Called by God to play a role in His story

I don't know how to describe this, but I know without hesitation that God has called me to run Victory School of Wrestling. I have understood with 100% certainty only a few things that I believe God commissioned me to do in my life. Coaching wrestling and being an influence in the lives of athletes by operating my own club is one of them.

God didn't show up in a burning bush or some other obvious way, though. Instead, He continually reconfirms that my desires are His desires through every book I read, person I talk to, sermon I hear and church service I attend. That's how He's revealed the role He wants me to play in this story.

Victory has been opened for six years and God has graciously taken care of the athletes who participate and me as their coach. He's provided me unlimited opportunities to make a real difference in the lives of young men and women and I have seen God's glory revealed through what takes place in us and through us. There have been numerous examples of how the time invested at Victory (by the athletes, parents and coaches) has paid huge dividends. God is faithful, that's for sure!

All of this said and understood, I've done my best to be transparent and demonstrate my faith in an authentic way through Victory School of Wrestling. In that spirit, I'm quick to share both triumphs and struggles with athletes and parents. As the leader and authoritative figurehead within the club, those who look to me must see me looking to God. Of course, I have mentors and other leaders who are influential in my life, but God is my ultimate authority and coach.

It's very easy to work with exceptional athletes who are generally high achievers and wonderful human beings with great character. It's also easy to trust God when He is coming through day in and day out to keep the lights on. It's a little more difficult when the pressures and realities of life sink in and challenge to take away this well-oiled machine.

Like nearly every small business in the United States in 2011, our expenses went up and our income went down. It was easily predicted and God showed up time in and time out to make ends meet. However, the reality is that 2012 is going to be drastically different. Add to the equation that our lease on the building that currently occupies Victory School of Wrestling will expire in the fall. This has thrust me into a serious quandary of what to do next. I've had to think outside the box. I'm sure many of you can identify...

Here's the point, though, it's easy to follow and trust God with the direction of our lives when everything is "hunky dory." As He provides and takes care of us, we're quick to praise Him and enjoy our circumstances. It gets a little more difficult when your story and what He's clearly called you to do involves pain, expenses, financial distress, etc. and you don't know what to do, doesn't it?

I have hope in knowing God doesn't plan the end without planning the means. But it's still scary. It's scary because I don't know how it ends. I'm not sure if He'll provide a way for us to continue operating in the same building or if we're supposed to move. Maybe He will "gift" us a facility. I've seen it happen. Maybe we'll re-negotiate and sign another lease, purchase something or dismantle all together. Or do something in between. Regardless of how it ends, I have an integral part in the story to play right now. That's not quit as fun and it's not full of "Hallelujahs" and "Praise God" sentiments. I have to make phone calls, weigh-out options and consider many different scenarios. It's hard work and it comes with uncertainty. If I didn't live this part of my life out loud like the times it's easy to say, "Amen!" what kind of faith would I be demonstrating?

Often times, the saddest parts of our story aren't things we do; instead, they're things we won't do that God has called us to do. We don't get to depend on God's sovereignty by being irresponsible and apathetic. It's not always sunshine and rainbows, but once you know what it takes to live a better story and to follow the story of God, you don't have a choice.

Badgering referees

Last weekend I went to a high school wrestling tournament, and wow, some wrestling coaches are jerks! I'm sure this is the case in every sport, but put it this way: there were are a few who definitely made the rest look better. I have no problem calling out colleagues in this manner. I was particularly appalled by how poorly a few decided to treat the referees.

Maybe I've become more aware of this because my dad puts blood, sweat and, yes, even tears into wearing the stripes. He often tells me about coaches who are out of line and belligerent. I see it from the stands as a spectator and from the corner as a coach, but it doesn't affect me directly. It does affect him. That's not why I'm sharing this topic. If an adult can treat another human being in public like what I saw, how are they treating people when no one is looking? How do they treat their athletes? This worries me for many reasons.

One coach, who was out of line the entire day, acted completely childish as he was inappropriately badgering a referee about the way he called stalling. He was out of his chair and in the wrestling area. The referee patiently and respectfully asked him to back up. The coach put his feet together like a 4 year old and took two minuscule steps back, pouted and asked the referee if it was far enough. Seriously, that actually happened. In real life. A grown man acted like an infant in front of hundreds of others in an attempt to prove a point. The point he made was that he's an arrogant prick. Throughout the day, this particular individual instructed the referees more than his athletes. It all sounds very dramatic, doesn't it? Sadly, the truth is that it's just par for the course at high school tournaments.

Actions and behaviors like what I saw last weekend make it obvious to me why we have a referee shortage. Why would someone want to spend their Saturday getting raked over the coals for $75? Of course, they're their for the kids and want to give back to the sport, but an individual can only handle so much unnecessary ridicule. The irony is that many of these self-entitled coaches who believe they're exempt from the rules tell their athletes to give back to the sport. Why? So he can yell at them, too?

A quick solution that is easy in theory and difficult in practice is, as a wrestling community, we need to empower referees to hold coaches demonstrating this type of behavior accountable. Follow the rule book. When a coach questions the judgement of a referee it's a "warning." In almost every tight high school wrestling match, at least one coach challenges the referee about the way he chooses to call stalling. The moment the coach walks towards the table to complain - during or after the match - give him an official warning. The second time, get rid of him. It's time to bring down the long arm of the law on these jack wagons. Sounds simple. The catch is that these coaches rank the referees, so they hold the power. A coach can critique and hammer the referee (some coaches inappropriately call this holding referees accountable), but the referee is powerless to hold the coach accountable. On playgrounds, they call these coaches "bullies."

This is a serious issue in our sport. It's time to draw attention to combating this problem. Coaches, call out other coaches when they're inappropriate (one coach did this last weekend and fans cheered). Referees, hold these coaches accountable. Parents, expect better behavior from the men coaching your children. They're role models and more is caught than is taught. Attitude reflects leadership, so look at the attitude and conduct of the leader in your program. Speak out.

Schultz International Memorial

As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm in Colorado Springs at the Olympic Training Center for the Dave Schultz Memorial International. This event usually pits the top American athletes against each other and adds a few international stars. This year, athletes from Canada, Japan, Bulgaria and Italy highlight the foreign competition. Central American countries are usually represented, as well. The Schultz is one of three international tournaments held in the United States.

In February, my schedule is loaded with practices and tournaments. I cherish the opportunity to kick it off with an event of this caliber. Last weekend, I was a guest clinician at a youth tournament. I showed technique and shook hands with hundreds of 1st graders. This week, I get to sit in the corner of world medalist and shake hands with Olympic champions. In between these two events, I worked with athletes at the youth, middle school, high school and college levels. In less than a week, I have experienced every level of wrestling. This is a dream come true for a wrestling junkie like myself.

One of the major advantages that I have by being involved at every level is that it helps me to communicate more effectively with age group. First of all, I witness the difference in levels and how to put everything in proper perspective. Secondly, opportunities like this help me everywhere I go in this sport. Spending time with ten year old wrestlers give me an opportunity to learn much differently than does spending time with athletes in their twenties who have committed their life to training and competing. I can bring high level skills and techniques down to other age groups and I can bring the energy and fun of the young wrestlers up to the professionals.

No matter what age level I'm watching or working with, I always conclude that, left to its own, wrestling is inherently FUN. Those who are most passionate about enjoying themselves and the journey benefit the most from what wrestling offers. I hope I never lose sight of this.


The Dave Schultz International Memorial is named for one of America's greatest wrestling champions - Dave Schultz. He was a 3-time world and Olympic champion. He embodied many of the great qualities offered in wrestling. Until the day he passed away, he exuded passion and demonstrated that he loved what he was doing. For him, wrestling was, no doubt, fun.

"The Real National Champion"

Sometimes I feel like my posts lean on the side of bashing the sport that I love. To be fair, I promote the positive side of wrestling throughout my daily endeavors. This blog serves as my outlet sometimes, though. And I need to vent.

I got on an airplane earlier today and headed to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs for a wrestling tournament. After a few minutes into the flight, I pulled out the most recent issue of Wrestling USA. I feel obligated to subscribe to every wrestling publication because I'm wrestler and we support our own. I do my best to read what others across the nation have to say about our sport. Taking up eleven pages in the center of the magazine were the "December 2011 Youth Rankings!" (exclamation point is included in the page heading).

Here's the criteria: "World of Wrestling presents the Cliff Keen/Wrestling USA National Youth Rankings. These are based on national tournament results only, no bias or prejudice involved. If you wish to be ranked to accumulate the required points then your chance is in Tulsa, OK at the 57th Annual Tulsa Nationals."

I guess this is a valiant effort to be objective. But correct me if I'm way off base, but shouldn't there only be one national tournament and not a bunch to facilitate a rankings system? Whatever...moving on...they have a 6 & under age group starting at 37 pounds! Come on, seriously? This is ridiculous on so many levels that I don't have the energy to write about them. Does this really make sense and are these kinds of things going unnoticed in youth wrestling or in youth sports in general? How can a major publication endorse national rankings for a 37 pound kid under the age of 6?

Imagine the pressure on these young children for the rest of their athletic careers. Does a 6 year old who is already crowned "The Best of the Best" have much to look forward to? Is "The World Series of Wrestling" the pinnacle? "The Real National Champion" is a toddler, not Jordan Burroughs or Cael Sanderson? That's what it says in this magazine. I wonder how many of the athletes at the Olympic Training Center this week have held these titles and been on "The Ultimate Triple Crown" poster.

The irony is that at the beginning of the issue, the editor's letter explained the difficulty in ranking wrestlers at the high school level. With over 280,000 high school wrestlers last year, it's hard to create objective standards and keep in perspective that "not all states are created equal in the depth of competitive wrestlers." I agree. How much more difficult is it to rank children who need help putting on their wrestling shoes?

I don't think I have a point today. I just wanted to vent. I was excited to read the Wrestling USA magazine today and was left with yet another awful taste in my mouth because of direction of youth sports.

Does this make your skin crawl, too? Does anyone else see a problem with this?

Growth Allowance

During the Wisconsin high school wrestling season, athletes are given a 2-pound weight allowance after Christmas. It’s a magnificent gift to athletes managing their weight. As a result, the weight class listed is effectively plus two pounds. For example, the 106 pound weight class becomes 108 pounds (athletes must weigh 108 pounds or less – 108.1 pounds is overweight). On February 1st, an additional pound is given (109) and for the teams that are fortunate enough to compete at the Team State tournament, they receive an additional pound on March 1st (110).

The WIAA calls this additional weight a “growth allowance.” The logic behind the decision for the extra weight is to promote healthy weight management, understanding teenage athletes continue to grow and mature throughout the season despite the accountability of wrestling at a specific and designated weight class. It sounds good in theory. In practice, it has become is an enticement to go down a weight class at the end of the season. If a wrestler can successfully make “scratch” weight at 113 pounds at the beginning of the season when his fitness level is not best, it becomes easy for him (or his coaches or parents) to justify making 109 pounds at the end of the season when he’s in better shape. Additionally, weigh-ins are further apart during tournament time because there are no events on weeknights (except Team Sectionals), so dropping a weight class is basically expected without even considering if it’s actually beneficial.

As athletes approach the end of the season and begin their “ascent” to their performance peak, the overall well-being of their body and mind are dependent upon their workload becoming lighter. Unfortunately, “dropping” a weight class has the potential to undermine that process by requiring an athlete to add volume to their workouts. This is counter-productive to the science of peak performance training. I trust that many coaches account for this dynamic, however, I see far too many athletes lose intensity as they lose more weight. Under-intensity often is the result of poor preparation (i.e., shabby weight control habits, nutrition, strength, etc.), lack of motivation (focus becomes making weight instead of wrestling) and fatigue (not reaping the benefits of tapering). It’s not always a mental toughness issue and the consequences can cause negative overall experiences in the sport.

Wrestling is marked by a few significant “black eyes.” Weight cutting is one of them. Individuals who admit they don’t understand wrestling in the slightest are often quick to associate the sport with stories about cutting weight. Wrestlers also grow to dislike the sport that has been so good to them because of their passionate hatred towards cutting weight. Shouldn’t it be the wrestling team, not the weight cutting team? This leads to an entirely separate topic; however, the “growth allowance” contributes to that conversation, too.

My position is that a “growth allowance” should be taken at its word and allow for growth instead of a license to cut more weight. I talked to an athlete today and he asked me what my opinion was on him dropping a weight class. My response was extremely vague because, in my experience, that is a loaded question. I asked him what HE wanted to do. He said that it’s not very hard making his current weight and he doesn’t have to cut much weight right now. I replayed his answer in my head over and over and find it strange that our wrestling culture has pressured him into believing that making weight should be “hard” and that he should be cutting more weight. His statement was laced with red flags and, truth be told, had very little to do WRESTLING.

Doing my own amateur research on this topic, I’ve actually found that “dropping” a weight class at the end of the season is NOT commonly beneficial when considering only post season outcomes. An overwhelming majority of athletes who win the high school state tournament compete at their weight class throughout the season. These statistics are easy to discover on Trackwrestling. Seldom does a wrestler who goes down a weight class for the Regional Tournament wrestle to his potential. In fact, many of them underperform. Don’t believe me? This February, take a look for yourself and believe what you see instead of holding on firmly to the status quo.

Picking up the pace on mental skills training

The end of January is just around the corner and things will begin falling into place in the high school wrestling world. In Wisconsin, the tournament season begins with the conference tournament and is followed by the state tournament series. There is a tournament each of the four weekends in February that young athletes put their blood, sweat and tears into with their "eyes on the prize."

From the outside, this is a very exciting time for many. Behind the scenes, however, turmoil takes over in the lives of some prominent athletes. I spend more time discussing purpose, value and significance over the next month than I do breaking down technique and video. I cherish this role because I feel like I have the opportunity to really make a difference in the lives of young men. Certainly, it's nice that those talks help clear some space in their minds and hearts to achieve their dreams, however, what's more is that they become pivotal moments in their development as men. This is when we pick up the pace on mental skills training.

I'm never surprised by what I hear from teenagers in my office. The concerns and weight they carry varies drastically. Some are simply looking for a mental edge while others are looking for ways out of the pressure they feel. Some express their dislike for the sport and want to quit when it's time to reap what they have sown. Some are scared and don't know what to do next. Some are dealing with family dynamics that are less than desirable and it greatly affects their performance. It's all become par for the course in my role. Most of the time it is as simple as comparing our behind-the-scenes to the highlight reel of others. Sometimes it's more.

Those who confront their anxiety and fears while continuing to train mentally are able to do their best when all the chips are on the table. The athletes that bottle thing up and don't address them usually become a casualty at the hands of their own mind. Even the most novice fan can pinpoint the athlete who falls short of his potential and gets tagged with "it was all mental." I seek out those cases and enjoy helping turn it around.

I have four very difficult cases already and I'm eager to see positive changes in each of them. Many more will make that sheepish knock on my office door over the next few weeks ready to dump their issues in my lap. I'm ready for all of them. In some regard, I believe the attention to mental skills is our "secret weapon" this time of year. Every high school wrestler who walks up the stairs at Victory has already put the time in from a physical stand point and have many resources to maintain their physical prowess. For us, the volume and intensity in the mental skills increases exponentially. Only those close to our program fully grasp this and understand the importance. Outsiders think becoming a champion is all about singles and doubles or being in good physical condition, but that's an extremely small piece of the puzzle.

What separates the boys from the men has nothing to do with physical output or consumption as our sports culture and society believes. Boys become men when they can recognize and handle their emotions properly and accept responsibility. Manhood has nothing to do with the outcome. It's entirely about the process.

They're only boys

Last week we started two new sessions at Victory. We've been entrenched in the lives of high school athletes since September and will continue to be through August. The beginning of January is when we get the ball rolling with younger athletes - middle school and youth.

The younger athletes are exciting for me. They're so vibrant and they bring a fresh energy to Victory at an optimal time. January can be a difficult month for high school wrestlers for a lot of reasons. Having the younger athletes around helps me maintain the positive energy needed to get some of the high school athletes through it. I also like working with middle school kids because they're "under the radar."

From a purely athletic standpoint, they're under the radar because many haven't accomplished the things they will when they get older. That's simple. They're also under the radar because of their potential to do great things as boys. Our culture usually writes off boys and girls because they're young, however, I believe there are great things in store from them simply because they're young.

We do our best to meet the athletes where they are and speak their language so they can understand what we're trying to build into them. We strive to give them tools to increase the likelihood of them achieving their athletic goals. We also speak life into them and speak directly to their potential as young men. This is where it gets the most exciting. Grades 6-8 are prime time for defining moments. These will shape the rest of their existence. They walk through the doors already on the hunt for wisdom and life lessons that resonate with them. I know because I have indelible memories from that age that affect my daily life today. I flood them with quotes, nuggets of truth and pieces of wisdom in hopes that I can deposit something in them so they will never be the same.

Additionally, I believe these young men are uniquely positioned to have giant-sized impact on those around them. I believe it because the Bible uses youngsters to make a difference frequently. Luke mentions that at age 12, "Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and favor with God and men" (Luke 2:52). This is a very clear objective for us to follow with these middle school boys. To empower these young men to do great things, this week we will cling to 1 Timothy 4:12, "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity."

I'm also reminded of the only miracle recorded in all four Gospels - Jesus feeding 5,000. In this story, according to John, one of the main characters is "a boy with five small barley loaves and two fish" (John 6:10). Through the resources of a boy, Jesus was able to impact over 5,000 people. This is quite profound if you think about the boy. The disciples initiated a conversation with Jesus that the large group was very hungry. Andrew pointed out a boy with some food. What's amazing to me is that this boy is the only person in the entire group who didn't need a miracle at that time. He had all of the food he needed. He was set. Then a couple of old guys with beards approached him and his food. The Bible doesn't mention what type of conversation ensued, but it is clear that this boys food reached the hands of Jesus. Jesus used this boy to initiate one of the most impacting miracles of all time. And he was just a boy.

Some of the young athletes enrolled at Victory are looking for a "miracle" in their own life or need that defining moment to help them become the men they were created to be. Others, however, will be the miracle that God is intending to use in the lives of others. Either way, I believe God is going to move in the lives of these young athletes. And they're only boys.