Parents and students often do not fully understand what it means to be a part of the North Forsyth Wrestling program. I am pasting a letter that was sent by a parent of a former wrestler in effort that it may help you to understand.


What’s up 160? Better cut some weight 189. As a parent I would ask myself what is the code the students are using. Hoping they are too low for SAT scores and knowing they are too high for test scores, I learned that this was the weight class you are in as a wrestler. I asked my child, wrestle, why do you want to wrestle? His response, “because of the individuality of the sport”. Then I would ask “don’t you want to play football or baseball?” NO, I personally want to win and when I win and the rest of the weight classes win, the team wins, etc.” It’s a sport that is measured by points two-fold. I get it…it’s the sum that equals the whole.

Wrestling. The chosen sport for many males across our schools, counties and states. So now what. My child wants to wrestle. So we get a physical, get the information from the coach about practices, meets, etc. and I realize the practice schedules are too long. Ridiculous as a matter of fact…but I play along and pick up my child from the nightly practices, drop off in the mornings for Saturday practices, etc. I’m mortified as I see the kids leave the gym day in and day out- they are soaking wet in sweat, exhausted, hungry, smell, can barely walk. On the ride home (with the windows down), I ask questions, and lots of them. Most get ignored, because he is too exhausted to speak.

Well, this has gone on for 3 years… I never really got too involved in the sport until my child was a junior. Once he could drive himself to the 6 am weigh-in’s I suddenly got more interested about where he was really going to weigh-in or go for McDonalds with his friends. I later learned the McDonald’s trip was AFTER the weigh-ins and the team that joined him there WERE in fact his friends, coaches, encouragers, and mentors. The McDonalds trip became part of routine and a chance for the team members to experience camaraderie! All wonderful things that as a parent I’m so thankful my child can experience early on before he heads to college, gets a “real job” and has a family of his own. The social skills he is learning now will forever benefit him.

So I started attending the local matches and realized that the wrestlers didn’t get a lot of support except from the parents of the wrestlers & the coaches. The other teachers, the principles and students rarely came to see THEIR Raiders participate in a school sport-and if the students did come, they were the girlfriends or brother and sisters of the wrestlers. I saw these folks at basketball, football and baseball games…but why not wrestling? One of the MOST demanding sports on their students, physically, that I have ever seen. Even the doctors claim wrestling is one of the most injury ridden sport there is…it even out-paces football. I guess they are as absent-minded as I was about the sport. I hope this letter enlightens them.

So during these matches, I watch and listen to the coaches, and the team members screaming to lead there man on the mat to victory. There is so much excitement that fills the air you can’t help not to cheer them on. Suddenly the 152 wrestler has a name! (Most of the time it’s a last name I hear, but a name none the less). The team encourages each other to be there BEST and they “bust on each other” when they are not. When they loose a match, they are mad and frustrated but they help each other figure out what they are doing wrong, so they only get better. They are each other’s best teachers and coaches! I now see these boys coming together on and off the mat. It’s awesome to watch the trust, respect and appreciation they have for one another. Where else could my child have learned this?

Then there are the coaches. These men are un-believable. I thought my child had dedication to the sport and the team. These men give up there personal LIFE for our children. They are there for all the practices, the meets, and for the kids inside and outside of school. In fact, I stopped grounding my child and just called the coach when he was failing a class or did something he shouldn’t have. I’d let the coach punish him with a few weeks of grueling practices! Then you look back at the team he is fostering. As a parent, it doesn’t get any better. I’m so proud to watch the team, support each of them as if they were my own, and then to give “thanks’ to the real coach that stands behind these boys every day…even when wrestling is over for the season they are all there for each other. Thank you coach Jarrard for all you do for our youth. It’s truly been amazing to watch it un-fold over the years. I hope the faculty and staff at North know what you are doing and how you are personally affecting the future of our youth. They are learning discipline, dedication, trust, respect, and determination. All the things that young men need in a world that is lacking. So, I look forward to my child’s last year wrestling for you and North. Sincerely, thank you for making a difference. The boys love you!

For the newcomers of wrestling, after 3 years of drop offs and pick ups I finally learned that the grueling practices are completely normal and wrestling is NOT a sport for the weak. Weak in the sense that you may have to sacrifice eating some days to make weight, weak in that you must be committed to practices that are 3 hours a day, weak in that you need endurance and stamina to make through a match, weak in that if you want to be better than average you have to dedicate all your extra time for more practicing. And the list goes on. Sacrifice. Dedication. Commitment. This is your North Forsyth Wrestling Coach; this is your North Forsyth Wrestler. This is your Raider.