Thrill of Victory/ Agony of Defeat
Many times as a coach I have had to comfort a defeated wrestler and many times as a coach I have had to temper a winning wrestler. Many times I have stated, "Losses are our opportunity to learn and wins are our hard work paying off!" I am a firm believer in keeping a balance in our emotions in either case.
"There is no mat space for malcontents or dissenters. One must neither celebrate insanely when he wins, nor sulk when he loses. He accepts victory professionally, humbly; he hates defeat, but makes no poor display of it " Dan Gable
My main point of this current blog is this, often I have looked into the crying eyes of a wrestler and said: Do not be crushed by this defeat, yes, the pain is real but what is more real is how you react to this moment, are you going to give up, look for excuses, blame others or are you going to use this as motivation, look to learn, and take responsibility to do all you can to overcome this!
Often times it is also in the hands of us as parents to not let our children give in to the former way of thinking but rather the latter, which I think we can all agree is the better choice not only for their sports careers but also as lessons for their LIFE! We as parents can maximize the potential in these moments through our own example and through encouraging them to overcome negative ways of thinking, encouraging them to not give up, and to not give in but rather to keep strugglin'
The wrestling season will be starting in just another few weeks, it is the 11th hour, when the wrestlers must choose to remember the agony of defeat or even the thrill of victory and use it as motivation to take the harder path, the one where they use their time, talent and treasure in ways that will ensure success in their own goals either by accomplishing them or knowing that they have done everything in their ability in the effort to do so! The off season is over, the preseason is in full swing, the wrestlers who worked hard this off season will reap the fruits of their labor, the wrestlers who hard working hard now will also benefit greatly, because remember during the season all wrestlers are putting in the time and it is much harder to gain the advantage then. Now is the time even if you have put it off until this, the 11th hour, it is not too late.
