If it’s your child’s first, second or third year wrestling, they should most likely be in the first practice.  That practice will be about fundamentals.  The main purpose of the first practice is to introduce the children to the sport in a playful environment.  Being State Champion at age eight may be fun at the moment, but will do little for your wrestler long term.  Our main concern is making them feel they are part of a team and make them want to come back while they learn to control themselves and master the basic skills of wrestling.  The coaches use a games based approach in this practice.

The second practice is for the more serious wrestler.  Coach Ruslan is a world class technician, so the wrestler should have a grasp of the basics already to take full advantage of what he has to offer.  If it is your son’s first year, but is in middle school and particularly large or athletic, you may want to opt for the second practice as well.  Ruslan’s practices on Mondays and Thursdays will focus on learning and drilling technique.  This will be a more disciplined practice than the Novice practice. 

On Tuesday nights, we host the Inter-County Wrestling League Elite practices.  The toughest kids from ten neighboring teams meet in our room for a combined practice.  The focus here is drilling the technique learned on our other nights, wrestling from live situations, and conditioning.  If a wrestler wants to come to this practice, he must get the coach’s approval first.  They should come prepared to sweat.