It's a new experience for him, and for our whole family, and we're looking forward to it. Kind of.
Performance-wise, I expect he'll do okay. He's athletic -- quick and strong, with good body control. Plus, he's coachable and hard-working, a fast learner who's smart, resourceful, and competitive. I anticipate he'll win some and lose some, and that'll be okay. I do worry about the mental aspect of the sport: how will he handle the pressure of being out on the mat by himself against another kid, with everyone watching? What will happen when he loses? What will happen when he loses badly?
Ultimately, I think he'll be mentally strong enough to handle losing. He won't like it, of course, but I think he'll be able to get over it, learn from it, and generally keep it in the proper perspective. He seems to enjoy the practices, so I'm pretty sure he'll be fine. I wouldn't even doubt if he ends up liking the sport a lot and decides to stay with it after this season.
It's me I wonder about.
Wrestling's different than anything our children have been involved with to this point. My wife and I support all our children and we love to see them playing and having fun, but we've heard all kinds of stories about wrestling -- about how the meets last all day, and how the parents can get crazy as they yell and scream, and all kinds of stuff like that. The thought of watching our son out there competing against some other kid and hearing people scream stuff that might make us feel uncomfortable makes us, well, a little uneasy.
But we're diving in. Our son seems excited to be learning the sport, and he seems happy to be hanging with his friends who are on the team. All the coaches are really passionate and positive about the sport, and they keep asking me if he likes it so far. They seem so hopeful that he will.
There's a lot to be said for a sport that makes people feel that much love for it. I look forward to learning more about why these guys feel that way.
