Shane's Final Wrestling Practice of 17-18

Tuesday was the final wrestling practice. It must have been the home opener for baseball season at UVA, because there was no parking! It was a good thing we were early. I let Shane muddle his way through putting on his shoes himself.

He was happy to run around in the pandemonium that precedes practice when he finished.

My kid is the only one who wanted to wear long sleeves and pants to a sweltering wrestling room. I brought his singlet (which he wanted to where to school for sports day), but he chose not to put it on.

I thought it was silly, but I figured Shane could learn through experience. There was a light warm-up and then the coaches split the kids up into groups to wrestle.

The waiting in between matches was difficult as always.

Shane wrestled three matches in total. He scored points for the first time in Round #1! I was going to try and be quiet, but my coaching instincts took over. I worked to keep my voice lower than usual to some success.

Shane's improved a lot with the little I've shown him. He knows to belly out (somewhat) and he really likes to grab an ankle for his breakdown into a half-nelson. Shane was (finally) willing to listen after he lost those initial matches.

Round #2, he should have won. I was confused when the coach had the kids wrestle overtime. Shane must have been, too, because he stood there stiff as a board and got tackled.

Yes, I did comment that Shane was robbed at the end. I went back and re-watched to see what happened. The coach voided the takedown and escape early in the 1st and then never started to count backpoints in the 2nd. That would have made it tied at 2-2.

I told Shane he did a great job! He scored points, looked good, and he can win his first match on Saturday when Pop can see it.

Round #3, Shane went up against a little man who knew what to do. It ended fast.

Afterwards, 'Little Man' went up against a guy over a head taller than him and won. I talked him up and Shane actually paid attention to match he wasn't in. I said, "That could be you. All it takes is knowledge and practice. Little Man has clearly done both! Look at him go! He's smaller, but the smarter wrestler!"

I was happy with how the scrimmage panned out.

The kids played "Dogs" at the end of practice. Shane lives to run around, blow raspberries, mock, and shout, "Bad doggy!"

He throws a fit when he gets knocked out. If he cheats and gets back up, I call him out. Then he sit and pouts until the next round.

Shane was a little bummed he didn't win anything at the end. I told them there's no shame in losing to a better wrestler as long as you did your best.

We went over my "Three Questions After Any Match" and I tried to make Shane memorize them:
1) What did you do right?
2) What can you do better?
3) What will you do to get better next time?

You've always one something right if you're brave enough to try. There's always something you can do better whether you won or lost.

And the only way to get better is to do something.

Really, the questions apply to anything: Win or lose. I hope to foster a growth mindset in Shane.