Team Camp

First of all, I know that when this page loads, the kolat.com clips I'v embedded start playing right away. It is annoying, and I'm trying to figure out how to stop that. In the meantime, scroll down and pause them.

As I was talking to some of you wrestlers, it sounds like there is some interest in attending a team competition camp. That's great! I'd love to get you guys some matches and see where your abilities are at. The two options I'm looking into is Western or Mesa State. I know you guys have gone to Western in the past and have enjoyed it there. It is an option, however, it is in June when I won't be in Colorado yet. I would prefer to look at the Mesa State camp. It is July 8-10th. I am going to call Chuck Pipher tomorrow, and then I'll give you guys an update. In the meantime, give me some feedback. Who is interested in going, and do you have a preference as to which we go to?

Strength Training Resources

I've been having trouble with the embedding code for the videos I want to put on here, so I am just going to include the links.

Here are some videos related to strength training specifically for wrestling. Two are from Big Ten college strength and conditioning coaches and the other is from a coach at the Olympic Education Center.

Gruenwald


Wisconsin


Northwestern

Mental Training Resources

I really, really like this blog. I've pirated many of his ideas for our Mental Training Rubric.

http://www.genezannetti.blogspot.com/

Nutrition/Hydration Resources

If you follow this link you will find a great resource on nutrition and hydration that was put out by the Olympic Training Center.
http://www.themat.com/section.php?section_id=8
Once you get to the page, in the left hand column there is a link to "coaches webinar" which is a powerpoint with really super info.

In wrestling, it is important to be at a weight that allows you to be competitive. However, this article is very insightful in the overall process and purpose of losing weight.
http://www.suples.com/article1.htm

Technique Resources

Kolat.com is a site that I have subscribed to and one that I think is awesome. This website has spawned a huge idea that I am working on implementing in teaching. Here are some clips to give you an idea about the site.

Promo poster

 

The Slope Wrestling Club

Hey everybody,

Hopefully more people are finding the site after the posters my awesome wife designed got hung in the schools and around town. I hope you like them.

I am going to go against my blogging rule for this post. The idea of me creating the blog is to try to force me to give short bursts of info. So many times when I get excited about something, I tend to ramble and write tomes of information. So, my rule is that in the blog, I must keep my posts short because people aren't going to read it if it is long-winded and takes forever to get through. I am going to break my rule for this post. Sorry! But please stay tuned and read through this as it is really important stuff and going to be some of the most ambitious big time ideas I have.

So, I've created a USA Wrestling Club to parallel my work with Cedaredge High School and the Cedaredge Wrestling Program. After reading some posts on www.cowrestling.com regarding wrestling on the Western Slope, especially those by Gwen Lane, I got to thinking. I was always planning on creating a USA Wrestling Club, just my focus is a little greater now. I would like the club to "provide challenges and opportunities for athletes on the Western Slope to seek the next level in their wrestling performance."

A lot of the purpose here is to renew the wrestling slogan that Iron Sharpens Iron. There are a few major aims of the club:
1) provide open and available facilities where athletes can get the training partners and competition they need
2) coordinate transportation to tournaments and camps to get exposure to the best competition and training in the state and country
3) provide scholarship opportunities for activities for those athletes with the will but not the resources

When I read about the Lane's commitment to helping their boys, I thought a lot about my own parents. I really would like to dedicate this club to them to try to replicate the support they gave me and my brothers. With my mother's illness, I really gave a lot of thought to what my parents have all done for me to help me be successful in school and wrestling. They didn't help us out by being the 24/7 intense parent coach seen at many youth tournaments--heck, after all the matches they've watched and all the listening they did and all the trips to Northern Plains, neither of them could even explain a basic move. They did help us though by sensing if we were nervous and telling us that the other guys sh*t stunk just like ours and if you get nervous just say 3 Glory Be's before the match.

The overall conclusion that I came up with about my success was that my parents were especially good at satisfying my basic needs so that I could focus on doing my best and making my best better. For the life of me, I cannot recall a time going to school worried about something. I cannot think of a time when I brought the baggage or issues that I see many of my own students showing up with each day. Again, my needs were met.

And I'm not talking just about food and shelter. I'm talking about safety needs--feeling secure about my health, money, and that if something were to go wrong, I have a safety net and support group to help me out. I'm also talking about love needs and a sense of belonging. Being accepted at home unconditionally and knowing there was a safety net allowed me the confidence to seek out who I wanted to be and who I still want to become.

So the idea of the club is to help give kids the resources and support they need to become the people they want to be. I want to emulate my parents and help satisfy some basic needs and use wrestling as the engine for this purpose.

So, to leave the philosophical realm and get back to the real world, here are some concrete thoughts:

• Initially, I want this club set up for liability insurance and so kids within the district have a place to wrestle with eachother during freestyle, greco, and the off-season as well as bring in world-class clinicians during our weeklong fall, winter, and spring breaks. Although we are competitors, I would like to live the spirit of our superintendant that we are a school district instead of a district of schools. Again, Iron Sharpens Iron. This will ultimately help Delta County Schools and the western slope represent when it comes to state and national competition.
• When I have the cash to upgrade my '92 Nissan pickup, I want a Dodge Sprinter for hauling dogs and kids. I plan on spending time each summer in the midwest with family. I would like to raise money for local scholarships to J Robinson's camps. Then my wife and I can transport those kids to Minneapolis when I visit my brother there. When they are at camp, I can visit Wisconsin and Illinois for a month and then pick the athletes up from camp and come back to Colorado.
• I also want to take kids that have come through our program to Mongolia. Wrestling is the national sport there and my wife's sister is a missionary in the capital city as well as a freelance travel agent. My wife and I want to visit our Godson and neice and take wrestlers to help out with the homeless children summer camp that my sister-in-law runs for a month. Our kids could help out by teaching "American" wrestling. We would also be able to explore the countryside in one of the most unspoiled countries in the world. To cap things off, we would go to the Nadaam Festival where the country comes together to celebrate the three manly games: horsemanship, archery, and WRESTLING!
• This last point is something that is for the long haul. Eventually, I would like to see the club fundraise to the point where our scholarships could come from the interest from an endowment. Schools do this with their scholarship funds for graduating seniors (I just gave a speech at my highschool's scholarship dinner where they had a silent auction and live music), and the Catholic school that I work for now works a lot the same way for teacher salaries. Fundraising for travel is important. One of my best friends, who was an All American in college with me, runs a wrestling club in Juneau, AK. The only way in or out of Juneau is by boat or plane so if they are going to compete they need money. He is really successful and he brings in top TOP clinicians every summer for his camps and his wrestlers compete in Reno every year. He runs the club as a nonprofit and is a government lobbyist primarily for native organizations and non-profits so he knows what he is doing. I plan to lean on his knowledge as much as possible for this goal.
• College scholarships are nice because they help alleviate costs for higher education. However, I would like to see this club provide activity scholarships that directly give the kids the opportunities to get the tools to earn college scholarships. This goal of the club clarifies how important it is to connect with alumni, alumni parents, and members of the community. We need people to want to help because they can understand the good that we do. Not only are they giving back to the cause but the cause needs to give back by building a stronger more unified community and also by helping build kids of character who are good citizens.
  

The Core Support Team

As you can see from this blog so far, I really like the website www.flowrestling.org

I love watching videos of the best wrestlers and coaches. There is a common thread amongst the most successful people. So many of them talk about surrounding yourself with the right people. So who are the right people? I feel the right people have the key psychology of greatness which is that they maintain absolute faith that they can and will succeed regardless of the difficulties, and at the same time, they confront the most brutal facts of their current reality. Another key psychology of the right people is that they have a "whatever it takes" attitude.

So then who are the wrong people? The most successful people also talk about avoiding negative people and small time thinkers. I really think those are the wrong people. I understand that many of the things I am planning are very ambitious, and I know we must look at the reality of our situation, but I need the right people to keep the faith.

So, I am looking to form a "core support team". The members of the core support team are the "keepers of the flame". When things get tough, we lean on eachother to maintain the motivation when others may fall off a little. We lead by example of the passion we have for wrestling and for the youth of the community. In addition, if you look at the Project Charter, under organization, the core support team are the major task leaders. I understand the amount of work it will take to have a successful program, and I am willing to step up to the plate. I also understand that in order to go fast, you go alone. If you want to go far, you go together. So far, I've done a lot of work and got it done quickly. What I'm looking for now is for people to jump on board, so we can go far together. All of you that have helped me out so far, THANK YOU!

If there are any tasks that you feel you could lend your expertise to, please let me know. Anything from organizing youth tournaments to gathering addresses for the mailing list to coaching to photography, any help, no matter how small would be greatly appreciated. Again, this is not a lifetime commitment so don't get scared off, but if you are passionate about Cedaredge, wrestling, or your kid, get in touch with me.

This just in...

Hey everybody,

Keep your calendar open next October for Fall Break! I am securing a Mike Krause clinic camp. Mike is currently coaching a feeder program for Detroit Catholic Central. We are looking at 4 days, $100 per family, all ages, preseason tune up! A HUGE portion of the $100 comes back to the club for gear credit at World Wide Sport Supply http://www.wwsport.com

Here is a little taste of Mike:

J Robinson Camps

If you want to transform yourself, this is the place. It takes a great commitment, but...

Just watch the video, it will speak for itself:

Air Force Academy Camps

Personally, from what I've seen, I have to endorse the Airforce Academy Camps. This is the link to register : http://www.goairforcefalcons.com/camps/2009-sports-camps.html

Here is their blurb:

The Air Force Academy Wrestling Technique Camp offers world class technique, world class fun and is a proven resource to help develop novice and elite competitors. The training regiment campers will follow on a daily basis has been developed under the leadership and guidance of Air Force Wrestling Head Coach Joel Sharratt.

The camp will focus on fundamental skills and principles that are common in every match at every level of competition.

1. Fundamental principles in the 5 key positions found in every wrestling match.

2. Development and training tips to develop the 6 physical attributes of every wrestler.

3. Character of a Champion, insight into the habits and practices that lead to championship performance on the mat and in life.

Here are some of my reasons why you should consider this camp:

These guys are world class! You can check out their stats if you don't take my word for it. Joel Sharratt and Sam Barber both worked with J Robinson at Minnesota and Bart Horton worked with Brian Smith at Missouri. Plus from what I've heard, I love these guys' philosophy. In addition, with the work I've been putting in on creating the framework for our wrestling program in Cedaredge, they absolutely live that philosophy and are trying to help me out, help the sport of wrestling out, and in turn help you out.

Another good reason is that while you are in the area, you can check out the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Finally, I will let those involved with the camp and program speak for themselves. When I watch these videos, I want to go wrestle for them!

Joel Sharratt

Sam Barber


This final video has a clip of another coach, Bart Horton. He is at about 4:20 in talking about the Missouri recipe. He coached with Brian Smith at Missouri but is now at the AFA. This video also shows that although wrestlers can work very hard, they can have fun in the process.

Summer Camps

Summer camps are a great way to improve as a wrestler, but when it comes to choosing camps it is important to look at what you are trying to get out of it.

I plan to run our own mini-camps for 7-12 graders at the end of June and also in August before football starts. In between those times, I am cooking up some really awesome stuff for a month and a half mission.

My own wrestling camp experiences were very good. The biggest camp I attended was the Wisconsin National Team Training Camp. I was a cadet, and it helped me in a lot of ways. I was definitely dog-tired, but it gave me a lot of confidence. I was able to practice and train with the best representatives from Wisconsin, and the biggest thing I learned was that I was tougher than a lot of them. I was able to outwork and mentally break most of the guys I was working out with. It was also great exposure. I will never forget the athleticism of Garrett Lowney, who was a pretty big dude. During warm-ups he was turning front handsprings like nothing, and here I was, at the time, a wiry little guy that couldn't do that. It helped me understand the level of where the best wrestlers were and it also let me gauge where I was.

Again, when it comes to looking at summer camps, it depends upon what you are looking to get out of it.

Here are some general suggestions:

• As a highschooler, I suggest you go to a camp where you are thinking of going to college, whether you are planning on wrestling in college or not. If you are thinking about going to Mesa State, go to their camp; if you are thinking about going to Western State, go to their camp; if you are thinking about going to Harvard, go to their camp.
• If you want to TRANSFORM yourself, go to J Robinson's Intensive Training Camp. Period.
• If you really don't know what is up and you're asking for my personal advice, right now, my endorsement would be for the Air Force Academy's camp. I will tell you why in another blog.
• If you are a young guy, have fun somewhere! I'm going to try and bring Mike Krause out to Colorado from Michigan for a family camp. By many people, he is thought of as the best youth coach in the country.
• For you parents reading this, if you don't want to shell out the bucks for your real young wrestler, but really want to help them out, I suggest you focus on technique and look at www.kolat.com I have a subscription there, it is a great site aimed at helping parents teach and learn with their kids, and you should contact me if you want some more detailed information. I feel this is better than buying technique DVD's, but if you want to go that route, I suggest Purler. I'm also working on making a technique video for the rubrics this weekend with my brother, so stay tuned. Also, I really suggest that you buy you and your youngster a "Bring It" T-shirt like the ones demonstrated in the previous blog post with Mike Krause. You can find the shirts at: http://www.wwsport.com Search for the keyword Bring It

It's never too late

I know some of you out there have never wrestled before. I know some of you have taken a year or more off from wrestling. I want to make sure you understand it is never too late to do something great. Don't set invisible barriers in your life.

At a coastal aquarium, a savage Barracuda and a Spanish mackerel were placed in the same glass tank with a glass partition separating them.

Unaware of the transparent barrier, the Barracuda quickly attacked the Mackerel but was stopped by the partition. After bumping his nose repeatedly, he finally quit trying. Later, the partition was removed, but the Barracuda would swim only to the point where the barrier had been and stop... because the Barracuda thought that the barrier was still there.

Many people are like this. We move forward until we reach an imaginary barrier but then stop because of a self-imposed attitude of limitation. All of our lives, we have been prevented from our dreams because we convince ourselves of and what the majority of society understands--LIMITATIONS!

The only limit to any person's growth and progress is the one that we place on ourselves by our own thinking!

Success is simple. The only reason why so many people are held from it is because it is because they remain bound to their own self-imposed limitations.

The following movies are examples of some of the best coaches in the US that started late but made a commitment and went on to do amazing things.

J Robinson


Tom Ryan




Brian Smith


Brian Smith's college teammate Mike Krause coached 5 state champs that only began wrestling in 9th grade. He used these types of methods shown in this video (he even got the camera man getting the job done) :

Off-season work and a good place to start

I believe you need to wrestle to get better at wrestling. However, being a wrestler is much more than just wrestling. Maintaining a balance in your life and managing your priorities can be quite a task. We are approaching the summer which brings up summer wrestling and summer camps but it also brings in jobs and less structure due to no school.

What you choose to do this summer has a lot to do with who you want to be. This video should help you start to think about what experiences you would like to have in your life. When you think about who you want to be, where you want to end up, and what experiences you want to have, you can begin to make a plan for your future.

What is possible?

I believe in unlimited possibilities! Check this out: in 1 year, undefeated in duals, 10 qualify to state, 5 placers, 2nd as a team, 2000 people at matches, 75 junior high wrestlers! Of course, we need to focus on the team and people we need to BE before we can HAVE our goals, but this is really inspiring to listen to:

Phase One

So, if you check out the project charter, you will see that there are different phases in my plan and strategy. I know all of that organized framework/rubric stuff I've done looks pretty good on paper (because I've asked top coaches from all levels around the U.S. to look at it), but what really matters is what actually gets done and how effective it is when the rubber meets the road.

So, let's get the rubber on the road! Here are some things I've got planned to do before I move out west.

• Form a core support team (any volunteers ?!?) THIS IS SUPER IMPORTANT
• Set the competition schedule for next winter
• Call wrestlers, coaches, parents to begin/renew relationships
• Set up USA Wrestling Club
• Make a wishlist and research costs involved with ideal training facility
• Plan summer (social events, camps, strength and conditioning)
• Record Technique Videos and put on website
  
• Get mailing list together of all current wrestling families K-12, as many alumni as possible, and other important recipients (colleges, teachers, local organizations)
  
• Mail out first newsletter

How can you help?

Introducing myself

Wow!
I've got so much that I want to share with everyone. I guess I need to figure out where to start. Maybe I should start with myself. Many of you know me from teaching at Cedaredge Middle School, but many of you may not. So...

• I am the youngest of 7 kids; my parents are from families of 9 and 10 kids = we are Catholic :)

• Both sides of my family have been dairy farmers in Wisconsin for many generations with my mom's family farm originating in 1848.

• My parents had one of us boys in the state tournament for a decade.

• We had a wrestling mat in the basement and a library of wrestling videos including many from Iowa and Russia.

• I graduated valedictorian of my high school and with a 4.0 in college...no big whoop...

• My older brother Dominic and I both wrestled for Lakeland College.

• I lived in 4 states this past year.

So, this past year has been crazy. I'll try to sum it up as briefly as possible. My wife and I left Cedaredge to chase the dream of being professional dogmushers. We got hooked up with a dogfood maker in Michigan and drove 3000 miles with 54 of his dogs to live in a tent on a glacier in Alaska and give dogsled rides to tourists. I rode in a helicopter every week for four months. Then we moved back to Michigan with the 54 dogs and trained to be dog jockeys. We worked with 120 dogs including training 20 at a time pulling a four-wheeler for up to 8 hours straight on trails in the U.P. We were planning on racing all around North America all winter. Then my mom was diagnosed with cancer. My wife and I decided to quit the dogsledding thing and move in with my mom and dad. I got a job teaching science at a Catholic middle school in one of the richest suburbs of Milwaukee. My mom passed away on Valentine's Day which also happens to be my wife's birthday. Then things came together with moving back to Colorado, and that brings us up to the present.

Welcome!

Hey Everybody,
I am so pumped to have the chance to lead the wrestling program in Cedaredge. As most of you know I am here in Wisconsin until the middle of June. So, in order to get this party started, I've made this blog. I've been working on creating a framework to guide the program in an organized way. You can find the work I've done thus far on the right side under important links. That should keep you busy for now...