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doctorWrestling

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  1. doctorWrestling
    From a youth perspective, I didn't use to like the idea of banning parents from watching practice, but have to say it really makes things better for the kids. I think parents in the room are a problem 95% of the time and kids do better without their parents watching and coach's have less problems to deal with. Parents don't like it, especially at first, but I think if you are trying to do what's best for the kids this is the way to go. On a side note, without parents I think the sport would die out in a generation.
  2. doctorWrestling
    All I can say is that I want the best teams I can get to wrestle on our schedule. If the JV/2nd team from a really good school is available and they are as good or better than other teams I can compete against, I would take them over a lesser varsity team any day. Most small schools have no shot of ever getting in the Al Smith tournament, team state, or getting on the schedule of the top teams in the state and the kids don't see enough good competition. Some still have some outstanding individuals who need challenges. Giving them a chance to compete with some really good kids will help them in my opinion. I say if there are tournaments who let you compete, please compete. If your second team is not good enough to compete, that would be when I would complain.
  3. doctorWrestling
    I am still unsure what we are even talking about. Are you considering Penn's 2nd varsity team ( that wins a lot of varsity tournaments ) a JV team? Would you tell them they couldn't be in your tournament because that gives Penn's program an advantage even if they are better than the other teams you have coming? I guess if they are not considered good enough for some tournaments, they would still be welcome elsewhere. Just wanted to make sure I understand what JV means. Penn seems to be doing something right. They have a ton of kids on their team, field 2 or 3 good teams that compete at the varsity level, and somehow keep kids who have a slim chance of ever wrestling varsity in the sport. I would consider them a model to follow in that respect. Others may want a team of 14 kids who just go all out. To each their own, just a different approach.
  4. doctorWrestling
    Maybe I came on a bit strong using the word condescending in a previous post. Just think of it this way. If your team had a chance to wrestle Blair Academy's second team or St. Ed's second team, wouldn't you jump at that opportunity? Would your kids feel bad if they lost to their second team or would they just think they got beat and could learn a lot from it? My opinion is that you are doing everyone a service by providing good kids for teams to wrestle and learn from and that your kids, their parents, and the whole program should enjoy the opportunity to wrestle more than a few matches a year. Keep up the good work and keep growing the sport in any way you can.
  5. doctorWrestling
    I think some people project their concern on smaller schools and its somewhat condescending. I am not even sure what you are considering JV - if Penn has 3 varsity teams, are the 2nd and 3rd teams JV, or is the fourth string JV? Is it just semantics? If the 2nd and 3rd team are competing at a varsity level, why are they not varsity? If we are trying to grow the sport so that someday there are more coaches, referees, and families that want their kids to wrestle - wouldn't having 3 teams of kids from 1 school competing and having fun make the most sense? That should spread outside school boundaries as kids graduate and move on in life and benefit more than just large schools. A loss will not feel good no matter who beats you. To me, we should stop trying to protect kids from losses and start teaching them that losses are big opportunities to learn and grow. Losing to a 2nd or 3rd team kid could be more helpful than getting pinned in 30 seconds by the 1st team kid because they have a chance to compete with that kid at least. Removing good kids from competition hurts both the 2nd team kids and the kids who would have lost to them because the kids who would have lost do not learn anything from winning a weaker tournament. Coming from a small school just means kids have different goals sometimes. Making it to state or winning regional means just as much to a kid from a small school as winning state does to other kids. Its about reaching your potential and doing the best you can, not just where you place. If you want to improve the competition in the state, don't take opportunities to compete away from either side.
  6. doctorWrestling
    I don't think it is a cop out to say wrestling prepares kids for life in ways other sports do not. It doesn't mean kids can't be successful if they don't wrestle. But I do really believe kids who wrestle and can learn to solve problems and not stop when they hit an obstacle in life can do anything. Why not have them learn in it wrestling instead of later on in life when bigger consequences are at stake so they are ready to buckle down and figure it out.
  7. doctorWrestling
    Thanks for the feedback. Have had some great coach's weigh in on the topic. I have used a lot of these same tactics but am looking for any little advantage I can find to keep kids in the sport. I really feel society and especially this generation needs wrestling. Football is fine, but it is not close to wrestling when it comes to teaching life's lessons like turning losses into learning opportunities and making changes in your life to get different results. I truly appreciate the feedback. Hopefully other coaches can use something from this thread and the sport and more kids grow from it.
  8. doctorWrestling
    I have a few kids I really thought would be back on the team after a successful middle school season last year that decided not to come back. I am talking about kids who could have a really good high school career if they work at it. I have a hard time deciding how much to chase a kid who says they just don't want to do it. There are a lot of great stories about coaches who simply tell the kid "shut up, you aren't quitting" like Daniel Dennis's coach told him. At the same time, at some point they have to make their own mistakes. I have really pursued a few kids in the past and tried to give them extra help so they could be successful and it seemed to work out. I know the sport is great for preparing kids for life and hate to see anyone leave. Just wondered how other coaches feel about this and when you pull the plug on a kid who says they don't want to.
  9. doctorWrestling
    Just wanted to add that there are clearly times it makes sense to do it. I also disagree with trying to start kids early in school so they are younger than everyone else in their grade. Sometimes its a tough call when they are on the border of the age for starting. I just think telling or letting a kid repeat a grade just so they can be better at sports is bad idea. If they started too young and need to be held back to mature, that actually makes sense to me.
  10. doctorWrestling
    The Moran brother topic made me wonder what people think of the tactic of redshirting their kid for the purpose of sports. I personally think it is bad but know kids in MI do it and have heard of an IN kid doing it. Seems like a really bad message to send to the kid and the chances of it somehow paying off seem incredibly small. Anyone think this is a good idea and I am missing something?
  11. doctorWrestling
    I think you are probably over estimating how much the IHSAA would care what middle school kids wear to wrestle in. I emailed the MHSAA last year and told them I wanted have our team wear compression shirts and fight shorts. The MHSAA said that would be fine so we went with the shorts and shirt and we had a great turn out and got 5-10 kids out who said they wouldn't wear a singlet. I only heard positive comments from other teams/coaches/kids/parents about the uniforms. I just carried around the email from the MHSAA saying it was fine in case there were any questions from officials. At least 2 more teams in our area are switching to shorts/shirts this year. There is no draw back to switching to a new uniform. Besides getting more kids to participate, they want to buy the fight shorts and its free advertising for your program when they wear them to PE, lifting, etc.
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