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Y2's Pet Peeves #1


Y2CJ41

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***Warning Y2 Rant ahead, proceed with caution***

I really should keep track of all my rants, but this one is a HUGE pet peeve of mine.

 

As a coach to me this is a team sport.  I have seen it first hand where  a kid that is mediocre becomes good because of the wrestling partners around him.  Ever notice at tournaments that teams will have kids in the finals and they are usually within a weight class or two?  That is no coincidence!

 

Now to my pet peeve.  I just want to say, simply SUPPORT your teammates, especially during dual meets.  Last night I witnessed a kid after his match, walk around and visit with family, friends, etc for about a half hour before he went and sat on the team bench to support his teammates.  Where I coach, if our kids do that during a dual, they are held after practice the next day to remind them to support their teammates. 

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Had the same thing last night, except for it was after the meet while the guys were showering and we were waiting to get on the bus.  We had just lost by 4 points, and some of the guys didn't have a care in the world as they stood there and had a blast with their girlfriends.  And I've seen it on Saturday tournaments, looking for certain guys and all of a sudden they are up in the stands holding hands. Not too happy.

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I think this is a great "rant" Y2.  You've said it perfectly...support your teammates. 

 

I'd like to add one thing to that.  I recently had a kid tell me that a certain wrestler I asked about wasn't any good because he wasn't on varsity at his school.  He looked at me strange when I laughed and said that doesn't mean he's not any good.  I think about all the JV kids at schools like MD, Mish, Cath,Reitz, PM...I think you get the picture...at a LOT of other schools these kids would be varsity (and would be considered the best wrestlers on those teams in some instances).  PLUS, those "non-varsity" kids are just as important as the varsity kids, they're in the wrestling room helping the varsity kid get better, they're there to fill in if the starter gets hurt (then graciously step down when the starter returns), they do all the work but get none of the glory.

 

So, I say support ALL of your teammates.  I think the old saying "there is no I in TEAM" is so true.

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Wrestling in Cali tends to much more individual then anything I saw in IN, part of which I think comes with the territory.  The whole school district gets out at noon on Fridays for Pete's sake! ???  There are exceptions (Clovis comes to mind) of course, but with 2,000+ HS's odds would tell me there should be?

 

That said, kids are kids, coast to coast. I have the good fortune to coach a group of kids in youth football that also happen to wrestle.  Through that contact, I have tried to instill upon them the idea of pushing each other every day to become better (aka. steel hardens steel concept).  I have seen what you all know, that a practice partner in the room that pushes you every day is absolutely key to wrestling success.  If your friend /classmate / teammate / worst enemy is kicking your heinnie every day...meets begin to look like a reward and a vacation!

 

The kids seem to have actually heard what I was saying and believe it (scary I know!).  They had a lot of success last year in MS and as frosh. this year are making a huge stir at the HS.  Parents of upper classmen are relating stories of their kids coming home "beat-up", some upper classmen have given up and thrown in the towel, coach is loving it. ;)  The JV is undefeated and the Varsity has (2) 1pt. loses on the season (in both loses they spotted them 12 in forfeits!)  And the frosh. are tight....pounding each other every day...ticking off a lot of folks...and seeing success because of it.  This team would probably look like a "below average" team in the midwest as they still have a tendency to look like a group of individuals that happened to catch a bus together, but here with a little bit of team mentality, they stick out like a sore thumb in CA! HAHA

 

 

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***Warning Y2 Rant ahead, proceed with caution***

I really should keep track of all my rants, but this one is a HUGE pet peeve of mine.

 

As a coach to me this is a team sport.  I have seen it first hand where  a kid that is mediocre becomes good because of the wrestling partners around him.  Ever notice at tournaments that teams will have kids in the finals and they are usually within a weight class or two?  That is no coincidence!

 

Now to my pet peeve.  I just want to say, simply SUPPORT your teammates, especially during dual meets.  Last night I witnessed a kid after his match, walk around and visit with family, friends, etc for about a half hour before he went and sat on the team bench to support his teammates.  Where I coach, if our kids do that during a dual, they are held after practice the next day to remind them to support their teammates. 

Family and freinds isn't to bad, if they just go talk for a minute then come back. I hate when you can't find them cause they are off with thier girlfriends. We have a pretty good freshman who broke up with his long time girlfriend, right before the season started. Told her he didn't want any distractions. That's a smart frosh!
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matchick, reminds of the story I use to tell our MS backups. Steve Reid of Indpls Ben Davis couldn't break into our starting lineup untill his senior year( '73), went on to become State champ at 155lbs with only one loss the entire year. 

 

I always think about MD's Scott & Mallory...Scott gets hurt right before SIAC, Mallory steps in and places 6th at State...gotta love that kind of "back-up"....

 

 

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I agree that the kids should be on the sideline cheering their teammates on either during weekend tourney's or duals.  However, I don't mind when my son, usually a couple of matches after his, walks up into the stands and spends one or two minutes talking about his match with me.  He quickly vacates and goes back to the sidelines to cheer his teammates on.  I don't see a big problem with that.

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Talking to your family and friends in the stands is unacceptable as a wrestler... however, I say each wrestler should be allowed 5 or so minutes to go over to a corner,the bathroom, the locker room or anything of the likes to recover from a hard tough match before rejoining the team.

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1Oldwrestler,

You would never see your son doing that during the middle of a football game would you?  After the dual is over, I don't care, go mingle, but when the dual is still going on, support your teammates, they were there supporting you.

Most kids aren't coached only by there dads till high school in football.
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Support your teammates! Even when they don't walk around talking to people, some just sit on the bench and goof with their buddies. It's not that big of a deal because they are kids. But it sure says a lot about the environment and attitude of the team.

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Where I come from you wouldn't be staying after to think about what you did. You'd be likely to get hurt the next day as you practiced with the coach.

You wrestle. You get dressed and watch your team. You talk to your friends and family after the meet is over. No exceptions, no questions.  You have your whole life to talk and mingle, you can only wrestle for a short time.

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1Oldwrestler,

You would never see your son doing that during the middle of a football game would you?  After the dual is over, I don't care, go mingle, but when the dual is still going on, support your teammates, they were there supporting you.

 

Y2 - Maybe my persepctive is a little different.  My Dad, due to lifelong health issues he suffered from before he passed away, was able to only see a very few of my high school matches.  I would have loved for him to be involved in the sport I excelled at but it wasn't in the cards.  So now, when my son speaks with me in the stands for a brief few moments, I don't push him away.  I enjoy the bond but don't take advantage of it.  As far as comparing football to wrestling, it's apples to oranges.

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My girlfriend broke up with me because I went to a tourney instead of taking her to the prom. She said she loved me but I loved wrestling. Oh well.

 

Then she will never actually "Get You" and you're better off    ;)

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its not that bad if you just go to the bathroom  or go to get a drink from the concessions but you have the rest of the night to hang out with your girlfriend i cant stand it when a kid goes and sits with his girlfriend support your team,

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As a coach I encouraged our wrestlers to do the following after a match: Show class win or lose, join his team on the team bench and share the moment with them, win or lose, then go into the stands to briefly share the moment and thank his parents for being there, and return to the team area to support his team. We did not have any problems with them hanging out with girlfriends, or pals. We did make the expectations clear from the beginning, especially about the girlfriends staying in the stands. So basically I have no problem with wrestlers briefly visiting the stands at the right time.

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