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30 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, December 1, 1987 Kids enjoy the sport for fun, fitness and competition There are no Hulksters in this wrestling ring Long-limbed, with bones poking through adolescent skin, he doesn't look strong enough to wrestle. But his borrowed uniform hugs his small body closely as he hunches down, face to face with his opponent. His eyes narrow. His face tightens with concentration. His arms are taut as he assumes the ready position. He has already shook his oppo- nent's hand, so when the referee gives the signal, he's mentally and physically ready for the match. Like a spring, his young body jumps into action. He launches at his opponent with all the confidence and agility of a man three times his age. He grapples to make the first pin, twisting, pulling with all his might. His face contorts with exher- tion, deepening to a flaming scarlet, as he flips his opponent to the mat and holds him there for the count. The ref blows his whistle, and the young wrestler jumps to his feet, red-faced, but grinning from ear to ear. He shakes hands with his oppo- nent (downcast, but bearing up under defeat) and as his arm is rais- ed victoriously in the air, his fellow teammates cheer. He doesn't look big enough to In this heartwarming photo, an older wrestler consoles and offers advice to a younger team- mate, who had just lost a match. Even though wrestling is basically an individudl sport, there's a lot of team spirit for all involved. No doubt about it, there's just as much action at local matches as there is in the professional ring. Above, a YMCA wrestler tosses his opponent to the mat while the referee looks on. wrestle, but every inch of him is prepared for the match. He's train- ed by the best, he's enthusiastic, and he's part of the country's growing appreciation for the sport of wrestling. He's also a member of the Port Perry YMCA Wrestling Team, a brand new club with a motherlode of potential. Dave Kay of Prince Albert started up the team last September after literally wrestling with the idea for more than a year. A former wrestler himself, his son, Grant, was a top competitor with the Prince Albert Public School team (coached by teacher Bob Byers) for three years before he graduated to R.H. Cornish Public School. At Cornish, there is no wrestling . team, and Grant yearned to con- tinue with the sport. He wasn't the only one. Prince Albert is renown- ed for its training of top-flight young wrestlers, and gold medals at the Ontario Wrestling Championships are almost common. To people like Dave Kay, it seem- ed a shame that so much training and enthusiasm would be wasted once students left the school. So he began to consider starting a team for the entire community. Administratively, however, wrestling can be expensive. In- surance is a costly venture, but not as pricey as a wrestling mat, valued at $8,500. It doesn't cost much for the wrestlers themselves (no fancy equipment is needed--just a pair of shorts and bare feet), but Dave was having trouble rounding up the money for insurance and a mat. The insurance problem was solv- ed when he hooked up with Marilyn Pearce of the Port Perry YMCA, who thought a Y wrestling team was a great idea, and agreed to take it on as part of the program. ~~ And the mat problem was solved when Port Perry High School agreed to let the YMCA use its gym and its mat. fitness. But it teaches even more than that. "It's self-discipline. You learn confidence in yourself. I think there's a lot of self-pride. They give it their all," he says. And there's also a lot of cameraderie going on. Despite the fact that wrestling is an individual sport, there's a lot of team spirit. At Thursday night's meet, both coaches and teammates yelled en- couragement from the sidelines. If a wrestler won, there'd be much hand-shaking and back-slapping go- ing on. If a wrestler lost, the whole team would get behind him, comfor- ting where necessary, and offering ideas "to get em next time." "I like to think of it as the only team sport for individuals," Dave says. And he'd like to see it just as popular as hockey in Port Perry. It's one of the most popular and fastest growing sports for young people in Canada today, Dave claims. He foresees, in the near future, scholarships being offered at universities. Part of the reason for its populari- ty could be the immense adoration of so-called "professional wrestlers' like Hulk Hogan, but Dave says it's not so. "This, to me, is a sport, but the other is just a big show," he points out. "Only one kid is wrestling with us because he thought he could turn into a Hulk Hogan. But he's quickly finding out that this is altogether different." What the YMCA and Prince Albert teams practise is called Olympic Freestyle Wrestling, where competitors use their whole bodies in a meet. In Roman-Greco wrestl- ing, competitors must confine their grapplings to the upper part of the body only. The wrestling we see on televi- sion, Dave says, is just a performance. What goes on on this team's mat, however, is real. Sometimes parents can't bear to watch as their sons are Photos, story by Cathy Olliffe Finding coaches was almost easy. Dave works at Bell Canada with two top coaches. Greg Wilson wrestled through high school and on to Dalhousie University where he coached for two years after graduating. He also works with wrestlers in Toronto. Mark Baccardax also wrestled at Dalhousie, where he coached a team for the deaf. Both men now live in Newmarket, and drive out to Port Perry every Thursday to coach-- without being paid a cent. "They come to Port Perry for the love of the sport," Dave says. The club got underway in October with 13 youngsters, aged 9 to 14. Half of the kids had never wrestled before when they signed up. Many of them came into the sport lacking confidence. But that's all changed in less than two months. At their first meet, held at Port Perry High School last Thursday November 26, the YMCA team held its own against the larger, more ex- perienced Whitby Optimists. No official scores were kept, but Dave called the contest a draw, with the Y out-matched in the first half, and pulling ahead in the second. "Some of the kids were disap- pointed when they lost, but they all left that night feeling pretty good," he says. That's the thing about wrestling. It teaches some tough lessons. First off, they learn how to handle defeat. They learn how to win graciously, and they get into better personal thrown to the mat with a bone- crunching thump. Others cheer on their kids the same way hockey parents do, feeling each victory or loss along with their sons. Not that the YMCA team is limited to boys. Dave says he'd be happy to take on a few girls in the next session, which gets underway in mid-January. Last session, the club met each Thursday night, but next time, the night will change to Wednesday. The cost will remain the same, however, $30 for eight weeks. Dave is also hoping to add another night of practise for the team, to get them in shape for the April 9th, 1988 Ontario Wrestling Championships, held at Humber College in Toronto. It's the Stanley Cup of the wrestling world, and the YMCA team is hop- ing to do Port Perry proud. To prepare for the champion- ships, the team will attend at least one invitational tournament, February 5th in Whitby. There may be another as well, in Scarborough. And while the boys are hoping to bring home some medals, even if they don't, they'll have learned a great deal about individual effort, team spirit, and personal fitness. To Dave Kay and his fellow coaches, wrestling is the best sport going, and the three men want to share their knowledge and training with as many local kids as possible (between the ages of 9 to 16). To register, or for more information, contact the YMCA at 985-2824 and ask for Marilyn Pearce. Cah i oc Si a Tal ah tl ERR RR GRR Le PRAT Sng SX IF! RRS MRE) 3 EC IAT