As promised, photos from the wrestling tournament!
My younger brother wrestled in high school, and my youngest brother is wrestling in school now. I suppose its only natural that Skylar decided to give it a go too. In my town they start in 3rd grade, so Skylar is the youngest and the smallest on the team. I usually go to the practices and watch, which are roughly an hour or so long. No problem! Last Saturday we spent at his first tournament. 6 hours of wrestling! I couldn’t even guesstimate how many children were there. Skylar wrestled 3 matches with 3, 1 minute periods each. He lost his first match and won his second and third match. He placed second in his weight class. (tiny!) His first match, was FAST. The kid he wrestled was VERY good, and Skylar wasn’t prepared for it. He came to me after looking quite sad, and said “I didn’t know it was going to be so hard. I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to hold back! It’s really different then practice.” I’m sort of glad he wrestled someone like that first. It gave him a taste of what this sport is really about and he went on to win his second two matched. He was so proud of himself! He said he never expected to win anything. He wore his medal until he went to bed and even wore it all day today! He loves wrestling! He’s such a physical and touchy kid, this sport might really work for him. Oh and I’m proud of him too. He really did well and has such a good attitude. His sportsmanship is great, even at his young age.
I’m not sure I can say the same about some of the parents though. If there is one thing about youth sports that bothers me, its the irrational parents. It’s everywhere, and its bad. I usually see it at soccer. Parents shaming there children over how they perform on the field. Publicly berating their children loud enough for them to hear while in the middle of a game. Pushing them harder and harder and harder. Obviously, these aren’t usually the kids who play their best. Luckily in wrestling its so loud the kids don’t often hear the screaming that can go on. But it’s there. The other thing that gets me, is the complainers. The ones who complain about sitting in the bleachers, the hot sun, the long day, etc. etc. etc. some kids don’t even talk to their parents after. They just all leave silently scowling. Please people! Your children are only this young ONCE. Support and enjoy these moments while they last! I swear I’m going to write a book someday about unschooling sports. Lord knows after I raise these boys I’ll have enough experience!
As promised, photos from the wrestling tournament!
I’m not sure I can say the same about some of the parents though. If there is one thing about youth sports that bothers me, its the irrational parents. It’s everywhere, and its bad. I usually see it at soccer. Parents shaming there children over how they perform on the field. Publicly berating their children loud enough for them to hear while in the middle of a game. Pushing them harder and harder and harder. Obviously, these aren’t usually the kids who play their best. Luckily in wrestling its so loud the kids don’t often hear the screaming that can go on. But it’s there. The other thing that gets me, is the complainers. The ones who complain about sitting in the bleachers, the hot sun, the long day, etc. etc. etc. some kids don’t even talk to their parents after. They just all leave silently scowling. Please people! Your children are only this young ONCE. Support and enjoy these moments while they last! I swear I’m going to write a book someday about unschooling sports. Lord knows after I raise these boys I’ll have enough experience!