Young People

Wrestling in schools and clubs is a sport of individual participation, functioning within the framework of team concepts.

This aspect contributes to the development of life-long patterns of responsible behaviour including respect for others regardless of social or racial origin . A young person involved in wrestling can be expected to display increasing self-confidence and appreciation of their self-worth, and develop analytical and adaptive skills.

 Let us introduce you to one of our young up and coming wrestlers, who achieved nationwide recognitions earlier this year, when she featured in the newspaper First News. This was what she had to say about the sport…

“Hi, my name is Katy. I’m 13, and my sport is freestyle wrestling. It’s a great sport, really good fun, and I’ve been doing it now for just over a year, when I joined my local club, the Middleton and Wirksworth Club in Derbyshire.

I took up wrestling because James, my younger brother, got involved and I watched him train and decided to give it go myself. What appealed to me about it is that it’s a great sport for self defence, it keeps you fit, and requires a great deal of discipline, both on and off the mat. It’s also a very tactical sport, it’s more about manouvres than the physical aspect, and when you’re in a competition you score points during a round for certain moves, which you have to learn and practice. A round, by the way, lasts two minutes, and there are a maximum of 3 rounds.

I started competing at tournaments a month after joining the club – I decided to enter a competition, in Nottingham, and came third in my category.

That whetted my appetite, so I decided to knuckle down and train hard, and entered more – I’ve even been abroad, and won a 5th place at a competition in Belgium. What’s really exciting, is that I have also started training with the elite British wrestlers at the GB Academy in Manchester, so I’m now learning from the very best.

Wrestling is really growing in popularity in this country, but it’s still a minority sport here, unlike in some countries like Germany, the Netherlands, and in Eastern Europe, for instance, where it’s massive.

Wrestling is also an Olympic sport, and will therefore feature at the London Games in 2012, which will be great for the profile of the sport. The 2012 Games will be too early for me, but one day I’d love to compete at the Olympics. I’d also like to be the British, European and World champion – well, there’s nothing like aiming high, is there!

But whatever I achieve, I really enjoy wrestling, and would recommend it to anyone, girl or boy. Why not give it go!”