When the words “parents” and “youth sports” are put together in the same sentence, it’s usually not a good thing. The tales and stories of overbearing moms and dads in all youth sports—wrestling included—seem to always make the headlines. What we don’t hear enough are stories of parents doing things the right way.
“I have been ‘that parent’ before,” says Steve Thorpe, head coach of
the Sweet Home High School (Sweet Home, OR) wrestling program where
Thorpe also coaches his son Travis Thorpe, a 2019 152 pound Oregon Class
4A high school state champion. “I have done things wrong, but at the
end of the day, I realize I am going to be a dad a lot longer than I
will be a coach. Parents need to remember this.”
A parent can be the greatest ally or worst enemy to a child’s sport
experience, says Robert Schoner, coach and co-founder of the newly
created St. John’s Northwestern Military Academy (Delafield, WI)
Greco-Roman wrestling program, a program that focuses solely on
Greco-Roman wrestling curriculum for high school students. In most
cases, no one is more involved in a child’s life than mom, or dad, or
both. read full article here