Father helping his son start wrestling

[johnnewman 3]

You would not believe how many WWE sites I had to sift through to find one that was actually about competitive wrestling, or... maybe you do.

Now to my actual question, and please, if this is the wrong location for this, then mods please move or erase and let me know where it belongs. I just figured "Youth Wrestling" is the right place.

I'm looking to enroll my son in wrestling and I have some questions. He is 6yrs old and really wants to get into some sort of competitive sport and he seems to be most interested in wrestling. My question(s) is what should I be looking for in a wrestling club? There's nothing at his school so we have to find somewhere to take him. What should I look for in coaches, in fellow students, and in gear as well? 

Thank you in advance for your advice.

[KSchlosser 103]

Good Luck, sorry this board does not get the traffic that others do but I will offer a few suggestions.

1. Reach out to local HS/JH/MS coaches to see if you can get a referal

2. Research USA wrestling state/national website to find list of sanctioned clubs in your area.

3. Research NUway wrestling state/national website to find list of sanctioned clubs in your area.

4. Find a youth tournament in your area, show up, ask questions, make friends.

 

Equipment -

Wrestling shoes, mouthpiece, headgear. You already have shorts, sweats, and t's you can use

 

General -

Learning, skill development, and fun trump tournaments when just starting out

[jross 521]

Go to your local state wrestling forum and ask the question there.  Go to the facebook group for clubs in you area and ask the question there.  You should prefer a coach that had success at the state high school level or one that has college experience.  You would be super lucky if this coach was also a kindergarten teacher because keeping the focus of 6-8 year old wrestlers is  difficult and requires patience.  Find someone that parents says is great with kids -- that likes to have fun and can command attention without yelling and threats.

[Fletcher 1,100]

Best advice I can give (learned thru trial and error) is to get friends to join with him. It takes a long time to build up the skills to be successful and having buddies to mess around with at practice is what will keep him coming back.

[gallison 81]

Provide lots of encouragement his first year.  My youngest son started at age 5 and had to wrestle in a 6-7 year old age group.   Lost every match his first year but would come off mat as excited as he could be.  That was awesome dad!   Good memories in St Louis/Oakville.

[Plasmodium 2,255]

My advice is that 6 is too young for wrestling.  Wait till 5th grade.   Wrestling is inherently competitive.  Go to a few youth tournaments - you will be shocked by how serious some take it.  Your little Johnny/Joanie has to deal with that on a personal level.  There are so many other sports to develop skills for wrestling and beyond.  Try gymnastics, track and soccer until your child matures.