We have completed our second season as a team, and my second as the head coach. I was able to better predict the schedule and I kept parents and administrators in the loop in my weekly emails. There was a much better showing at the end of the year’s NYS qualifier. In our first year, all but one of our athletes lost both of their matches and went home empty-handed. This year we had almost all of our athletes in the medal rounds, which was a remarkable improvement.

I was approached by a few lower school families in November and asked if I could include their child in the wrestling program. I spoke to Cari Kosins about this before winter break we mapped out another day in the week that could accommodate younger kids who were interested. This worked quite well in regards to enrollment and interest. The problem I kept bumping against, however, was finding the support from other qualified coaches.

I have experience teaching grappling to preschoolers, middle schoolers and high schoolers. The one age group with which I haven’t worked with much is elementary school. This was really challenging and I had to develop a lot of systems to keep the class flowing. Former middle school PE teacher, Larry Kaplan, was a great resource. He helped me think about how to structure games that were sport specific. Pati Stolley was also another resource I used. I asked to watch one of her classes and we debriefed later about what I saw. She used a lot of singing during transitions and was really clear about how the class was to be structured. While it’s true that I don’t sing much in wrestling class, I did swipe a lot from both of these experts.

Saturdays continue to be the best support day – I still have friends and former athletes come to offer their expertise – but the weekdays and Sundays are a grind. I had been in regular contact with an athlete who was graduating with a physical education degree and looking for work in a school. I offered him a paid assistant coach’s position, and offered to help him proofread his resume so that he could find work. As luck had it, there was a lower school assistant PE position at LREI. He applied and was accepted after the interviewing process. Unfortunately, a few weeks later he was approached by public school in upstate New York for a full-time PE and head coaching position. He accepted the offer and I was back to square one.I sought help through Beat the Streets, old friends and associates in the wrestling community, reached out to the NYU and Columbia teams to see if there were any athletes who wanted to work with kids…I even created and posted signs around NYU looking for help. I know that in order to grow this program I need to have a small coach to student ratio. Additionally, I need a coach who will be on time, enthusiastic, willing to make meaningful connections with the wrestlers and parents. I was surprised that I wasn’t able to make any headway.

Obviously, a big part of this is also understanding that coaching this sport is really about being part of a team and watching kids grow and not about a paycheck. I mention this last part because I have one volunteer who struggles to understand his role in the big picture. LREI coaches don’t get regular salary increases and I lost my best assistant coach to another independent school as a result. I have another volunteer who needs to earn more than what we can offer.

I will keep the lines of communication open with the hopes of finding more people who want to be a part of this unique program. If we are going to expand by a grade every year, it’s critical to make sure the foundation is solid before continuing to build.