The Best Way for Parents to Develop a Young Wrestler’s Love of Wrestling
Youth wrestling is one of the best methods for parents to raise resilient children. However, because of this it’s also one of the hardest sports for kids to play because you don’t actually “play” wrestling. You just wrestle. Moreover, wrestling is extremely physically demanding and it’s often more satisfying than fun.
In addition, youth wrestling is unique when you compare it to most other popular American sports. Kids don’t wrestle because of some dream of fame and fortune in some mythical future. Unlike the “ball” sports promoted by ESPN and other mainstream sports networks: basketball, baseball, soccer, tennis, and golf, there is no professional league waiting after graduation.
With that said, if a parent wants their kid to wrestle for the long term and not just be an 8-year-old wrestling star, then they must help their kid learn to love wrestling. Correspondingly, one of the best ways to develop a young athlete’s love of wrestling is to support that athlete in becoming a fan of someone who wrestles in college or at the world level. This includes taking them to see their role model face to face on the biggest and best stages: college matches and world team events. This also includes hosting Super Bowl level watch parties of the biggest events when you can’t make it in-person.
This may not be a secret sauce, but it’s a non-obvious way to redirect some of the money you may want to invest on camps, privates, and “national” competitions. It’s a fact that wrestling parents tend to spend more money on training and competing than fandom, but that’s a mistake. Fandom is what builds the love of the sport and it’s the love of the sport that will keep a young wrestler engaged through high school and beyond.