wHAT yOU WILL NEEDFor wrestling practice your child will need a few items:
-Comfortable T-shirt -Sweat pants/Work out shorts -Wrestling shoes -A water bottle -Headgear (optional) -Duffle Bag/Back back -Knee Pads (optional) **For tournaments your child will need a singlet (not to be confused with leotards) The picture to your right shows my oldest daughter decked out in her wrestling gear. Below you will read about singlet's. If you refer back to this picture, you will notice that it looks as though she's wearing a t-shirt style singlet. This is because this is actually a boy cut singlet with an Under Armour shirt underneath. |
Wrestling shoesWrestling Shoes are required, the cost for a new pair start at around $30.00 and can be as much as about $250.00. Children grow fast because of this many clubs will have used shoes that were donated for your child to use. Make sure to ask your coaches or club president if there are any available. The important thing to remember about wrestling is that they are ONLY worn in the mat rooms or at tournaments. They should not be worn to and from practice.
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headgearHead gear is important for protecting your young wrestlers ears. It helps to prevent your wrestler from getting cauliflower ear. The USA wrestling tournaments don't require your child to wear headgear. If you want to protect their ears, it is best to have them start wearing it from the beginning, this will alow them to become comfortable with the headgear. Personally I didn't have my oldest daughter start wearing it soon enough, she is having to learn to get used to it. It is required in Middle School and High School Wrestling. Headgear prices start at around $12.00.
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SingletsThere are many different styles of singlet's, you can order your own personalized singlet's, buy plain colored singlet's or obtain a team singlet from your club. The cost's for vary and start at about $30.00 dollars. Your club should tell you if they require a team singlet or not. For freestyle wrestling you'll need a red and blue singlet or one that is reversible. They also have singlet's that are cut just for girls. Most of the time club singlet's are only boy cut. If this is the case and you have a daughter who wrestles you can ask the club to order a girl cut singlet or get them a sports or undershirt that matches the team colors.
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Practice and coaches
These practice photo's are from a practice hosted by an Olympic Wrestler for the "War of the Roses" All age all female wrestling tournament that was held in Richmond Washington, we attended with all of the girls on our wrestling team. It was amazing to watch them all make state history)
Your wrestling club will decide how long their practices will be, typical wrestling practices for children are usually between 1.5-2.5 hours long. Our club holds 4 practices a week for 2 hours each practice. We also split ours up by age group giving our older and more advanced wrestlers a practice without all of our little guys. This seems to be typical practice set up for many clubs.
It's important as a parent to remember that youth wrestling teams typically have a lot of children of various ages and skill levels. While your child is the center of your attention, all the wrestlers are the center of the coaches attention. This simply means that your child will receive guidance however, the coaches won't be only working with your child. This is hard for many parents to accept and they want to see a coach with their child at all times. I completely understand after all we all want our children to excel but your going to have to trust in your coaching staff and your child. Believe it or not most children follow instructions quite well. What you will typically see is the head coach teaching the group a move, from there they will break down into pairs and work the move while the coaches walk around to ensure the wrestlers are executing each move correctly providing further instruction to those who need it.
Team Spirit
Attending practice regularly will not only help your child develop their wrestling skill set. It will allow them to bond with their teammates and coaches. This bonding creates a team spirit that will never fade. They gain confidence from the encouragement they will receive from their teammates and will better listen to coach instructions throughout their matches. Team Spirit isn't only for the coaching staff and wrestlers, it's for the parents also. Wrestling will consume a lot of your time, especially if your attending tournaments and practices. It's great for the parents to bond with coaches, other parents and wrestlers also. This will provide a positive wrestling family atmosphere that all the wrestlers will benefit from. The parents attitude always reflects in the wrestlers attitude, so if you stay positive your wrestler will also. Here's a couple picture's of our club at a tournament, before the tournaments start we first warm up together and then all the kids and coaches get down, huddle and get pumped up. This gets the wrestlers excited and they all pound the floor !! It may sound strange but the kids love it and thrive on the excitement.
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