Wrestling as a Youth Athlete: Lessons Beyond Winning and Losing - Part 1 of 4

Wrestling can be a tough sport, especially for youth athletes. It requires grit, discipline, a crazy parent, and a willingness to push oneself to the limit. Also, wrestlers must have the willingness to be coached and learn that wrestling is a process, not just a win or a loss. It’s a journey. Beyond the physical and mental toughness, there are many valuable life lessons that can be learned from the sport. In this blog post, we'll explore some of these lessons.

Part 1: Hard Work and Dedication - Patience is Key

One of the biggest lessons that wrestling teaches is the importance of hard work and dedication. Wrestling is not an easy sport, and it takes time and effort to improve. Sometimes the process is forgotten, because often the results are not immediate. Depending on where a wrestler is at in their experience, training and ability, it may take longer to see the results they want. But that's where patience and dedication come in.

Hard work means putting in the effort and time to improve, even when it's not easy or enjoyable. It means waking up early for morning practice, staying late for extra drills, and constantly striving to do better. It's the willingness to push yourself to your limits, both physically and mentally, in order to achieve your goals. However it doesn’t have to be this way, my advice, find a room that is fun! Find a room with your friends. Find a room that pushes you to work hard, but it doesn’t feel like a grind.

Dedication is the commitment to your goals, even when faced with setbacks or obstacles. It means staying focused on what you want to achieve, and putting in the effort to make it happen. It's the ability to stay motivated and inspired, even when things get tough, even when there are setbacks. I think all to often its hard to grasp the big picture and not be short sighted (for parents and wrestlers). Dedication is a long process, so be patient.

How do you keep a wrestler focused on the big picture? How do you keep them focused on hard work and discipline, when they live in a world of instant gratification? It sounds daunting, and there will be setbacks. I think keep it fun, keep the focus off wins and losses. Make it more about the journey and experience than the results. In wrestling they say “embrace the grind”, but think about that. How long until your ground down? In my experience the wrestlers who are having fun, work harder on their own. The kids that are enjoying the process grow the most. Its amazing how dedicated they’ll be if they’re having fun. Its also amazing how hard they’ll work, when they don’t think of wrestling as work.

So, if you're a young wrestler, or more importantly the parent of a young wrestler, remember that patience is key. The results may not come overnight or even in a year, but with hard work and dedication, you can work toward achieving your goals and become the best wrestler you can be. The journey is a process, good luck!