know he enjoys being so popular.
4) I weigh him every day and record it on a neat little Excel spreadsheet I made for the refrigerator (email me and I’ll send you my template). I also cut out pictures of world champion wrestlers and put them on the weigh-in sheet to remind him what he was working toward. He likes to be motivated and sometimes things it’s neat when I write his name on one of them 
5) I purchase rock songs and put them on my son’s ipod so he has something to listen to while he runs at night. He says it makes him run faster. Get Jock Jams–it’s the best! 6) I do his homework, sent home by his stupid teachers. Now he doesn’t have to stay up late at night or miss his sleep. He says the homework is just practice for stuff he already knows anyway.
7) I read motivational books to him before bed while he does his 100 push-ups, pull-ups, and sit-ups before bed. He likes that we spend time together. Sometimes we just talk while I hold his feet or in-between me yelling motivational things to him so he’ll do more (pull-ups are really hard but exercise important pulling muscles!). Building the mind is as important as building the body. When he stops crying I give him a hug and make sure he understands it’s just practice and not “real”. He knows I love him.
8) I drive him to 3 different club practices so he can get-in the best work-outs, when his club only practices a couple days a week. He enjoys meeting other boys from lots of different schools and I think the variety of coaches is beneficial too.
9) I drive him to tournaments while the rest of the team travels on the bus. I want to make sure my boy is safe and not distracted by the other kids on the team. We don’t have to get up early to meet at the school, so he gets a little extra sleep. He says it makes him feel special and that’s important for his self-esteem.
10) I help my son make weight by getting prescription water pills (they’re safe because they’re from a real doctor) or turning the heat way up in the car so he can sweat on the way to tournaments and matches. He tells me he couldn’t do it without me and that he works too hard not to be at the best competitive weight class. I tell him “No pain, No gain–Go for the Gold!” and we both “high-5” each other and laugh.
11) I organized a parent committee to get rid of the head coach when he wouldn’t get a tougher tournament schedule, work the kids harder, and be involved with the local club team. Even though everybody liked the coach, my son says he understands why “nice guys” can’t be good head wrestling coaches. Wrestling is a tough sport.
12) I got the principal to let me be on the hiring committee for the new head coach. Most people in academics don’t know what it takes to be a good coach and they complimented me on my knowledge of wrestling.
13) I got the head coach to get me a coaching pass so I could sit in the corner during matches my son wrestled. The coach doesn’t know my son as well as I do. I’m confident the coach is appreciative of my help because he’s a busy guy.
14) I help organize the parents of my son’s team and keep them informed about all of the coach’s mistakes so they can give him feedback. When I was the junior high champion back when wrestlers were tougher, my coach knew a guy, who had a friend, that went to a Dan Gable camp and so we knew all of the best moves. It’s important that I let the other parents sitting in the stands know why their boys aren’t being successful because that way they’ll get better. It’s important my boy is on a winning team.
15) When I noticed all of the same officials making mistakes on calls–I know my boy just worked too hard to keep getting screwed by the same refs, so I take a lot of time to help let the refs know who I was and the mistakes they were making. I would do it from matside, from the stands, the parking lot, or even call them at home. Only through proper education can these officials get better and it’s important I assist them so my boy gets the best officiating; The kind he’ll see in national tournaments and college.
It’s really hard to be a supportive wrestling parent and I don’t know if I can keep this up another 3 years, but I’m going to try–wish me luck! I know it’s worth it because nothing is more important then my boy.
PS: This is a tongue in cheek message