Way OT-- Wrestling in Middle School

[WendyisDarling]

Anyone have a child that wrestles in middle school? DS is in 7th grade and says he wants to try out for the team. He knows nothing about wrestling! Why does he want to join the team? He has a friend on it (I don't know this friend) and he thinks it will be easier to make the team as not as many kids want to do it.
Advice? Do many kids go in knowing virtually nothing about the sport? Should I try to find a boy who does HS wrestling to give him a few informal lessons?
TIA for any suggestions. .

 

[maymom96]

I would assume that wrestling is like any other sport. By that, I mean the team practices for weeks before they have a game or a meet. Call the school and ask that your name be gave to the wrestling coach. When he calls, voice your concerns. Good luck!!!

 

[Karel]

My son suddenly took up wrestling in 7th or 8th grade, can't remember which. He had always played team sports up to that point, so it was an interesting change. He had a good time but only did it that one year. It was hard wrestling against kids who had been doing it for years, though.

Warn him that it involves a lot of time sitting around waiting for your turn. My son was used to show up, play the game, and go home.

 

[ntengwall]

My 10 year old tried it for awhile last winter and we found it to be way too violent for our tastes! And the parents there weren't much better (moms getting in physical fights, parents yelling at other kids etc...) We decided it wasn't the type of "team" sport we wanted to participate in. Of course we homeschool so kids are much more gentle in our group in general (I used to teach in public school so I know

Let him give it a try and see what he thinks though...you never know and it can't hurt for him to have the experience of trying something new.

 

[FirstTimertoDiz]

Hmm, this is a topic I have often discussed with my dh. I am a certified athletic trainer; I have worked at high schools for 8 years or so, and wrestling was always...well, interesting.

While I think it may be tough for your son to compete against kids his age/weight class that have been wrestling for a long time, a lot depends on how athletic he is, and how fast he picks up new skills. It is a very intense sport, however, and there is in my opinion a lot of pressure put on the athletes, because it is an individual sport for the most part.

I guess my best advice from my experience is to learn about the sport yourself as much as possible- wrestling coaches are stereotypically very intense people. (Obviously not in every case, but I have run across a few that have been rather excessive on the kids- but this can happen in any sport.) Learn about cutting weight, and how to do it properly- this is THE MOST important thing in my opinion!! Coaches do NOT always help the athletes lose weight properly, and it is to the detriment of the kids, especially those in prime growing ages, like middle school.

Check with your school's athletic trainer, and see what the rules are in your state regarding cutting weight. Here in PA, it became mandatory for us athletic trainers to measure body fat and to do urine tests on all of our wrestlers at the beginning of the year to certify them in a weight class. There is then a formula, which gets monitored and tracked by the state for each individual athlete- they are only allowed a certain percentage of loss per week through the season. This is meant to prevent "yo-yo-ing" different weight classes, but there are definitely ways to "work the system", and there are some coaches out there that will push the athletes to try.

I don't mean to give wrestling a bad name, and you have any other questions, please feel free to pm me about them. Sorry for writing a book, I tend to be very opinionated on this subject, haha. Again, I just urge you to be informed, and know what warning signs to look for, and if the interest is there for your son, let him give it a try.

Best of luck to you!
Lisa

 

[Tammysue5]

My DS 16 decided last year (sophmore Year) to take up wrestling? I was not so sure about it but we have always allowed the kids to choose what they like. He LOVED IT! He lost his first two matches and then started winning.... he had to work very hard after school for weeks, and get his technique down but he did it. He is starting again shortly for this year.

I should mention that he had never wrestled before...

 

[adoptionmomma4]

My brother started wrestling in 7th grade. He had always played football and baseball, but wrestling was new to him. He did very well (maybe not at first) and was even the state champion in high school. He loved wrestling. It made my mom crazy He always got ring worm. He also had to watch his weight. I think that is the hardest part. They have to try and stay in the same weight class and "cutting" weight can be unhealthy. Luckily my brother has one of those metabolisms where he can eat what he wants and not gain a pound. It must have skipped over me

I will also add that my brother is considering a move to Indiana to be an assistant wrestling coach at a small private college. His high school wrestling coach recently took the head coach job and asked my brother to join him. So they can succeed even if they have not been wrestling a long time.

Good luck to your son.

 

[Aliceacc]

Coaches do NOT always help the athletes lose weight properly, and it is to the detriment of the kids, especially those in prime growing ages, like middle school.
Best of luck to you!
Lisa

I'm a HS teacher, and this is what I was going to post. Just be aware of his weight and his eating habits.

The ONLY time I have ever gone to my principal to complain about another teacher, it was a long-ago wrestling coach. The boys were going from my class to the cafeteria, and stopping at the nurse's office enroute. If they hadn't made weight, they would skip lunch (after having skipped breakfast.) It was unhealthy and certainly wouldn't be tolerated in a girl's sport (like gymnastics)

Other than that, it's a wonderful sport with great competition.

 

[WendyisDarling]

Thank you all for the information. I am going to have to give this some serious thought.

 

[kellyg403]

DS13 tried it last year in 7th grade. He never did it before and he didn't realize all that you put in it. He does do other sports such as football and baseball but wrestling was more than he bargained for! But, there were alot of boys on the team that wrestled before so he never actually got to wrestle at a meet. They would wrestle within their weight class at practice and then the overall winner wrestled in their weight class at the meets.

And I will agree with other posters re: diet and watching their weights. DS was 2 lbs from moving to the higher weight class and everyday he stood on the scale before leaving home. Drove me crazy. He always was a great eater and in football they eat alot, stay healthy. I was really glad he discovered this was not the sport for him. I could only envision eating disorders if he cont. But dh says I worry about things too much. He wrestled in hs and he didn't see it as anything more than part of the sport.

But, if this is something he wants to try, I would let him but go in with your eyes wide open if he decides he really likes it. We let the kids try what they are interested in.

Kelly