Matt Oney and I traveled to Russia in 2010 as part of the USA contingent under USAW's educational program for coaches (CAP). While we were there, many of our fellow coaches went to see youth wrestling schools in Moscow.  Since Russia produces the top wrestlers in the world, what they do at the youth level seems relevant to this discussion.   Here's what I wrote down last year while in Moscow:

CAP Field Trip

While on a snack run for the video crew on Wednesday, Matt Hampton met a Russian teenage wrestler, Sasha, and his mother, Julia, who were watching the tournament.  Matt got invited by them to go to a Russian youth wrestling school the next day.  He and John Grecco from Florida and Jamie Crossno from Illinois went along.  Jamie had a professional interest because he just opened a wrestling school – Attrition Wrestling, in Rockford, Illinois.

They took a few t-shirts as gifts but not nearly enough for the 3 – 4 rooms of 20 wrestlers each in the state run school – no charge to the kids.  All GR.  Each room had different ages.  Mostly gymnastics, body awareness, full range of motion stretches and exercise, and core strength training followed by a small amount of basic technique.  The coach focused on developing mastery of a few moves.  They went just 5 minutes of live.

After demonstrating technique, the coach asked, “Who are my brave ones?”

Some kids raised their hands.  The “brave ones” got to do 10 reps of the technique, the others only 5.

Jamie said that they told the CAP coaches that the school really doesn’t let the kids compete until they are 12 years old, even though the kids in the room they were observing ranged from 8 to 13.  The other rooms had Cadet/Junior age kids in one and FILA Junior/University age in the other.

Jamie also said sport parents in Russia coach their kids from the side of the mat, just like in the US.  No translation needed to know what was going on.

Matt said that when they first entered the room the kids were acting like typical kids, goofing around and having fun.  When the coach blew the whistle everyone, kids, parents, and guests, stopped talking.  The kids hustled to line up on one wall, the parents on another wall.  The parents were then dismissed for the rest of the session.  Matt said discipline was strict and the kids were, as we say in the US, on task.

Julia is supposed to be coming by the venue tomorrow to drive some of the CAP coaches to the Palace of Wrestling.  More on that tomorrow.

CAP Field Trip (Day 2)

Julia said she would be at the venue at 4:00 p.m. to pick up the coaches for their trip to the Wrestling Palace.  She arrived at 4:01 p.m., apologizing for being late.  She had been baking pirogues for us and lost track of time.  Matt Hampton brought back some pirogues for the coaches who stayed at the venue.  To die for.

Cody Bickley (NCEP Manager for USAW), Ted Schanen (high school coach from Colorado), Keith Norris (the head coach for Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland), and John Grecco (club coach from Florida) made the field trip to the wrestling palace.  The wrestlers at the Palace go live on Friday nights so the CAP coaches didn’t get on the mat even though they had their wrestling shoes with them.  Two hours of live GR for a group that ranged from 15 – 22 years old.  Keith said that even when there was a mismatched pair, talent-wise, the superior wrestler showed no mercy.