... on Wrestling and the Junior Varsity Competitor
All scholastic coaches want to win, and wrestling mentors are no exception.
I will be the first to admit that mat tutors tend to devote the majority of their practice time to their varsity wrestlers. However, the less skillful participants should never be forgotten. Coaches must keep in perspective that not everyone possesses those physical traits necessary for a championship performance. Furthermore, the second and third string grapplers play a vital role in the development of a winning wrestling team.
Give some serious thought to the following poem, which I wrote for the 1978 Wheeling Park High School Athletic Banquet:
THE CHAMPION'S CHAMPION
HE'S THE ONE LOVED BY HIS PEERS,
THOUGH ON THE BENCH--HE ALWAYS CHEERS.
HE KEEPS THE FIRST MAN ON HIS TOES,
AND NEVER QUITS--WHY, NO ONE KNOWS.
HE PUTS THE CHAMPION WHERE HE'S AT,
BY MAKING HIM WORK TO EARN HIS PLAQUE.
HIS NAME'S NOT FOUND IN BIG HEADLINES,
BUT HE'S ALWAYS THERE COME PRACTICE TIME.
I OFTEN WONDER--WERE THE CHAMPION SECOND TEAM,
WOULD HE KEEP ON TRYING OR LOSE HIS GLEAM.
WOULD HE GIVE HIS ALL IF THERE WAS NO FAME,
AND NOT GIVE UP FOR THE GOOD OF THE GAME.
THERE ARE NO QUESTIONS IN THIS MAN'S MIND,
THE CHAMPION'S CHAMPION--IN LIFE--WILL DO JUST FINE.
Updated June 28, 1997