By Melissa Babb-Renta
If you plan on wrestling at the college level you have to be competitive. It is the competition in the student athlete that stands them out from their peers and deems them capable of competing at the next level. Size, strength, and agility is always a factor, but there are a lot of student athletes out there that are strong, fast, and “athletic”. The competition in the athlete is what pushes them even further; to be greater than the others.
Knowing that there are many student athletes out there who are strong, quick and agile and knowing that many of them are competitive and want to play at the next level, why do so many families believe that opportunities will come to them?
Think of it this way… Every coach before a big match always has the spotlight for a couple of minutes to give their pump up speech. That coach uses that time to rile up their team and prepare the wrestlers for the competition they will soon have. Now what coach ever in their speech says, “Team, we have to wait for the wins to come to us! We are going to work hard day in, day out and if it is meant to be it will happen!”
Never! I have been on plenty of teams, heard my share of crazy speeches, but never have I ever had a coach say that to my team. Why?
No team is ever going to win by believing that if they are lucky enough they will win. You have to take the win from the other team. Now, when it comes to recruiting, so many families sit and wait for their big break. If you are indeed capable of competing at the next level, you are competitive, so why are you not using that to get recruited?
Use what you are already good at and be competitive when you are getting recruited. Recruiting is a game; you need to make sure you win because nothing is just going to happen.
