Kansas Wrestling Forums General Discussion Kids Folkstyle What it means to be a coach and parent or both.

while in Tulsa we listened to we will rock you over and over from the hotel to the arena. now my 3 daughters listen to it on the way to basketball games. just wish all the tournaments would do a 15 minute warmup while playing some of those tunes to get everyone pumped up. I went to a middle school game at wilbur here in Wichita last week and they had the music loud and the teams and parents were pumped come start time.

my 6 yr old loves "eye of the tiger" he has me play it at least 3 times on the way to practice, on full repeat on the way to tournaments,, finally once i knew we were going to go to tulsa, i knew that it was going to burn me out, so i bought him an MP3 player and put it on there! , however i do agree with bockman, i would like to see more tournaments play music during warm ups

p.s. jimi jamison the lead singer of Survivor will be in concert this weekend, and he sings all his old songs like Eye of the tiger

Scott,
I don't think we have ever met and like many others I know you only from what I have seen you post on this forum. First, kudos to you for having the courage to post what you did on this thread. I am a 3rd generation wrestler myself and my boys are the 4th. I am also a 2nd generation coach and have coached since 1987 in two states (Washington & Kansas) from large HS (6A) to kids. You are right, it is hard sometimes to remember to start and finish the conversations with your wrestlers,parents, etc. with something positve but it is definitely worth it. Coaching relationships built on trust and partnership can become special. Two of my former HS wreslters stood as groomsmen in my wedding and the head coach I was coaching with was my best man. That was cool.
When my boys started 6 years ago one of the first "talks" I had with them was about how they dealt with defeat was going to be more important than how they handled victory. To this day win or lose I am proud of how they handle the end of match ceremony win or lose. It is after all about building young men. You can ask my boys and they will tell you that only two things will ever make me angry at them on the mat Rule #1: NEVER lose your composure and disrespect yourself or the sport. Rule #2:NEVER quit, fight to the end with dignity and honor.
One of the toughest things I have ever done is to coach my own boys, especially after coaching literally hundr4eds of other peoples sons. I think what you have realized is great and wish you well in developing a new philosophy. I also charge you with the challenge of trying to lead as many we can down the path of developing the young men and letting the winning take care of itself.
Good luck in your corner this weekend.

I've learned to relish those times, where after a tough loss, we sit in the stands and I have my arm around my son tellin him we're going to be alright and I am proud of him. This weekend, I felt the pain I put my mother thru when I was young, as I sat in the ER and held my son's hand as a Doc stiched up a gaping gash in his eyebrow from an unintentional head butt during a Salina finals match. As he squeezed my hand I told him the pain was temporary and he comforted me by telling me he didn't feel anything. As much as I enjoy watchin him wrestle and have some sucess, I think it will be times like this that I will miss when he is grown and out of the house. Not the blood and pain, but the father and son seeing each other through a tough time.I will also miss jammin eye of the tiger enroute to a tourney too!