Yesterday I spent the day in Hutchinson doing a number of things with a little boy who would love to be wrestling right now. I always try to take my son for that visit and yesterday I also took one of the other kids from our wrestling club. I say this because sometimes we as parents are the ones that need to do most of the growing up in this sport, and should be among the first to learn things like sportsmanship, and appropriate behavior. It is not always the case, but today after getting back on the boards for the first time since Salina, I think we all need a reminding of the importance of loving our kids and appreciating the fact that they "CAN" wrestle.
I am the first to admit, and have stated numerous times, that the first few years of wrestling were more about me learning to deal with my son than they were my son learning to wrestle. Only after 7 or 8 years did I finally begin to get it and the last three or four years have been enjoyable for both my son and me. Another interesting thing begin to happen as well though, my son begin getting better as a wrestler. He just competed in his third and last Salina TOC because he will be in High School next year. He took first there three years and shucks, I am proud in the fact that he was never scored on in 3 years at Salina. However, I am even prouder of the fact that he chooses to spend the day with a young man who wants to wrestle but can't right now. He has realized that wrestling is nothing more than a tool to help him learn and accomplish other things in life. If he were to quit wrestling right now because of injury or illness he would have learned lessons from wrestling. Look at Tyler Graebner in this area, what lessons is this 8 year old teaching the wrestling community around the world now, in part from what he has learned from wrestling and the love of his parents and brother and sister. I challenge that those things are far more important than any trophy, or medal.
As parents, coaches, and a community at large, we have to get our priorities right. We will inevitably make mistakes, we are human, but when we make those mistakes, we should live up to them. This morning, an individual on the forum doing just that blesses me. Craig Mitchell is seeing it and understands it. I hope that others will as well. For those that disagree with me, or want to laugh this off, let me take you with me to Hutchinson some Sunday afternoon. I'll treat you to dinner, pay for a movie and let you sit next to a little guy named Tyler that should be a reminder to all of us, that to just be able to coach or watch a child wrestle in itself is a blessing. If you still keep on thinking that winning, or having your way is the most important thing in life then I'll admit I’m wrong on this point. I don’t intend to say that we never stand up for, and advocate for our kids or wrestlers, but we have to keep things in the place of priority. When we get to the place where we are setting bad examples as parents and/or coaches, then we have to question the value of our involvment in wrestling.
