Bi-state

I think my boys would appreciate it if I wrote about today.  Todaaaaaaaay. 

It was a long day, but a fun day.  So long in fact that when we first learned that there would be this looong day of a tournament, we decided immediately that only 1 of us would go and the other would stay home with the kids.  Cuz who wants to take 6 kids anywhere for 8 hrs?

But when I woke up this morning, I thought, "screw it, lets all go.  It'll be fun and the boys need our support."

Here's why I felt they needed our support.  I mean, we do lots of sports and they're used to not having everyone at their events because there's only 2 of us and usually about 800 events to accommodate our 800 kids.  However this season has been harder for them.

In VA, after fall soccer, they both decided they wanted to try out for the wrestling team.  "Try out" is relative, no one gets cut.  I think they more wanted to "try out" if they liked it or not and also figured wrestling would be good conditioning for soccer.  Matt was excited, he felt like they'd be great wrestlers.  I wasn't excited, I didn't feel like seeing my boys walk around in saran wrap, frolicking around with other like-dressed boys (or girls.) 

I threw my hands up in the air, said "whatever" and prepared for our cross country move.  And coached the girls' basketball, cuz that's the REAL winter sport!  :)

Long story short, Colby had an undefeated season and Dallin 50-50.  I was actually impressed and suddenly my interest in wrestling sparked.  And when we moved to ID, I saw wrestling as a great way to acclimate the boys to middle school here on the west coast.  The boys were excited to strut their wrestling stuff, impress the coach, and bring their team on to victory as that was exactly their roles in VA.

Practice here was, "More intense than VA, but I like it" according to the two.  And then the butt whooping began.  I couldn't believe it when I heard, after their first match, they were BOTH pinned in the first round. 

Wow.

It happened again and again and again. Pin.  Pin.  Pin.
And I noticed that all of a sudden, Colby felt like wrestling was dumb and even heard him say, "Maybe I'll try basketball again..."  It made me a bit nervous because Dallin tends to take on Colby's attitude about things.  He loves challenges, but he is also influenced by his older brother.

My biggest, well, OK, ONE of my biggest pet peeves (I have a bunch of big ones), is giving up on something because all of a sudden it's hard.  Changing your attitude to match your surroundings (things are good, so I'm good.  things are bad, so I'm bad)

Life's hard.  You fall down.  You face plant even.  But that doesn't mean anything.  It's the ones who work, who don't give up, who pull it out of their butts, that get somewhere in life.  Doesn't mean it was EVER easy, doesn't mean it was always fun.  It simply means, it's a good thing and good things oft times get very hard to do.

Apparently here in ID, wrestling is a big deal.  I've heard it from NUMEROUS people that most kids here begin wrestling at the same time they're potty trained.  The boys even used this as "rationalization as to why we suck and shouldn't be wrestling."

So we had a talk.  Long story short, I reminded them of their potential and reminded them that they really needed to be OK with doing difficult things.  And to not just "do" it, but to give it their all.

Giving their all was also not equivalent to winning.  I don't believe that at all.  Giving it your all is unleashing the beast and let whatever happens, happen.  Winning is simply a bonus.  I ran cross country in high school.  I unleashed that beast every race.  No one knew about it of course.  When you're 101 out of 105 runners, most don't see you as beastly.  Ghastly yes, beastly no.  But for me, I was the beast.  Cuz for me, the fact I finished was the prize.  My coach hated me.  The whole team hated me.  The fact that I ran 4 years as the slowest on my team and most hated tells you that yes, I had unleashed the beast!  :)

Last week after I picked the boys up from practice, Dallin goes, "Here's my plan.  Wrestle here until my senior year.  We move back to VA so I can go to state and be the state champion and then I can go to nationals and get beat by the guy from ID!"  I liked it actually.  It was a better attitude.

And this is why we decided we all needed to support the boys.  Let them know we supported them and simply wanted to see them give it their all and that we'd be there to cheer them on in the midst of being pummeled.  "I'd be happier seeing you lose giving it your all than win mediocrely"

Something happened out there today.  They both won their first matches.  Colby even won against a kid who I found out never loses.  Their 2nd matches they both lost.  And it was these 2nd matches that I noticed, they fought harder and when they lost, both felt like they could have won.  They both won their 3rd matches and suddenly found themselves wrestling for 3rd place.

Dallin's match was unbelievable.  5 seconds left of the 3rd period they were tied.  3 seconds left the other kid "escaped" and got 1 point ahead.  And that's when I saw the fire and determination in Dallin's eyes.  It was so cool.  After the kid escaped, Dallin literally chased and pounced, flipping the kid and earning himself 2 points literally as the clock hit 0.  The entire gym was screaming.  It was so cool.

And when Dallin walked off the mat, holy cow.  That look of pure satisfaction.  Pure relief.  That look only those who push through hard things can relate to.  I was so glad he had that experience!

Colby ended up having to wrestle the kid he had previously beat, the kid who "never loses."  After his first match with him, a complete stranger parent turned to me and said, "your son just beat a very strong wrestler."  When I heard Colby was going to wrestle him for 3rd place, I thought, "the opponent has mentally prepared himself to not lose to Colby again."

I noticed earlier the opponent watching Colby wrestle, I guess studying his moves.  Colby made a mistake that only an inexperienced wrestler would do.  He got down on his hands and knees with his back towards the ref.  The ref corrected him and had Colby turn around.  His opponent saw that and I'm sure realized, at that moment, that Colby was new to the sport.  The opponent had been wrestling since he was 5 I learned.  I think realizing Colby was new eased his concerns.

After 3 rounds, he went into overtime.  Who ever gets the first point, wins.  They wrestled and wrestled and wrestled.  It was at a point in the match that if the kid broke free from Colby, he'd win.  Colby had to hold on or flip him.  Colby tried and just like that, the kid broke free.  They both collapsed.  Colby out of frustration, his opponent out of elation.

And I couldn't be more proud of him.  More proud of them both. 

This is why I always say sports is such a great thing.  There's more to sports than meets the eye.  I felt, sincerely felt, like my boys learned something about themselves today.  I think they learned that they were capable of doing difficult things and accomplishing.  I couldn't teach them that as effectively as ID wrestling did today.

When I picked the boys up from school tonight, I heard the team captain yell out to Colby, "See you in track!" 

Track?  That's a new one.  Driving home I learned that Colby wants to run the 800, mile, and long jump.  Dallin wants to run hurdles and "see what distances I like". 

New challenges.  And thanks to a "crappy" wrestling season, the boys are up for it!

(Don't get me wrong, they'll still play soccer.  Apparently out here, kids can do both!)