Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Feeling Like a Coach

JV and Varsity split practice times on Monday. At 2:30 PM, it was me and a guest coach. Coach P was out of town and Coach Z wasn't in the building.

And that's how I became a coach. Funny how that happens.

There are some similarities to a classroom, I guess.

Tonight was the first JV 'Jamboree.' There were 4 mats churning out matches. Periods were 1-1-1 and the clocks weren't stopped once they began. I would be coaching on kid, turn around and another kid would be halfway through a match behind me. It was go-go-go. The goal was to get kids mat time; They succeeded. All of our kids got at least two matches in and the vast majority had three.

It was exciting, and it was tiring. I enjoyed being around the mats again. Our results were a mixed bag.

Most of our kids had no clue what a half was or how to defend one. I dragged at least half of them over after a match to go over the defense. I grabbed one kid to show another in a match how to throw a half on a kid he had flattened out. The kid immediately threw TWO halves and stacked his opponent. The referee started blowing his whistle, because two halves make a full nelson. Those are illegal. They're potentially dangerous, too. I think I got him to throw a half of some sort eventually. I went from match to match constantly. I'm still fuzzy on names, too. I'd really like to read a list, so I can at least see all of them.

Our shots were our strong point. Some of the kids had shots that looked much better than the competition, though. It was what Coach Z expected. We drilled single and double legs. A lot. Primarily singles.

Wrestle offs are tomorrow. I'll stay for the varsity practice to watch. Shane spent the night with Nana and Pop, so I can pick him up after. This year is a learning year for me. I want to see how things are done, think about what's effective, and knock off some rust.

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