Where have all the fundamentals gone?

As I was listening to a radio program, the host mentioned that less than 25% of Americans support the direction that the United States is heading in. He didn't cite a source for the survey, but it got me thinking. He asked for individuals to call into the radio station and share opinions and ideas about what is "wrong" with our country.

I don't have time for people who complain without offering a solution or sharing ideas on how to make it better. 75% of Americans are upset with our country, but almost 100% of them won't do anything today or tomorrow to try to make things better. I want to be the change I expect to see in the world. I have no interest in taking part in the belly aching and believe most of our population doesn't deserve the privilege to complain because they're not willing to be part of the solution. You're either part of the problem or part of the solution.

Now, griping aside, I did consider the direction of the United States and instantly a few ideas came to my mind. I believe some of the most pressing issues include, but aren't limited to, no-fault divorce, an emphasis on self-esteem instead of self-respect, accountability, a lack of honor and humility and many others things. However, one of the most glaring problems with our country was represented in full-force tonight when I stumbled upon a youth baseball game.

We took a family walk tonight and stopped to watch two innings of a youth baseball game. It was a beautiful night, so it seemed like a terrific idea. Before I share my insight on this baseball game, I have to offer a disclaimer. I'm a coach and former athlete. I understand sport and believe it can be a metaphor for a life as well as a wonderful educational opportunity. I tend to be very critical of the process of youth sports. So, with all of that said, it was absolutely the worst baseball game I have ever witnessed!

Before you rake me through the coals, let me explain myself. I appreciate young people playing games and being active outdoors in the summer, but I think it's appropriate to demand higher standards even for 4th graders. These poor children had no clue how to play baseball. I don't have any knowledge as to how the system of youth baseball works in this community, but I am certain no one has taught these kids how to play the game. They couldn't throw or catch the ball and they couldn't swing the bat. I felt terrible for these children because adults have let them down. No one is teaching them. It's probably unfair to assume this, but they're probably too busy playing games to actually have practice because Mom, Dad and Coach think they need to play a ton of meaningless games to keep up the Joneses unbeknownst to them that the Joneses suck at baseball, too. There was no fundamental base at all. Poor kids.

I played youth baseball and recall a few basic skills that I learned at a very young age. Tonight, no one caught the ball with two hands (even warming up between innings) and no one got in front of ground balls. Luckily, though, there was hardly any bat to ball contact because there were very few swings that would pass as somewhat decent. Remember when you were a kid and the non-baseball playing dad even reminded you to keep your elbow up and eye on the ball? Yeah, none of that happened tonight.

I think this youth baseball game represents a lot of what is wrong with our country. We have grown bored with fundamentals. We don't take the time to learn what we're doing before we do it. Our focus is on the outcome. All I hear from public schools is the attention to testing scores, not the educational process. Youth sports are more about playing games than they are about practicing. We skip the basics so we can peak by Saturday every week.

It sounds like I'm being harsh on these little guys, but if you look deeply into what I'm saying, I'm not. I'm being harsh on the adults and on the system. They are failing the kids. The irony is that these youth baseball players are the ones held accountable for the shortsightedness of the parents and coaches. I'm not about to blame modern technology and Play Station/X-Box on the lack of baseball skills. No one is teaching them. I'm scared about the future because it appears as if our nation is apathetic, at best, to the basic foundations and fundamentals.

To a great teacher, thank you

Today I crossed paths with one of my middle school teachers at the Farmer's Market in River Falls. Lisa Showers (her last name was Myhre in the early 90's) was my French teacher when I was in 7th grade and she spoke life into me when I was most impressionable. It became one of the defining moments in my life.

I've shared this story numerous times with others. I was in the 7th grade and enrolled in French as an exploratory class. I was very discouraged because learning a new language was difficult and I didn't have any of my friends in class with me. After a few days of class, I wanted to try something different. It was early enough to drop the class, so I took the necessary steps to do so. I brought a drop slip home to my parents and returned to class one day with the intention of it being my last. After class, I had informed Madame that I was dropping her class. She looked at me very sternly and said, "I'm very disappointed in you. Is this how you're going to handle everything in life? When things get hard, are you going to quit?" I stood in front of her desk, speechless, as those words pierced my heart and resonated in my soul. I would never be the same.

I don't know if Madame saw potential in me, if she was expecting more from me than others, or if she was just simply doing her job, but she had a huge impact on me that day. I vividly recall walking out of her room asking myself the same questions she had just asked me. How was I going to handle difficult situations? Was I going to quit? I knew I didn't want to be a quitter, so that day I made a promise to myself that I wasn't going to quit when things became difficult...ever. That included my 7th grade French class.

Madame signed the letter permitting me to drop her class, but I never returned it to the office. I continued learning French until I graduated from high school. Some of my best high school memories took place during French class and I've spent a few weeks in France, however, those words were applied most to my athletic career. I had tremendous wrestling coaches and wonderful support as an athlete, but without those words at that crucial time, none of my success would have been possible.

That was an important day in 1992 and Lisa Showers will always have a special place in my life. I was honored to share this story with her once again today because I have personal testimony that words are extremely powerful. Who knows, maybe my words offered encouragement to her today. Now, I search for opportunities to speak life into others because she did to me.

Thank you Madame! You had a positive impact on me made a difference in my life.

"The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit" - Proverbs 18:21

Camp of Champs

Today I traveled North to be a clinician/counselor at the Camp of Champs. Ben and John Peterson, both Olympic Gold Medalists, run this wonderful camp system. It combines faith and wrestling. Biblical principles are an integral part of the camp experience. We're tucked back in the woods at Camp Forest Springs in Westboro, WI.

Every year, my time at Camp of Champs is set in the middle of a typhoon of happenings in my life. My head is in every direction and I have many things on my proverbial plate. Every year it feels like I don't have the time to fit in the 2-3 days I spend at Camp of Champs. This year is no exception. I come here only one day after returning from the World Team Trials. I miss my kids and my wife. I have a lot of work that needs to be done and a lot of summer plans that still need tightening. In all of the hustle and bustle, it's the perfect time to be here.

Every summer, in the middle of all the craziness, God knows I need a few days to focus on Him to keep my priorities straight moving forward. Not that they've been out of order, but it's a good "check." God is always thinking ahead, especially when I may or may not be. I like that attribute about Him.

I'm excited for the next few days. Even though I'd rather be hanging out at the park with Isaiah, Micaiah and Liz today, God wants me here. How can I go wrong? I trust that God will use this to sharpen my focus on His plan as I continue working on my plan. If my plan is in line with His, all is well. To be in the middle of a move of God is where I need to be.

World Team Trials - Friday, June 10th

Congratulations to Helen Maroulis for making the US World Team!

Helen and I visualized this day many, many times, but I don't think either of us ever saw her wrestling Ashley Hudson in the best 2 out of 3 finals. Fortunately, we prepared for this tournament by focusing on Helen's needs. We had a few likely opponents in the back of our minds, but it was always about what Helen needed to do to be successful. If our game plan was designed around certain individuals, her state of mind could have been drastically altered when her opponent became someone we didn't plan for.

Today was a great day. I say (and write) over and over that I'm most concerned about the process and not the outcome. Even though the desirable outcome was achieved today, the process is where the real story is. On the mat, Helen was dominant, but off the mat she was such a professional that the way she competed was expected.

To keep her loose during the day, we joked around a lot with Vicki and Chad. She has a huge tendency to get lost in her thoughts and psych herself out of her ideal competitive state. I hardly left her side when we were in the arena and she handled herself like a professional. She told me she didn't feel like she was wrestling at the World Team Trials because she felt relaxed (which isn't the norm). I explained to her that she's not getting caught up in the emotions of the moment because she's here on business. She didn't come to Oklahoma City for a wrestling tournament; it was a business trip. She took care of business, too.

Helen is only 19 years old and is growing by leaps and bounds every moment of every day. Two years ago, she missed weight at Trials. Last year, the moment got too big for her and it slipped away. This year, she was a professional and the results show it. I'm proud of her for accomplishing one of her many goals, but I'm most proud of her growth over the three years I've been involved in her wrestling career.

Her success today can be attributed to a lot of great people behind the scenes who helped her stay focused and calm over the past few weeks. That was the first step in this process. When she was on the mat, she stayed true to who she is as a wrestler and lived in her "happy zone" and wrestled a nearly flawless tournament. By focusing on the process, the desirable outcome comes to you, you don't go to it.

World Team Trials - Thursday, June 9th

My second day in Oklahoma City is in the books. Helen made weight, the Victory boys arrived and now I'm watching the NBA Finals Game 5 in my hotel room. LeBron tweeted "Now or Never!!" earlier today so I tuned in for the potential to see greatness...I haven't yet.

This morning started out very well. Helen and Vicki had a nice mat workout. Helen was in weight cut mode, so we didn't have a lot of mat time scheduled for her. On the other hand, Vicki isn't competing until Saturday so we did more with her. She experienced our "100 shots" workout. It isn't her favorite. She was moving very well, though. Both commented on how good their bodies feel. They're definitely peaking and it's evident in their on and off mat activity. They both seem to have a little more bounce in their step, which is good.

I also had time to catch up with Barry Davis for a few hours throughout the day. I always enjoy talking wrestling with him. He's like the Yoda of wrestling. I appreciate him very much.

For lunch, I crushed the lunch buffet at Abuelo's. I have a keen eye for small Mexican restaurants. I can spot them in the most obscure locations. I judge the authenticity of Mexican restaurants on if they offer beef tongue on the menu. Abuelo's certainly doesn't, but the buffet was decent. Unfortunately, it gave me a small stomach ache that I had to endure the rest of the day. I still haven't decided if it was worth it (it usually is with good Mexican food).

Helen made one more short weight cut before we headed to the venue for weigh-ins. There are only four women's weight classes contested this year at the World Team Trials - 48, 55, 63, 72 KG. Helen competes at 55 KG (approximately 121 pounds). 72 KG also weighed in. Helen placed first at the US Open so she has a bye to the best 2-out-of-3 finals beginning at 7:00 PM tomorrow. Vicki will weigh-in tomorrow and compete on Saturday.

We're all getting very excited. Our biggest task right away tomorrow is to get both girls on the mat for a workout. For Helen, it will be a simulated warm-up with matches. For Vicki, it will begin her weight cut for the day. Then we need to keep Helen occupied throughout the day so she doesn't get worked up while waiting. It will be very delicate and probably the most important part of the day. We need to keep her emotions in check. If we can do it successfully, the wrestling should take care of itself.

Broken Camp System

I believe our wrestling camp system in the United States is broken. I attended a commuter camp when I was in 6th grade and the instructor said if I can retain only ONE thing over three-days of camp, then it was worth it. The one thing I remember from that guy is that his statement didn't make any sense. If I'm going to spend over $300 to learn the sport from an expert, he better do whatever he can to assure that I learn more than one thing. In doing a short cost-benefit analysis, that's not money well spent.

It's been almost 20 years since I attended that summer camp and I've heard similar statements from other wrestling experts all over the US. Why do we think that it's alright if a kid retains only one thing from our camps? I'm bound and determined do it differently.

The majority of wrestling camps focus on techniques (or "moves"). They rush through the content and, often times, the instructors aren't qualified to teach. Attention to detail is skipped for the sake of time and the general concepts or principals are missed almost entirely. Why do we continue to pay top dollar for this type of experience?

I think wrestling camps started to serve three very specific purposes: 1.) to provide supplemental income for wrestling coaches/athletes and to fund college programs; 2.) to provide an environment for college athletes to train in the summer; and 3.) to introduce young wrestlers to the idea of wrestling during the off season. If this is the purpose of camp, the current system is easily understood. However, I believe wrestling camps should be designed around the needs of the athletes and not exclusively on those of the programs hosting them.

Personally, I know a lot of wrestling "moves" and I believe I possess the skills necessary to accurately teach them to athletes of all age levels (thanks to an education degree). However, teaching a group of athletes a series of moves does not assure they will become better wrestlers because they may not be able to apply to techniques to competition. Shouldn't one of my primary goals be to help campers become better wrestlers? Sometimes showing them a myriad of techniques works in the opposite direction of that goal. It's like feeding the athletes a ton of empty calories.

Empty calories, in casual dietary terminology, are a measurement of the energy present in high-energy foods with poor nutritional profiles (Wikipedia).

Empty calories can temporarily satisfy your hunger or quench your thirst, but they don't sustain. Our focus should be on providing campers with something that has solid nutritional value. The problem with empty calories is it meets the need in the short term, but sacrifices what is best in the long term. They come and go quickly, but leave unhealthy residue behind resulting in excessive weight gain and unhealthy people. Healthy growth requires intake of sound nutrients and I don't think the current camps system provides this to wrestlers.

If wrestlers who attend the camps at Victory School of Wrestling only retain one thing, I've failed them. I expect them to grow as wrestlers, but also as individuals who can reach full athletic and human potential. Empty calories don't accomplish this, only nutrient-dense foods will. We want to send the athletes with something sustainable that will help them grow. We want to teach them how to be personally responsible for their lives (including their training). We want to help them understand how to become the Total Athlete - Body, Mind and Soul.

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

World Team Trials - Wednesday, June 8th

I'm in the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Oklahoma City getting ready for the World Team Trials. I spent some time providing moral support for one of our athletes during a weight cutting workout. It went very well. I'm very optimistic about this weekend because it appears as if our plan is on the right track.

For the past month, two of the top female athletes in the US have been training at Victory. We've made a lot of progress and it's been a valuable experience for everyone involved - the girls, Liz and I, our kids, the athletes at Victory, friends, family, etc. Not only is it a privilege to be a part of Olympism and pouring into the lives, goals and dreams of two fine athletes, it has also been very enjoyable to have them in our lives. The wrestling community has embraced them well and my immediate and extended families have treated them as one of our own.

The primary reason Helen and Vicki decided to train in River Falls is to reach the top of the victory stand. We've put in a lot of work in a short period of time and have dug deeply into many facets of their wrestling and training. We did some "pruning," put together a game plan and exercised a tactical approach for this weekend. The entire month was a celebration of experimentation while maintaining very clear objectives in preparation. As a coach, I'm most interested in the process, not the result, and it was nearly flawless...now, I hope the results are, too. We're going to be spending a lot more time together this summer and currently we're in a very good place, but there's more to do.

Greater things are yet to come and greater things are still to be done!

Obsessed with succeeding

To be the best at something, you have to be willing to do things others aren't willing to do. As a high school athlete, I wanted to be the best wrestler on the planet, so I was willing to do some "crazy" things that set me apart. Some of them were completely ridiculous, but I believed they were required to gain an edge physically and mentally. Obviously, I was never the best wrestler on the planet, but I still believe in order to be the best, you need to be a little bit crazy.

Some of the things I saw as essential to separate me from the crowd were various mind games that I played with myself. They were internal goals that no one else knew about. In hindsight, I think a lot of them had obsessive compulsive disorder tendencies and they were often times nuisances, but I knew I had to do things that were sometimes inconvenient if I was striving to be the best.

No shortcuts

I heard several times that the best never take shortcuts. I understand what is implied when people say this, but I did my best to take this to the extreme. I often looked for ways to make my journey longer than others. I still wanted to get there first, but I didn't want to take a shortcut to do it, I wanted to take the long way and beat everyone who took the shorter path. The most concrete example I have is when I was walking on sidewalks, I always took the extra steps to cross the street at the cross walk even if my friends slightly cut the corner. Not only did I do this with crosswalks, I did it with every path. You wouldn't have seen me cut across the grass at anytime. I believed if I took shortcuts easily on the sidewalk, there was nothing stopping me from taking shortcuts during my training. Crazy? Absolutely. Did it work? I'm not sure, but I wasn't willing to take the risk that it wouldn't.

Cracks in the sidewalk

A lot of these idiosyncrasies became superstitions that I was scared to let go of. One in particular started when I was in Confirmation class in 9th grade and one of my friends challenged me to not step on a crack in the sidewalk during from the riddle, "don't step on a crack or you'll break so-and-so's back." I looked at it as another training opportunity. This time, it was one of self-control and discipline. I went through my entire high school career without stepping on a single crack on any sidewalk. Similar to the shortcut thing, I believed it gave me a mental edge over my competition. It was also extremely inconvenient. Obviously, I had one eye on the prize and one eye on the sidewalk spotting cracks (yes, even the routine cracks every three feet). Crazy? Absolutely. Did it work? Again, I'm not sure, but I wasn't willing to take the risk that it wouldn't.

One extra

I'm the first to admit that these behaviors came close to consuming me, but I was obsessed with succeeding. Another deal I made with myself was to always "do one extra" when it came to training. If we had 10 sprints, I did 11. Soon the one extra wasn't exceptional and I had to do two extra (in case there were others who were also doing one extra). On my birthday in 2000, I took this to the extreme when I set out to do more stadium stairs runs at Camp Randall than anyone else. I had 25 up-and-down in my mind and kept adding one more in case someone else took on the same adventure. I forced myself to stop after 102 stadium stairs runs to the top. To be the best at something, it's a prerequisite to be obsessed with greatness and success. It needs to flow into every aspect of your life. To be the best, you have to be crazy, but you must maintain a healthy perspective, too.

Needless to say, now that my athletic career is over I do my best not to pay attention to the cracks in the sidewalk, however, I find myself doing things out of the ordinary in hopes of becoming the best wrestling coach, the best father or the the best husband I can be because I'm still obsessed with greatness. But for now, those are secrets.

Greatness

I spent the day at Stoughton Middle School sharing a few insights into what it takes to be great. I presented the "Preamble to Greatness" to the Bob Empey's 8th grade physical education classes. Two of my friends, Bob and Mel Dow, put together a vision for their students that I'm on board with and they brought me in as a guest speaker.

The Preamble to Greatness starts with humility, the opposite of pride. Pride is all about "me" and humility is about serving others. Humility leads to honor. Humility and honor are always in the same space. Because of humility, it's possible to maintain a healthy perspective of who we are which leads us to value and honor others and take on servant leadership. These steps begin the process to reaching one's true potential. This is true greatness and is possible only when we stay on the correct path. Your path determines your destination.

I really enjoyed my time with the students today and believe we planted some seeds that will produce wonderful fruits in the near future. This experience has motivated me to market Victory School of Wrestling in a new way. We have a lot of great insights that we can offer to middle school and high school students even if they're not interested in wrestling. I hope this opens many more opportunities to work with school districts.