About
Welcome to Gold Mine Wrestling Club
Wrestling is Unique
Wrestling will make your child more self-reliant. Wrestling is individual achievement, just like school. Pay attention in class, practice what is taught, and you will pass the test.
Our Biggest Secret
We keep wrestling FUN. Most kids get into wrestling because they want to have fun. Their experience with wrestling is usually from TV, the movies, or wrestling with dad. Some parents bring their kids because they believe that wrestling will be good for them. Others find wrestling the perfect sport because their child is too big, small, slow, or shy, for other sports. Regardless of why your boy or girl is in wrestling, never forget that he or she will not want to continue unless it’s fun. This means that all parents and coaches have a responsibility to remember that we are here to keep wrestling fun for the kids. If we take the fun out of sports, the kids will find fun things to do outside of sports.
We Train Champions
Having fun does not mean that we do not strive for excellence as individuals or as a club. By keeping the sport fun, our wrestlers are given the chance to develop to their full potential.
We do not focus on winning. We concentrate on what it takes to be a winner. Winning is a by-product of our training methods and the structure we insert into the lives of our kids. If you want your child to succeed, it is your job to take the emphasis off “winning” and concentrate on learning to pay attention in class and doing the home work. We teach the same skills every boy and girl needs to excel in school or in anything they do. Our goal is to make sure that wrestling is a positive experience for every wrestler and the family.
It is not easy to become a champion. We’re all measured by how we handle our defeats. Once your wrestler gets past the 1st tournament of the season (beginner) he or she will be facing wrestlers who have wrestled for at least one year and maybe 5 or 6 years.
Some wrestlers do not win a single match their first year. Many of these wrestlers are allowed to quit before the season is over. Others finish the season but do not come back for their second year. Many who come back become champions. Praise and reward effort If your primary focus is on results, your first year wrestler will feel like a loser.
Safety
Keeping wrestling fun does not mean that we allow horseplay. The training sessions are kept fast moving to keep the interest level up and to discourage roughhousing.
Your wrestler is more likely to get hurt at practice than at a tournament. Total mat time at a tournament is usually less than 20 minutes and your wrestler is on guard every second. Time spent in the wrestling room is measured in hours and the kids tend to goof around.
We do not get the bone crunching injuries where kids are crashing full speed into each other. Wrestling injuries tend to be soft tissue trauma to the tendons and muscles.
Warming Up
Training sessions must always begin with a series of warm up exercises designed to stretch muscles and tendons to reduce injuries. We play games to make the warm up drills fun. The normal warm up time is 10 to 15 minutes.
Warm Up before a match
Have your wrestlers keep their sweats on until the last minute. Make sure they have stretched out and have warmed up enough to break a moist sweat. Get your wrestlers mentally & physically ready to go the instant the whistle blows. Keep the chatter down the last few minutes, and do not allow well wishers to break the mental preparation while on deck.
Competition Nutrition
What you feed your wrestler will affect performance. Never feed an athlete a big breakfast the day of competition. Your body wants to take a nap when it has a large amount of food to digest. Beef, pork, fried food and dairy products must be avoided because they hog the oxygen in the wrestlers blood system. Poor competition nutrition effects the wrestler psychologically because it does not become apparent until the third or fourth minute of the match. The wrestler begins to run out of gas. The opponent seems to become stronger. The wrestler is doing everything correctly, but it is not working.
General Nutrition
Wrestlers tend to eat the same junk food as everyone else. If your family already has healthy eating habits, don not change anything. On the other hand you may be able to use “wrestling” as a reason to eat more vegetables etc.
Parent Participation
The only way to keep kids under control in a wrestling room or at a tournament is with parent participation. In most sports you drop off your kid(s), the coaches take over, and you become a spectator. At GMWC, we all watch out for each other. If you see a kid doing some monkey business, you are expected to get on them on the spot. Do not worry about the little devils mommy or daddy giving you a hard time for dishing out verbal discipline. Corporal punishment is out.
Every GMWC parent is encouraged to participate. We have lots of jobs for every mom and dad, and no experience is required. For example, when the kids are given a water break at practice, at least three parents need to go with the group. One follows the kids to the water fountain and the other two make sure that the all the kids come out of the restroom.
What are we getting into?
We are all busy, and the last thing we need is for someone to “rope” us into something that will make demands on our time.
However, you will find that our needs are minimal compared to “team” sports, and the return on your investment is greater than any other youth sport.
You’ll find the wrestling room is a microcosm of the big world you’re trying to prepare your youngster(s) for. We teach our youngsters (and some adults) how to learn, how to set goals, how to work, how to train for the future, how to learn from losing, and how to succeed.
We all start out strangers. Don’t be bashful. Get to know the other parents. Why should your wrestler miss practice because something came up and you do not have 10 minutes to make the trip to practice? Car-pooling gets more kids to practice and makes life easier for the parents.
Parent Coaching
Most coaches are also parents. Some dads start out feeling they must coach their own kid. This is usually bad for the wrestler and the dad. Take the pressure off the kid by letting someone else do the instruction. Dad becomes an advisor to the wrestler and the wrestler can see that dad is having a good time with the competition. Dealing with all the normal fears and challenges of learning a new sport is hard enough without your dad being right on top of you every minute.
On the other hand, most moms and many dads do not want to help coach because they have no experience. Strange how we adults will put our youngsters in a position that we refuse to put ourselves into. If you and your youngster have no wrestling experience, take all the pressure off your kid by learning while he or she learns. After the instructor demonstrates a move the kids are divided up into groups of four. Pick a group and help the kids recall proper positions. You will find that practice is more fun for you and your wrestler.
Parent Etiquette
We do not allow parents, wrestlers or coaches to blame the refs, or anyone else, for our losses, especially when we get ripped off.
Wrestling is about learning to take personal responsibility for your actions or lack of action. It is better to lose with dignity than win with shame. The important thing is to remember that you can wipe out years of training in a few minutes by losing your temper in front of your kid(s) and 1,000+ spectators.
Fear of Failure
One of the hardest things for parents to deal with is “fear of failure” for themselves & their children. It’s only natural not to put yourself into a position where you may not succeed.
You and your wrestler(s) will fail if you think winning is only what’s up on the scoreboard. Wrestlers and parents must learn that fear makes you stronger, more alert, and quicker, once you learn to make fear work for you. Some parents’ biggest fear is that their wrestler will see them make a mistake.
Coaching Certification
To be a staff or volunteer coach you must be licensed by USA Wrestling, the National Governing Body for the sport. To coach at SAWA Sacramento Area Wrestling tournaments you must attend at least one of the SAWA parent coaches clinics or be a “Certified” coach.
Coaching Etiquette
Sometimes a coach will forget that we are all role models for our wrestlers. If someone you know is about to go around the bend or over the edge, do him or her a favor and take them outside for some fresh air. Anyone who uses profanity, verbally abuses an official, or anyone else for that matter, or displays any un-sportsmanlike behavior will be ejected from the tournament or practice room.
Win or lose, we make the wrestlers shake hands after each match. If you want to set a good example, shake hands with the other coach after each match, you may see him again next week, or the week after. If you and your wrestler enjoy the sport, you’ll see many of the same faces next year, and the year after.
Wrestler Etiquette
Aside from common sense good sportsmanship, wrestling has a competition etiquette that has developed over the years. Training your wrestler is like table manners. If they don’t practice good manners at home, they can’t have them when you go out of town to the state, regional or national tournaments.
When your wrestler is called to the mat, make sure he or she checks in with the Mat Chairman, and that your wrestler has a handkerchief and is in the proper color singlet. If your wrestler’s name is on the left side of the bout sheet the wrestler should have on a red singlet.
When your wrestler is called to the center of the mat, he/she should have the handkerchief in the left hand, show it to the referee, and then put the handkerchief inside the singlet. Regardless of the marks on the mat, each wrestler should know the proper side to stand on. As you face the scoring table from the center of the mat, red should be standing to the left of the ref and blue to the right.
Wrestlers are not allowed to speak to each other or the refs during the course of the bout.
At the end of the bout, your wrestler should shake hands with the opponent, the referee, the mat judge, the opposing coach and the mat chairperson.
Parent Etiquette
It is easy to be a model wrestling parent when your kids never misbehave, all the calls go your way, and your car never gives you problems.
On the other hand, the day will come when your car breaks down on the way to the tournament, you leave your wallet at home, your kids act like monsters and the referee’s rip off your wrestler match after match. This is no excuse for making a fool of your self. Bad calls are part of sports from the Super Bowl & the Olympics to the beginner ref’s at our local tournaments.
The only way for you as a parent to help your wrestler get less bad calls is to encourage your wrestler to demonstrate his/her skill to the ref in such a way that even a FIRST DAY ref will be able to make the correct call. You’ll still get bad calls. Keep quiet. There’s nothing positive you can do from the bleachers or the sidelines. At state, regional & national tournaments their are procedures the coach can implement if the officials do not follow the rules, but if 2 of the 3 officials agree on a call that could go either way, their decision is final.
What’s the cost?
The one time club fee is $80.00. An annual USA card and t-shirt is included in that price! Sponsorships and family discounts available.
Wrestling shoes are also available at the tournaments, local sporting goods stores and online.