This article is from 12/24/13

6 MINUTES WRESTLING WITH LIFE . . .

"The Reward That You Seek May Not Be The Reward That You Receive".

That was the title of this inspirational talk given by John Passaro at Ward Melville's "Last Supper" kickoff event before the start of the season.

Passaro, the author of the book "6 Minutes Wrestling With Life" and father of Maverick (NYS state champ, Hofstra) and Travis (NYS third in 2013), talks about (among other things), wrestling as a great teacher that helped him tackle significant life challenges.

10 REASONS KIDS SHOULD WRESTLE

Justin Ruiz put together a great article on the Fortius Wrestling website discussing why kids should wrestle. The following is a portion of it:

10 Reasons Why Kids Should Wrestle

Wrestling is a great sport that teaches athletes so many valuable lessons about sport and life in general. Dan Gable, legendary University of Iowa coach, World, and Olympic Champion; is quoted as saying “Once you have wrestled, everything else in life is easy.” I still think that life can continue to throw powerful punches and challenges, however, I am in agreement that wrestling is a sport that teaches hard work and personal accountability. If one fails on the wrestling mat, there is no one else to blame but the individual. It is hard to blame a coach or a teammate for a sub par performance, and wrestling forces an individual to look inward to see what you’re really made of. Here are my top ten reasons why kids should wrestle.

1. Wrestling develops basic athletic skills

Wrestling is one of those sports that requires a lot of body control. It isn’t enough to be able to run, jump, or throw. You have to be able to use your neck, your back, your arms, your legs, and everything else that you can control to help you to win a match. One of the staples of a good wrestling practice is tumbling in the warm up. People often recognize the value of signing children up in gymnastics, but many people are unaware that there are a lot of tumbling and gymnastics movements that are a part of wrestling practice. We make sure to spend a portion of every practice, especially with our youngest athletes, on tumbling. You have to build an athlete before you can turn him into a wrestler. That is not even to mention all of the flexibility, strength, explosiveness, and skill required to execute a lot of wrestling moves effectively.