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Why
Wrestle?
Wrestling prepares a boy to fight the game of life. The Wrestler is the
one athlete who must meet his opponent and do battle completely on his
own; no one can substitute; no time outs are possible. He has no one to
check, screen, block or assist him in any way; there is no one to blame
for his mistakes. When he wins; he must show pride and modesty; when he
loses, the responsibility is his.
No sport requires more sacrifice than wrestling. The individual, through
self-denial, offers more to his character than can ever be explained
here. It is something he carries with him throughout life, and through
every trial, test, and tribulation.
Wrestling is a common heritage of all ages - of all civilizations. It
offers the inimitable thrill of individual combat under socially
acceptable conditions. It efforts unrivaled useful skills. It demands
independence of thought and action, and encourages self-confidence and
self-restraint. It contributes to the development of well rounded
personality, and increases one's capacity for an active and abundant
life. Our hope is that, in the future, the joys, the experiences, and
benefits of this time honored sport may be brought in larger measure to
an ever increasing host of American Youth.
Coach Lanny Bryant
Editor/owner Wrestling USA Magazine
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Why
Wrestle?
The sport of wrestling is a very natural
thing for kids to do at a young age. Kids
are always wrestling around in the yard or
on the carpet in the house. Organized
wrestling can bring in an element of safety
and has a lot of other benefits as well.
Wrestling is a great sport because anybody
can do it. Because you wrestle people of
your same weight, size is not an issue as it
may be in a sport like football or
basketball. There are now a lot of
opportunities to get involved. All but maybe
a couple of states have sanctioned high
school state wrestling championships.
California, Texas and Hawaii have both a
boys and girls high school state wrestling
championships. Over the past ten years, the
number of girls involved in the sport of
wrestling in this country has gone from 300
to 3,700 so it is a sport that is on the
rise for young females.
One reason wrestling is beneficial to people
at a young age is from a self defense point
of view. Kids need to protect themselves
from bullies or someone who may jump them on
the street. You may be asking, “What are the
odds?” Well, pick up a newspaper. You see
kids getting kidnapped far too often. First
and foremost kids need to be taught about
who you can and cannot talk to and where
they can be with who, but it’s also nice to
have a little bit of a fight attitude from
the point of view of protection. I have
daughters and a lot of people ask me if my
daughters wrestle. I tell them I teach them
just enough for protection purposes.
The sport of wrestling also helps young
people develop important qualities such as
self esteem, sportsmanship, work ethic and
leadership skills. It also helps by
instilling a competitive edge. A competitive
edge is a real key. You really learn how to
compete in wrestling because it is a unique
one on one sport. Team sports are great,
don’t get me wrong, but there are some
unique aspects of wrestling that make it
stand out. For one, in wrestling you compete
at all times. You are playing the game the
whole time you are out there. Matches may
last 6, 7, up to 9 minutes, but for that
short amount of time you are competing. You
do not have to wait for a ball to come to
you. There are very few breaks and it takes
focus and concentration every second you are
out there.
There are feelings that take place when you
compete. There can be the feeling of not
being successful, which can teach you how to
overcome adversity and there is the feeling
of winning. It only takes winning once to
know the feeling and you'll want to strive
for it again and again. It doesn’t even have
to be the feeling of winning an actual
match. Sometimes you get a feeling of
winning after completing a good hard
practice because you pushed yourself and got
through it.
Dan Gable
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