Madison had a wrestling tournament last night just for the kids in Madison. Since this was Alex's first year, I wasn't going to enter him into any tournaments. I just wanted him to see what the sport is about, have some fun with his friends, and get some exercise. After talking to a few parents who said their kids learned the most from tournaments, I thought I would let him wrestle in this one since it was with his schoolmates thinking it would be a pretty safe environment - not competitive. Let me give you some insight to Alex - he's a lover, not a fighter. Alex lives to make other people laugh and is a very tender kid. I've always taught him that getting physical with someone is unnecessary and I usually get after him if he is being too aggressive with someone (which I sort of regret because he can be a little too sensitive). So basically the sport of wrestling is a bit out of his element, but I had hoped that it would give him some "tougher skin" if that makes sense. The first match was TERIBLE! The kid slammed him to the ground and you could just see his eyes filling up with tears. He hung in there continuing to get plowed to the mat for the remaining time (the longest minute in the history of time) walked off the mat and just cried. "MOM - he is so much bigger than I am and he's in second grade and I'm only in Kindergarten...that's not fair" I sat there with him for a few minutes telling him that he did his best and reminded him of David and Goliath which he immediately pointed out if David had to wrestled Goliath, he would have lost too. The coach came over to comfort him and encouraged him to get out there and try again. An HOUR later, he was ready to try again and this time, he did much better. He even "won" that match. He came running over to me and was so proud of himself. The kid who he wrestled was running after him to shake hands. What a good sport! Anyway - it was a good learning experience and I have to say that I was VERY impressed with the coach’s patience and encouraging words. I don’t think that I would have been able to get Alex out there again without the coach’s influence. In the end, all of the varsity wrestlers lined up and the kids walked through the “tunnel” and gave high-fives to them and the kids all received medals at the end of the line. 
Friday, March 9, 2007
Wrestling Tournament
Posted by Amanda at 6:53 AM
Labels: Alex sport
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4 comments:
Oh my gosh, you sound just like me when it comes to raising my Alex. I'm always telling him that he doesn't need to be rough. I think he's become a little sensitive, too, now. He does like to play with his light saber and wrestle with his dad. When he does that, I leave the room (I can't stand the thought of him getting hurt).
How did you sit there and watch the match? I don't think I could have done that. I liked what you told him about David and Goliath, and how you stayed there with him until the match ended. Amazing.
Oh...I almost started to cry FOR Alex when you were talking about his first match.
Oh, it was SO hard for me to watch. After this experience, I’m really going to start pushing golf and synchronized swimming. I was so relieved the coach came and took over because I was going to start crying, pick him up, carry him out of the gym and buy him a gallon of ice cream! Thank God it ended well!!!
Good Job Alex. He has a good attitude!!!
Like we were talking about last night....Derek is that exact same way. He is shy, quiet, reserved, and not very outgoing nor rough.
I'm almost had tears in my eyes too after he lost his first match.
This is what we told Derek before we went to the tournament, "It doesn't matter if you win or not, you are just going to have a fun time and learn!"
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