A Couple Updates and a "Feel-Good" Story
It seemed a bit obnoxious to post two blogs in one day, but I think the information is important, so I doubled it up. In order to not waste anyone’s time with my rambling, we’ll begin with a few quick updates:
OUR WRESTLING ROOM IS READY! I have to thank both the Keefe and Gehling families for helping us out in getting a space and mats together to build a make-shift wrestling room. It’s nothing too fancy, but it' has been fun putting it together. There are a few cosmetic things I’m sure we’ll add along the way. I’m not sure what schools are going to do, so having another option is always helpful. When I have a sure-fire rollout, info will come pouring out on here, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and anything else I learn how to use intermittently prior to that.
TRAINING PLANS! What I had hoped would take us a couple of weeks ended up taking a couple months. Building a wrestling room is difficult (and pretty expensive). At this point, I’m kinda waiting on Walz, the MSHSL, and USAW to make sure when I do roll something out, I don’t have to go back on it. I hope there are fall sports, but on the chance that there isn’t, we can obviously alter what would be our “Fall/In-Season” session. Rumor has it, there will be a club folkstyle duals in the Dells in October. My ultimate goal would be to use the small group idea (5-6 COMMITTED athletes) 2-3x a week and build to said tournament. With building a room and having more individualized training, cost may rise. I will never price an athlete out. I will work with families. However, the cost not only holds the athletes accountable, but it also needs to reflect the training being given.
ATHLETES WHO WANT INDIVIDUAL WORKOUTS! I am open to doing some small group workouts in the new room. I probably can’t go searching for partners all over the area, but if you find a partner or group of 3-4 that you’d like to get a scrap in with prior to our next session, shoot me a text/call/email/DM and I’ll try to get a time lined up to get a workout in.
SAFESPORT EMAILS! In order to keep our USAW Club Charter for next year, I was supposed to send out SafeSport things twice a year to families to discuss with their athletes. Now, I lost track of it in the fall, and it seemed silly to do when we got shut down in March. Well, now I need to send out 2 emails in August. Do NOT be concerned or confused if you’ve given me your email address on forms in the past and you receive an email with SafeSport information. It’s useful.
Now, if you’re like me, you’re mildly-annoyed by the constant doom and gloom of everything going on in the world. I have a little quick story I’d like to tell that sorta reminded me of why I invest so much into this lifestyle.
Last night, I was laying around and got a text from an athlete (who I will not name, in respect to them) that asked about how many we could fit in the new room (it is smaller than most rooms we use). We continued chatting and I was wondering where it was going. Well, he proceeds to tell me about how he had an idea to run a couple day camp in the new facility for HS/Varsity athletes before he heads off to college. Now, I’ve bounced and received this idea more than a few times from others to have alumni come and do a camp. But, here’s the kicker… He explains that he’d want to donate the proceeds to the club, as he felt he “got a lot out of the club, but we didn’t get much in return, so he may as well help the club”. What a selfless idea for an outgoing senior, and this is a kid who’s pretty darn accomplished. This athlete has given back to the club PLENTY in his leadership and mentorship. I was honestly a bit dumbfounded. Perhaps I need to do a better job of letting our guys know exactly how important what they do is, not only for themselves and their accolades, but for the future athletes.
This is stuff that I can’t teach kids. It’s built into them. Whether by their families (which we have some of the best, and I truly mean that), their support systems, or by the culture created in the individuals in our program, we turn out top-notch athletes and humans. It gave me some real thinking material about what we’re actually doing in this club, besides trying to win wrestling matches.
That’s all for now. Hope everyone finds this post useful and that you’re being safe and whatnot. Let’s hope for the future and get back to wrestling ASAP!