Greetings fellow wresling fans!!!

I have two 6 year old boys that will be starting to wrestle in opens this fall... all three of us are excited.. me prolly the most the boys are step brothers and are built totally diffrent one is tall and lean... the other is tall and tank like (not fat). the only time i "allow" them to wrestle at home is when i'm watching them and play "ref"

as excited as we all are here in lies the problem... i didn't wrestle (my school didn't have it or i would have) but i love the sport. i know the basic rules but not the "moves" or any of the techincal stuff... so i turn to you fellow OCERs what advice can you give to an old dog trying to learn new tricks? any helpful websites any advice from your own experiences... how involved should i try to be once prctices start this fall...

Thanks in advance

It's about doing it. Get them to an open mat or a camp and get after it.

As for being the dad... Be a cheerleader, and their biggest at that. It's their movie; sit back and enjoy the show. There are a TON of available opportunities for the kids to engage in and enjoy.

Good luck.

At that age remember the three Fs.

FUN

FRIENDSHIPS

FUNDAMENTALS

If you want them to stay in the sport let them dictate the pace and intensity that they progress.

Your goal as their dad should be to keep them safe and make sure they are having fun. If either of those two don't exist they won't be wrestling in High School. This sport has a way of grinding up kids and pushing them away.

Good luck and enjoy. It can be one of the greatest things for father son relationships or the absolute worst. I wish for you that it becomes one of the greatest.

Thanks for the replies guys... wasn't sure how active this forum would be this time of year glad to see some folks around.

Soon as we can we'll be hitting the mats at a local open...
I can be a cheerleader so that should be easy

Con- sounds like your speaking from personal experiences with the dictating the pace statment.... one of them is a real fireball and will push the action i think, whereas the other is more laid back and "tactical" i love the diffrences in styles when they "play". I may be wrong but i feel that the one boy will be at a much faster pace.... so that will be a huge obsticle with us... glad i'm a patient person Any tricks or advice to help make the grind more fun that you'd be willing to share?

Thanks for the well wishes as i too hope it will be one of the greatest things we can share...

I hope your kids like wrestling and have fun.

As far as what you can do to make it more enjoyable/give your kids a better shot at doing well. Take them to some camps and some open mats. But always make sure they are excited about it. Don't want to burn them out.

I don't know where you are located, but here's last fall's info for the COBYWA league:


The Central Ohio Buckeye Youth Wrestling Association (COBYWA) is accepting new teams for the upcoming 2009-2010 season. COBYWA currently consists of 25 youth programs from the Greater Central Ohio area including: Bishop Ready, Bishop Hartley, Bishop Watterson, Columbus Wrestling Club, Delaware, Dublin Coffman, Dublin Scioto, Fairbanks, Hamilton Township, Hilliard Darby, Jonathan Alder, Kenton Ridge, London, Marysville, Mechanicsburg, Northeastern, Olentangy, Olentangy Liberty, Olentangy Orange, Southeastern, Triad, Upper Arlington, Urbana, Washington Courthouse, and Worthington.

The COBYWA season consists of regular season league meets on four consecutive Sundays beginning January 3, 2010. Regular season meets typically run for a duration of four hours (1 -5 PM) at three different sites with an equal number of league teams participating at each site. Wrestlers are paired in 4-man, round-robin pools for the regular season meets based on age, weight, AND EXPERIENCE, allowing for wrestlers of all skill levels to participate on an equal playing field. The composition of wrestlers within COBYWA runs from beginner level to intermediate to highly advanced.

The COBYWA season concludes with a regular season championship at one site featuring all teams in the league. Wrestlers are paired in 8-man, double-elimination brackets for the league championship meet solely on age and weight. The league championship meet is currently projected to be held on January 31, 2010 or February 7, 2010 at a site TBA.

Teams participating in COBYWA must participate in all of the meets and are not permitted to run separate tournaments on any of the meet dates. In addition, each participating team is expected to provide up to 6-8 volunteers for each meet to assist in the running of that meet.

Fees for the upcoming year include a $5 per wrestler fee for COBYWA, and a fee to join the league's state affiliation OURWAY (estimated at $15 per wrestler). These fees cover insurance for each individual wrestler on your team.

If you are interested in joining COBYWA for the 2009-2010 season, please contact Randy Hartman at (937) 869-6969 or [email protected] or Matt Stout at (614) 204-8066 or [email protected] no later than November 1, 2009.

Take them to a wrestling room that teaches TAKEDOWNS in a systematic progression.

No offense, but open mats and open tournaments could give them a negative competetive experience.

Keep all their early experiences as positive as you can.

Keep their opponents as close to their experience level as you can.

Challenge them, but do not humiliate them. Good Luck and have fun.

Good luck to you an your family, I hope the kids love the sport it was a valuable tool in my life and still is to this very day!! Get them to some open mats and youth tournaments, they will meet so many kids and make tons of friends. Wrestling community is really a big family.

^^^ This.

I completely agree about COBYWA if you happen to be in Central Ohio. My son participated in COBYWA as a youth wrestler and they do a fantastic job of matching similar skill and experience levels at their tournaments. There's nothing more disheartening (to you or your child) than watching them get their butt kicked by every kid they wrestle at an open tournament. COBYWA eases them into the sport of wrestling and provides a competitive outlet without throwing them directly into the fire that is Youth Open wrestling. Reddraggin, good luck to you and your boys and I hope they both grow to love wrestling!

thereddragan...Get them involved with a good youth coach who runs a local club. From there it's all about supporting your kids and being there for them win or lose.

Thanks for the reply guys... my location would be near Cambridge Ohio... ie... Columubus is about 1 1/2 hours to my left... er west tho that league looks great...

I think i'll have two or possibly 3 leagues to decided upon... i'lll be sure to consult my fellow OC'ers before deciding...

thereddragin - Feel free to sign up for my free newsletter - each edition has a technique section. The newsletter also keeps you updated on training opportunities. My website has a lot of technique info - feel free to especially check out the Wrestlers Corner page of the website. Wrestlers Corner also lists open tournaments from time to time. Should have the Fall tournaments listed as they come in.

Here's a link to sign up for the newsletter:

You can also send me an email if you'd like: [email protected].

My website is www.randyswrestlingsite.com, feel free to check it out - and contact me if I can be of any assistance.

-Coach Simpson

I couldn't have said it any better ZB!
I don't think my boys would have stayed with it early on if they would have gotten hammered in the open tourneys.
We did COBYWA and an open tourney for the first couple of yrs then added a couple of more opens down the road when they were more competitve.

Good luck to you and your boys reddraggin!
This comes from a former hooper that knew nothing about the sport when I got my boys involved.
I got them into wrestling to compliment football and the sport took off for all of us!

Probably goes without saying (but I've read some horror stories).........let them eat everything they want. They should never even be worried about weight at their young ages. Believe me....there is plenty of time for that later. Echoing what others have said......ONLY 2 things to worry about now are safety and having FUN!

thereddragin;433012 wrote:Thanks for the reply guys... my location would be near Cambridge Ohio... ie... Columubus is about 1 1/2 hours to my left... er west tho that league looks great...

I think i'll have two or possibly 3 leagues to decided upon... i'lll be sure to consult my fellow OC'ers before deciding...

When the time is right I think I've gone to an open tournament in Cambridge that was well run. Perhaps hit that up next spring or something.

I know the feeling, my middle son is a darn good wreslter and he just turned 7 so he is probably just 1 year ahead of your boys.

Like others said, let them dictate the "pace". We aren't talking about how they wrestle, we are talking about how often they wrestle in tournaments, etc. I never go to a tournament if my son doesn't want to. So far he's the one pushing wrestling, he wants to go to a tournament every weekend (we hold him back a little only going to about 2 a month, maybe 3 at most).

Find a good local club, I know Dover and New Philly down there have youth wrestling clubs and I'm sure Cambridge does as well. That will at least get them to regular practices in the winter (probably twice or 3 times a week) and they will wrestle once a week or more with their "team".

Then if your boys are really interested and pushing it, then try some open tournaments. If its their first year I would really seek out tournaments designed for new or "novice" wrestlers. Don't go to a tournament like Barberton's "Battle for the Belt" where some of the best wrestlers in the state show up.

Like others said, you want them to have as much fun at this point as possible, and getting the snot kicked out of them by kids that have been wrestling since 4 yrs old and their dads were state champions so they already know all the moves, won't be fun for them.

Trust me, I was surprised at times what kinds of moves some 6 year olds knew at some open tournaments.

As an example, my son, at 6, was gator rolled, got put in the double grapes for a pinning combination, and a few other moves that I would consider very "advanced" for that age.

I'm like you, I was not a big time wrestler so at the open tournaments when I am his "coach", there are times I don't even know what to tell him.

Just help them have as much fun as possible, and to be honest, at that age a good shot for a single or double leg and a half nelson with wrist control is about the best base set of skills you can have at 6 years old. Help them master those and they will win most of their matches at 6.

COBYWA is a great league. I wrestled my boy that age too much (however, it was he that was immediately "kicking butts" at the open tournaments) and after two years he's taking off a year or two ... so listen to the counsel above.... Keep it fun and let them dictate the pace. They'll enjoy the relationships the most -- go early and let them meet kids and have fun.

^^^I agree, let him talk with the other kids wrestling at open tournaments. My son, even at 6 (he's 7 now) had fun getting to know the other boys, even the ones he had to wrestle. They would go out and wrestle and then right afterwards play gameboys together while waiting for their next matches.

cambridge is a part of the ohio youth wrestling out of akron firestone. if they wrestle for cambridge youll enjoy the sunday experience. i think they wrestl at dover. let them have fun. at there age there winners fo just showing up