Lake County Wrestling Club

 

Lake County Wrestling Club was started back in 1985. It was created to give kids a place to practice in the off season to become the best wrestlers possible. In the 90's, they moved into coaching kids in the Olympic style wrestling to allow the wrestlers to pursue more for themselves. Many wrestlers became All-Americans, and some even became national champs. All their hard work paid off for them, and their futures in the sport along preparing them for college. In the late 90's, the club disbanded due to the main coach retiring, and moving to another state.

 

We thought that would be the last of the club until 2014 when a group of wrestlers from the original club wanted start it up again. With the blessing of the original coach, they started a webpage along with a Facebook page to draw attention of potential parents and wrestlers from the past who now have children. About a month before practice started,  they made weekly posts about wrestling which were shared by parents to attract even more families and wrestlers.

     

Within the first month, there were over 60 children enrolled in the new program thanks to the push of social media and word of mouth. Kids range in age from 4-13, and are a mix of boys and girls, who want to be the best wrestlers possible. We also created an Instagram account, so parents were able to share and save pictures of the team. This created an easy way for parents to also become a part of the team. We also allow parents to become coaches as long as they take the proper training classes. The classes are posted to keep everyone who's interested informed of all times and dates.

     

 During practices the kids are taught basic wrestling skills, so as they get older they're able to build upon the skills they've already mastered. The coaches also instill the fact that it's not about winning every match, but to try your best every time. I feel teaching these values is a good way to develop life lessons to be the best you can be, and to always do your best.

    

 I love that they use FB along with Instagram to express these ideas too. They're able to accomplish this by posting videos, memes, and other positive messages for all to see. Every time I look there's also new articles to read about wrestlers around the world, and what they've endured to get to that point in their lives. Positive messages like this are one of the many reasons, we're part of this amazing club!