Randy,

As usual, Randy and Furches put on good posts. To answer your question it is not a right to coach your own son or daughter. I learned this a long time ago and I have used coaches from any team to coach my sons. I knew that I was too close to the situation. Granted I have had to do it in freestyle/greco and occasionally at nationals. Let me tell you I get some funny looks when I ask someone from a different team to coach them but it has proven to be beneficial to them, they can be coached by almost anyone. To give you examples,coaches Knox,Taylor,Gibson, Ponce,Deam,Foster,their mother, and so on. The list is probably close to 30 to 50 different people. Its not about how much the coach knows but how much my sons can pull out of their drilling they have done on basics since they were 4 yrs. old. Randy to answer your question on making a positive difference in a kids life. First and foremost you have to coach the whole child not just the wrestler. Seeing a kid win a big match is not the only reward but having a kid or parent come back later in life and tell you that the discipline and hard work he went through in wrestling, helped him deal with life's circumstances. Thats the reward that keeps you going as a coach. At least it is for me and my coaches. I would ask some of you coaches out there what is one of your methods of taking pressure off the wrestler during competition. One of my ways is to focus on the move and not the outcome because like everything in life, persistance always pays off.

Coach Ed
Northwest Jr. Grizzlies