By the time our Jack was a senior in high school, we had spent so very much of our family life on a field or court or mat somewhere; and we had volunteered rabidly for all contingent support organizations along the way. I know and understand the arguments against this kind of life, but having walked many miles with kids from all backgrounds, I’m here to tell you that kids who are in activities – challenging, responsibility-carrying activities – are better kids. A lot better.
So when I was asked to speak at Parents’ Night (a.k.a., recruitment night) to pitch involvement in our wrestling program, I went straight for the heart… and so can you! If you’re on the hook for a speech to illustrate what sports do for children, feel free to borrow from below.
(Our son was more known as a football player, but I stand by my assertion that wrestling did the most for him. Have a gander:)
Why Wrestling Matters.
Welcome, parents! I’m Errin Stevens, and I’m mother to one of the seniors here, Jack Stevens. Jack has been wrestling in some capacity in this district since he was in kindergarten.
Parenting, I like to think, revolves around a basically universal set of beliefs. And it sets us up for being both good and bad at it. The good? I don’t care how cynical you were before having a baby, when you hold that baby for the first time, you are hopeful, hopeful that this little life in your care will know more of joy and love than of sorrow; hopeful – despite absolutely knowing better – that you can protect or guide or control against hardship. In the presence of our children, we consider the mountain of evidence to the contrary and lie to ourselves straight-faced, “Not this time. Not on my watch.”
I think the “bad” we do comes from the same place, where we so desperately want to avoid them getting hurt, we grasp at petty peripherals. “Mine started walking at eight months,” someone might say, or, “Mine was potty trained at a year and half.” This type of reasoning progresses as our kids get older, from, “They got straight A’s when they were seven,” or, “Their XYZ team won the fill-in-the-blank championship for 10-year-olds.” Like this all means something bigger than what’s being said. I think somewhere in our brains we’re planting a flag on why, as you can plainly see, little Johnny or Suzie is going to make it through with fewer problems.
My point – it arrives! – is that activities we enroll our kids in actually do bring them along in a way that gives them more “happiness and resiliency bones,” but not all are a clean deal, and not all deliver to the same degree. Wrestling does a better job by our children.
There’s no question how enticing other clubs are in terms of social appeal – the Friday night lights, the national competition where the group is poised to do well, the fancy uniforms and big crowds. These clubs more easily attract volunteers, student participation, and monetary support… But wrestling, and I think only wrestling, gives the kids what we’re really looking for as parents.
Wrestling distills competition into something specific to each competitor. It filters out a lot of noise, the hoopla that distracts and in some cases damages in my opinion. The matches are one-on-one in relatively unflattering singlets – no adornments or pads to suggest anything other than what’s there. The wrestlers perform with truly hard-won skills, and while they are part of a team, each kid is singularly engaged in contest, with all of the spotlight on them, on that match.
In short, there’s no place to really hide in wrestling. It’s gritty and personal and really, really hard. When our kids are out there, just them and their opponent, we parents are watching just them. And the message to our kids becomes powerfully clear: who you are and what you do matters. Your individual effort counts.
And that is the little coat of armor they get, what they’re going to carry into the beyond when high school is over. Wrestling gives them that.
So… Everyone here has already done the hardest part of this gig. Seriously. You signed your son or daughter up, you’ve already squeezed the idea of participating into your family schedule. But all that goes into getting him or her here – you’re done, you’ve crossed the finish line. The next part, you’re just going to have to believe me – is easy.
You want to do nothing more than come to the meets? Cheer on my kid and yours? That’s huge. It’s truly significant, and good for you – do it and be proud of yourself. You want to wander over to the concessions stand and relieve one of the workers so he or she can watch their own kids’ match? That’s super thoughtful. And easy. You want to do more? The structures are all in place, you don’t have to invent the machine – just ask, “Hey, I’d like to do a little something. What do you need?” You’ll get one-time options or more and no one will pressure you even a little bit. If you want to participate without asking, buy Kwik Trip cards over at the table – it costs you nothing extra, it’s for gas or milk you’re buying already anyway, and they contribute to Eastview Wrestling every time you fill up.
(Introduce, membership sign-ups/Kwik Trip table/spaghetti dinner/sign-up table) Thanks again for coming, and welcome to Eastview Wrestling!
Originally posted 2024-11-20 13:36:51.
