Confidence is key

     I had the pleasure of attending the NUWAY nationals in Battle Creek last year with two of our very own Hartland Eagles.  Both who happened to crush their competition and come home National Champions!!!!!  During this tournament I watched many of the up and coming young stars in the country display high levels of technical skill, conditioning, and strength.  I was definitely struck by how good so many of these "young kids" were.
     Later, I watched a few high school matches on-line of nationally ranked wrestlers from St Johns and St Eds, prestigious wrestling schools from Michigan and Ohio respectively.  While watching these matches I saw of course a high level of  technical skill, conditioning, and strength again.  While this seems like it would be expected I was again struck by something.  But this time it was about the differences in the four athletes I was watching.
     My revelation was that these athletes all had very different styles and techniques in which they were proficient.  I then realized that the same was true of the youth athletes I watched compete over the weekend.  If their skill sets and proficiency's were so different then why were they all so successful.  Are some athletes just physically gifted with super human abilities?  There are one or two athletes in the country that meet that criteria.  They are not the ones however that are always successful.  The key commonality between them all, that separated them from a seemingly equally talented and also human competitors, was their confidence.
     I am not talking about arrogance or unrealistic belief that they can not lose.  I am talking about confidence in their skill set and abilities.  I am talking about applying those skills in a bold application, resulting in a total onslaught of technically crafted and crisply executed techniques.  These athletes hit every move hard and immediately when they saw an opening.  They showed complete trust in what they had learned and that it would work on everyone they wrestled.  The belief that you must change your style or use different moves when in tough matches can derail even the best athlete.
     There are many axioms I think speak to the truth about success in wrestling.  One is that a half-hearted attempt at a technique won't work on a wrestler that you are truly more skilled than, let alone a wrestler that is equal or superior to you.  The second, speaks to the same ideal but is for me more to the point.  "Don't Be Afraid To Be Great".  Being afraid of losing will cause athletes to not try or build in excuses for failure.  "I cut a lot of weight" or "His dad was a state champ so what do you expect".  Being afraid of pain or getting tired will cause athletes to coast in practice or even a match.  Athletes become afraid of winning because than people will expect them to practice harder or more often.  You can be afraid that you won't be able to do other fun things if you "have to practice all of the time" to be able to beat that kid.  There can be fear of setting a goal because then you can truly "fail" if you admitted to yourself that you wanted something hard to achieve.  There will always be reasons to give up or to be o.k. with failure.  Other people will line up to console you and tell you that your "excuse" is legitimate and that you shouldn't feel bad.  
     I have had success in my life and failure.  I can tell you that you will never reach a goal that you do not set.  Failure to meet a goal is not shameful in my book.  Failing to meet a goal will hurt.  That is OK.  Disappointment is part of life.  When ever a goal is meet or missed is the time to re-evaluate your goal and set a new one.  It may take you on a new path or continue on the same one but choosing a path is crucial.  You will go somewhere.  Were you end up depends on where you try and go.
     To bend a phrase a little.   "The gate of success is narrow,  but reach for it, because wide is the gate and broad the path of failure.  Many will enter through it.  Take the narrow path of success and enter through the narrow gate.  There are only two gates.  If you don't strive for success failure will find you anyway."  The key is to be clear on what is important to you and set you goals wisely.
     To all of our athletes going to the MYWA Regional and maybe State then Nationals, BELIEVE in what you know.  What you have learned IS what you need to win.  There are no secret moves that you need to learn.  Hit every move with the CONFIDENCE that it is going to work.  This gives you the best chance to win and do your best. 
      Good luck Hartland, "DONT BE AFRAID TO BE GREAT" Coach Trim.
  
   

What good is a goal?

     There is a lot said in athletics about having goals and how to set them. Some say set small achievable goals and work from one to the next. This will motivate you to make continuous improvement and you will have many small successes that keep you going. Others say set lofty unachievable goals. Have a dream and make it happen. I definitely see the wisdom in both. Having small goals to focus on that move you to an overall goal that seems too far to reach but challenges you to push yourself beyond your expectations work well together to achieve significant results. While both short term and long term goals are useful, I want to focus on one benefit that comes from goal setting beyond achieving the thing itself.
     I believe having a clear dream goal helps you push yourself outside of your comfort zone and helps you do something you think you can't or the thing that no one else is willing to do. Consider a young athlete in any sport. What is there normal experience? Practicing and working out with kids their own age and in some sports size. They go to tournaments and win some and lose some others. They are excited about winning and sad about losing. If they can win a division with weaker athletes or enter a tougher division and likely lose they or their parents often take the win. Why wouldn't they? Winning is what they are there for right???
     If you set a goal to be the best youth athlete you can be, then you work hard at practice and do some extra running and lifting. If your goal is to be state champion, then maybe you get some outside coaching or go to summer camps. If you want to compete in college you may focus on one sport year round. You also select several national tournaments to compete in, along with going to specific college camps to get exposure to the program you want to recruit you. If you want to compete in the Olympics, you may move close to an Olympic training center, have private tutors for school so your training regimen isn't interrupted, and sacrifice many typical youth experiences like dances and parties. This is all focused on reaching a goal that very few in life could ever even dream to attend let alone compete and win.
     So, what is point? Should you all pull your kids out of school and move to Colorado to train all day and spend all summer trying to get noticed by Tom Brands and Cael Sanderson? No!!! My point is this, what is the mindset of the athlete that sets these goals and chases them in this way? They believe they ARE achieving their goal every day, in every way, and in every decision they make. Their choices ranging from moving to Colorado to only having one piece of pizza WILL result in the reaching of their goal. How nervous do you imagine an athlete in the state finals is that has been training for the Olympics at the Olympic training center? Not as nervous as the kid they are going to wrestle:)
     Over preparation is a term you may or may not be familiar with. It is crucial for an athlete. If you think it takes 10 pushups to be strong enough to compete, do 20. There are two components to my last sentence, Thinking and Doing. The doing part is the easy one. What have others done to reach the goal you want to reach? That is a good starting road map to get there then do more than they did. This gives you the chance to miss your plan and still make it.
     The other is what you THINK it takes to get there. If you do more than what you think is required, it gives you the confidence and BELIEF that you ARE making it rather than that you MIGHT make it. If you believe you ARE on the road to success, than going up a weight class or age group to challenge yourself has a whole different feel. It goes from a nervous time when you are concerned about losing, to being a chance to help you get to your goal and push yourself harder than others are willing to. If you win in that situation, how much easier will taking on opponents of your own age and size be? It is a win win situation, rather than one when you are focused on the likelihood of losing. This by itself gives you a better chance to win and truly enjoy your time competing.
     As a parent or coach, we need to help our athletes have this mentality rather than focusing on not losing. Then it is up to us to help keep balance and priorities in their life. Tell them to take time off of practice rather than having to push them to go when they don't want to be there. We can convince them how important to them going to events like school dances will be for them. As a Christian I think of how great it felt to "make a statement" about my faith being a priority to me by not going to a practice that conflicted with church. I remember how I didn't need my parents to tell me not to drink or smoke because if I had given up pop, pizza, and cookies there was no way I was going to jeopardize by conditioning with smoking or get kicked off the team for drinking.

One Proud Eagle

Great job to all of the Hartland wrestlers that competed at the High State finals over the weekend.  Everyone wrestled well and represented themselves and our school with honor.  I want to take a second to point out the efforts of one specific athlete.  Mitchel Thomas was a great roll model for all of our young wrestlers to follow.  Mitchel has been a talented wrestler since he was a freshmen.  Challenged as many youth athletes are with a growth spurt that wouldn't end, he jumped several weight classes each year and worked hard to grow into himself each season.  At the end of his Junior year he decided he wanted his final season to be special.  He wrestled in several out of season tournaments and work all summer and fall on his technique, conditioning and aggressiveness.  As a returning state qualifier the likely hood of placing at state were good for him.  The result he actually achieved was foreseen by no one accept himself and a few lucky individuals who had seen the effort and dedication Mitchel put into getting everything out of himself and his senior year.  Mitchel ended his season with two losses on the year and a second place finish in the state finals.  His two losses, one of which came early in the season and the other in the state finals were to the same athlete.  An athlete whom is not only a multiple time state champion but also ranked in the country as a top athlete in his weight class.  We are very proud of Mitchel and all he accomplished, but I haven't told you the truly impressive part yet.  While working to live his dream in the wrestling room he maintained an excellent grade point and a potential full ride to medical school because of his hard work and success in the classroom.  Is taking second in the state a big deal?  You bet, it is an awesome achievement.  I want our young eagles to realize that Mitchel has achieved something even greater.  He has developed the keys to success in life not just the wrestling room.  He has proven he can dream big, do the work needed to succeed, and deliver excellent results.  I can only hope that if I should need a life saving intervention or miracle cure from a brilliant young doctor some day, that they are just like Mitchel.  So proud of you buddy.  Coach Trim