Welcome to the Osage Little Devil Wrestling Club

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Norman Porter
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1 Welcome to the Osage Little Devil Wrestling Club Fee: The Club Membership is $25.00 for a single membership and $15.00 for all additional wrestlers over 2 (3 wrestlers $25+$25+$15). The fee includes select club clothing, the membership, and entry fee in all Little Devil sponsored tournaments. Practices and Groups: Practice schedule will be handed out at sign-up. K-2: primary goal is to show quality technique and fundamentals while getting plenty of mat time in a recreational atmosphere. 3-6: primary goal is to show quality technique and fundamentals with repetitive drilling and intense wrestling in a competitive atmosphere Both groups workout will be a progression from the prior practice. Coaches are dedicated to providing wrestlers the tools they need to know to accomplish their goals. If School is canceled all practices will be canceled. Attached Sheets: Attached is an Information Sheet about our club along with some great tips on making wrestling enjoyable for your wrestler. Any individual or business interested in sponsoring the Little Devil Mat Club Wrestling Club please contact Brent Jennings. Donations are tax deductible. Some of the things the money will go towards: purchase of new singlets/warm-ups, weight room equipment, equipment and supplies for the Junior High and High School teams, and Wrestling mats. Singlets: Singlets are a $10 rental fee and require a $25 deposit that will be returned at the end of the year when you turn it back in. We are offering a new sublimated singlet for purchase (not rented) this year for $65 each.

2 Introduction Welcome to the Osage Little Devil Wrestling Club! The goal of this guide is to familiarize you with the sport of wrestling. Not all parents, families & children have a wrestling background. Hopefully, the information outlined in this guide will help introduce you to the sport. Wrestling Club Goals The simple goal of the Little Devil Wrestling club is to introduce your child to the sport. We want your child to have a fun and positive experience. Like most athletic activities, we will emphasize the fundamentals of the sport, including the basic skills, drills and technique. Every wrestler from grade school to the Olympic wrestling levels concentrate on the fundamentals. Drills may often be routine, even monotonous, but are necessary in your child s wrestling development. Conditioning, stretching, flexibility and many of our drills are basic to all other sports; including football, soccer, basketball and baseball. Questions and Suggestions When you register your child in the club, you may also voice your questions and suggestions. If there are ever questions or suggestions, please contact a coach or the club board members. Athletic Development Please understand that your child may not have instant success in wrestling. Some wrestlers do not start winning when they are first introduced to this sport. There will be other wrestlers who started earlier, have more wrestling experience, or may at this time be more athletically inclined. In some cases, it may be years before your young wrestler develops the competitive edge. But through continually practicing and effort they can achieve it. Remember it s not a sprint, it s a marathon. The physical, emotional and competitive stages of athletic development will vary for every young athlete. Some children may be ready for tournament competition as a 1st grader; others may develop this confidence later. You know and understand your child s development more than anyone. Don t push or drive too hard until you feel the child is ready. Give your child the choice, listen to what they say and give a lot of praise and encouragement. Start slow and introduce more wrestling when you feel they are ready. The coach and other parents can assist you with some insight into this decision. Parental Support We strongly encourage parents to attend wrestling practice to participate and learn with their child, especially at the younger levels. Parents may not have wrestling experience, but their involvement is critical. Your child s progress in the sport can develop at a faster rate if you are assisting or are visible at the practice sessions. With a small number of coaches and a high number of wrestlers, working with your child and other wrestlers increases individual development. We would also like to ask for your support, helping at the Little Devil Sponsored Wrestling Tournaments. This tournament benefits the total wrestling program at the club, junior and senior high levels. Competition, Winning & Losing Unfortunately, some wrestling tournaments available to your child do not take into account your child s athletic development or experience. Tournaments take into account weight and age or year in school. On occasion it is not uncommon for your young wrestler to meet more physically dominant and talented wrestlers. Sometimes tournaments can be difficult on the development of young, inexperienced wrestlers. Regardless of whether your child wins or loses, always reinforce the positive. In an individual wrestling match, discuss the things that went well. Emphasize the importance of participation, not winning or losing. Losing can be more traumatic to a young wrestler due to the individual nature of the sport. Losing in a team sport may not be as emotionally difficult because the loss is shared with others. Our club along with many other clubs have lost a number of good athletes and potential wrestlers because of the lack of short term wrestling success. Again, individual success in this sport is not always instant and will develop with ongoing practice, mat time (competition), and parental encouragement. Wrestling Styles There are three primary styles in amateur wrestling: folkstyle, freestyle and Greco-Roman. Folkstyle is the traditional American style of wrestling coached in the Osage Wrestling Club. It is also the style wrestled at the junior high, high school and American college levels. Freestyle and Greco-Roman are the internationally recognized styles of wrestling. It is the style you will watch at the Summer Olympic Games. Although similar to folkstyle, there are differences in scoring, strategy and technique. Freestyle wrestling is encouraged for the advanced youth folkstyle wrestler, which is offered in the spring at various locations. Most of the place winners at the state high school tournament have strong freestyle backgrounds.

3 Equipment & Dress For club practices: shorts, tennis shoes and a tight-fitting T-shirt are all that we require. Loose and baggy clothing is discouraged because hands and fingers can get twisted or bent. Sweat pants or kneepads can be worn if the knees become tender from contact with the mat. Wrestling shoes, headgear, and wrestling singlets are optional. At the youth level practices, there is generally not enough contact to warrant the use of headgear. Headgear, however, is recommended to prevent rubbing, banging or twisting of the ear causing cauliflower ear (swelling and hardening of ear soft tissue). Mouthpieces are not required but encouraged. We ask that all wrestlers wear a clean pair of tennis or wrestling shoes. Do not wear the same shoes that you wear outside. We need to keep the wrestling mats clean at all times. Stocking feet are not recommended because they provide limited traction. The same type of clothing worn at practice is accepted at most tournaments. Some tournaments may require headgear and most youth are dressed in the full wrestling attire to include headgear, singlet and wrestling shoes. Equipment costs: Singlet: $10 to rent Shoes $30.00-$50.00 Headgear $15.00-$25.00 Equipment can be purchased from most local sporting goods or shoe stores. Wrestling catalogs are available from the club coordinator or coach. The Play It Again Sports stores often has a stock of used wrestling shoes. For free wrestling equipment catalogs call: Wrestler s Express Phone (800) Wrestling One Phone (800) RC Wrestling Phone (800) Wrestlers World Phone (800) Worldwide Sport Phone (800) Practice Session Rules Please review these rules with your child: 1) Please, no street shoes on the wrestling mats at any time. Sand and dirt deteriorate the mat surfaces. Parents and wrestlers, please remove all footwear before stepping on the mats. 2) No horseplay. 3) Do not play on fitness machines or equipment. 4) Please, no climbing or running up the wall mats No Swinging on ropes! 5) Make sure you take home everything that you brought to practice. Shoes, shirts, headgear are often left behind and disappear. 6) Report all injuries to the coach immediately 7) Many nights there is a High School basketball game going on in the Gym, please help us to keep kids out of all locker rooms during these game nights. It disrupts coaches and teams preparing to play. Restrooms in the far East-West hallway and/or commons area will need to be used during those times

4 Injuries & Skin Conditions Wrestling is a contact sport. Jammed fingers, bloody noses, and sore muscles are common in this sport. Major injuries in all contact sports can occur, but are not common. We make an effort to monitor practices carefully so illegal holds or potentially dangerous predicaments are halted at once. Because of the number of wrestlers at club practices, it is difficult to see everything at all times. If at any time you see a wrestler in a move that looks potentially dangerous or hazardous, do not hesitate to stop the wrestlers. Wrestling is a safe sport and has no more injuries than football, soccer, basketball or baseball. Please report all injuries to the coach immediately. Accident / injury insurance is not provided by the club. Parents must carry health insurance for their child. If at any time your child breaks out with a skin condition or rash, report it to the coach and see your family doctor. On rare occasions we will have a case of a rash break out on a wrestler. The most common types of skin conditions are ringworm, impetigo, boils and cold sores. Although these conditions are often blamed on the wrestling mat, the likely case of transmission is through bodily contact. Rashes are often hard to track because transmission can take place in the classroom, at play or contact with another wrestler. Our wrestling room is well ventilated and the wrestling mats are disinfected daily. Wrestling Associations There are two primary wrestling associations: USA Wrestling and the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). Some wrestling tournaments, generally few, may require that you purchase an AAU or USA Wrestling Card. If you attend a tournament that requires a card, they are usually available at the door. Proof of date of birth may be required for these cards. These cards offer secondary injury insurance if your child is injured at a tournament or practice. At this time Little Devil Mat Club is planning on purchasing all AAU and USA card for those wrestlers who plan on participating in any of those events that require them. We will register for cards and entry as a team in most cases for these tournaments (please inquire if you want to attend any of these events). Wrestling Resources: Tournament Info: *Mat Side Moms Directory of local, regional & national wrestling tournaments. Website: Newspapers / Magazines: * WIN Magazine Website: flowrestling.com (great website!!!!!) *The PREDICAMENT-Covering Iowa Wrestling 110 NE Trilein Dr. Suite #3 Ankeny, IA Website: *Amateur Wrestling News $33.00 / yr. PO Box Oklahoma City, OK Website: Internet Web Sites: *The Mat- *InterMat- *Wrestle USA Books & Videos: Championship Books & Videos 2730 Graham St. Ames, IA Website:

5 KIDS TOURNAMENTS Because of the popularity of the sport of wrestling in Iowa, it is possible to wrestle year around. The traditional youth (Grades K - 8) folkstyle wrestling tournaments begin in November and end in early April. Freestyle tourneys begin in March and end in July. Youth tournaments are held at most all schools throughout the state. You can travel as much as you like, but it is not necessary. You can participate in nearly 20 tournaments a year within an hour s driving distance. As mentioned before most tournament pairings are made by age / year in school and weight. Your young wrestler could be bracketed in with more experienced wrestlers. Youth tournaments are usually available for grades K-8. Tournament entry costs range between $ $ There is also an admission charge for parents and other children. Most tournaments are 4-man round robin, so each wrestler has three matches consisting of 3 one-minute periods. Medals and occasional trophies or ribbons are distributed to each wrestler at the end of the tourney. Weigh-in times will vary but are usually on the same day of the tournament. Some tournaments will stagger the wrestling times for the different age/grade groups and weigh-in times could vary. Breakfast and snacks are available at all tournaments. The number of tournaments you attend is up to you. Grades 4-8 should attend four or more tournaments a year. To supplement club practices, these tournaments offer the needed mat time for success in the sport. Transportation to tournaments is the responsibility of the parent. The club is not organized to provide this service. If you are unable to take your child, another parent may be traveling to a tournament and willing to provide the transportation. Coaching at the tournaments may fall in the hands of the parent, due to a coach unable to attend or they may be coaching someone else at that time. Also, our club does not have a traveling coach. Even though you may not have a wrestling background, don t be afraid to go to mat side and cheer for your child. Feel free to ask another experienced parent for help. Many times parents in the club or club assistants will help coach the club wrestlers during their matches. Tournament Registration Forms A master schedule of available tournaments will be distributed to club members. We will list all CLUB tournaments that we would like you to attend so club wrestlers can support one another. We will also post other tournaments in the wrestling room and online at our club website. Tournament entry forms may be picked up at our wrestling club practices. You will also find them distributed at many of the youth tournaments. USA and AAU District & State Tournaments (Club pays entry fees for these tournaments) During the middle and end of March, the AAU District and State Tournament is held. The top four finishers at districts in each weight class qualify for the state tournament currently held in Des Moines at Vets Auditorium. This tournament is open for Grades 3-8. AAU cards are required. These tourneys are competitive but offer quality-wrestling experiences for young wrestlers. Entry forms will be available at club practices and we will sign up as a team. As in years past, this is a great way to end the season win or lose. USA Qualifier is also held in Osage on Feb 15 th and the State tournament is held on March 6 th and 7 th at the UNI Dome. The USA Card is a little more money then the AAU card but it can also be used for freestyle in the spring. Camps & Clinics Wrestling camps and clinics are generally held in the summer months of June, July, and August. Weeklong overnight or commuter camps are held at many of the state colleges and universities. These weeklong camps are usually available to youth wrestlers in grades 3 12 grade and range in cost from $200 - $300. Costs include room, meals and a T-shirt. Camps are recommended for the serious youth wrestler. Commuter camps or clinics vary in cost from $25 - $50. We wish you the best of success in the sport of wrestling. I hope that this guide has sufficiently outlined the opportunities ahead. Good luck! Look forward to seeing everyone at Practices and Tournaments! Little Devil Wrestling Club Board Members: Brent and Julie Jennings Glen and Carrie Barker Ron and Deb Goodale Ted and Jen Fox Scott and Stephanie Taets Jason and Audra Roll Gordon and Kim Barker Steve and Vicki Johnson

6 Everyone involved in the Osage Wrestling Club has responsibilities. Youth Wrestlers: As a wrestler, you are asked to do the following: Do what is right. Do your best. Treat others like you want to be treated. Follow the rules for the wrestling room, school and tournament. Be in the wrestling room at least 5 minutes before practices starts, ready to wrestle. Be respectful to the coaches and other athletes. Be a good sport and a good team member. Make Practice on a regular basis Youth Wrestlers Wrestling Room and School Rules: When the coaches are demonstrating or talking, remain quiet, listen and pay attention. Stay in the wrestling room during your practice times. Treat the school and wrestling room property with respect. Display appropriate behavior no talking back to coaches, no throwing fits, no climbing the walls or mats, no fighting, no biting, no swearing, no spitting or no horse play. Youth Wrestlers Tournament Rules: Display appropriate behavior no talking back to coaches, no throwing fits, no climbing the walls or mats, no fighting, no biting, no swearing, no spitting or no horse play. Win and Lose with grace, Officials decision is Final. Don't criticize the coaches or officials at tournaments. Represent yourself and Osage at all times Treat other schools and wrestling rooms property with respect. Parents: As the parent of a youth wrestler, you are asked to do the following: Drop off and pick up your wrestler(s) on time. Have Child at practice on a regular basis Be supportive and provide encouragement in a positive manner for all wrestlers in the Wrestling Club. Identify and reinforce a child's strengths, while helping the child to see past their weaknesses. Offer to rides to other wrestlers that may need them when going to tournaments. If you have questions or issues you want to discuss with a coach, please talk to them BEFORE or AFTER practice. Help with the Osage Wrestling Tournament. Do not criticize the coaches or officials at tournaments. Help your child to understand the official does his/her best to score any match fairly and that it is important to respect the official's decision, even if you don't agree with it. Support and encourage other athletes in the club.

7 Coaches: As a youth wrestling coach, you are asked to do the following: Be patient. Expect the best from the wrestlers. Try to help everyone improve their skills. Teach good technique. Teach and support the wrestlers in a positive way. Teach and show respect. Display good sportsmanship. Be a positive role model. If you have questions or issues you want to discuss with a coach, please talk to them BEFORE or AFTER practice. Questions What is the age limit to wrestle? Answers The youngest child allowed to wrestle is pre-kindergarten age and the oldest is 6th grade. Are there rules that need to be followed when a child wrestles? Finger nails should be clipped short to eliminate scratches. NO jewelry should be worn during practice or matches. This includes rings, watches, earrings, necklaces, etc. are there any practice rules or procedures? Parents can wait in the wrestling room. We are also asking that all siblings remain under adult supervision and as quiet as possible while coaches are showing technique What if my child gets hurt during practice? A coach will check to see if a parent is present in the wrestling room or waiting area. How often do children get injured during practice? In the past, there have been very few injuries and most of them have been minor, such as a bloody nose, scratches, etc. What type of discipline occurs during practice? Participants are expected to pay attention and listen to the coaches. If this is not the case, one of the following happens: A coach asks the child to sit out until they are ready to pay attention. A coach may speak to the parent and child about the child's behavior after practice. When should a child participate in a tournament? Ultimately, the decision to participate in a tournament is between the parent and their child. You may wish to talk to the coaches and their input before or after practice. The Club would like all children to participate in the Little Devil and Osage Booster Club Wrestling Tournament. Does my child need wrestling shoes for practice and tournaments? Does my child need Wrestling shoes are not required, but most children have them. The Wrestling Club has a shoe swap available for people that wish to donate, trade or sell out-grown shoes. Shoes are available in many different sizes.

8 Does my child need wrestling shoes for practice and tournaments? Children can wear tennis shoes. Children should not wear the same shoes for practice that they wear to the school since the shoes carry dirt and germs that make it harder for the coaches to keep the mats clean. Does my child need a singlet? Singlets are not required, but most children wear one when he/she participates in tournaments. Please don t wear long sleeve shirts or sweatpants, jeans, or anything with buttons or zippers. These prohibit some wrestling moves and can be dangerous to wrestlers and their teammates. Does my child need head gear? Head gear are not required for practice, but most coaches will recommend that a child wear head gear to avoid damage to ears. Head gear is generally a good idea when competing in most tournaments. Do I need to worry about skin problems? Generally, skin problems are minor, but check with a coach before or after practice if you have any concerns about a rash or spots that your child may have on their arms, legs, or neck. The mats are cleaned daily, but you should make sure that your child bathes or showers AFTER EACH wrestling practice to avoid any risks of skin problems. Selsun Blue shampoo and Dial soap are good products to use when showering or bathing to help prevent skin problems. Dry skin thoroughly after washing. Don't share personal items such as hair care products, towels, head gear, and clothing. Make sure their clothes worn during wrestling practice are washed after each practice. What is Ringworm? Ringworm is a fungus infection of the skin. Symptoms include a reddish, ring-link rash that is often itchy, flaky, or burns. Ringworm is spread by direct contact with the infected area on a person's skin. Ringworm is no longer contagious when the rash or legion starts to shrink. What if my child does have a skin problem? Talk to a coach before practice to verify if your child has a problem that may require medication. The coach will recommend a treatment or you may wish to consult your doctor. Typically, skin problems respond well to Lamisil which can be purchased at any drug store. If the problem persists, you may wish to consult with your family doctor. Depending upon the location of the problem or its severity, a coach may ask your wrestler to sit out the practice until the problem has cleared up.

Paola Youth Wrestling Club Packet

Paola Youth Wrestling Club Packet Overview Our main goal is that the kids have fun and to safely learn the fundamentals of wrestling and the behaviors required to do so. As a side benefit, they will learn