Every year before Districts we give each wrestler's parents a chance to say how proud they are of their athlete. It helps build their confidence and lets them know that no matter what happens in the State series they are loved and their hard work is noticed and respected. It helps them to not be as nervous and to attack without fear of disappointing their parents or coaches. The hard work has been put in. Now it's time to leave their hearts on the mat and battle it out to get

I always feel that the scale between hard and fun is the ultimate balancing act. If the focus is too far on fun, then you lose a lot of the discipline and hard work that goes into winning high-level matches. If you only focus on being "hard" with sprints and yelling at the wrestlers, then they only learn how to run and not wrestle, and their self-esteem drops and it's difficult to get that long-term retention. But once you find that sweet spot between the hard work and the fu