Welcome mats are out at Collegiate
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BY CHUCK SCHILKEN
Times-Dispatch Staff Writer
The auxiliary gym at Collegiate School will once again become
a melting pot of sorts this fall.
Cougars head coach Wortie Ferrell and his assistant John Thoma
welcome kids of all ages from places as far away as King William
Country and the Tri-Cities area to practice and learn with the
Collegiate Mat Club, which is affiliated with USA Wrestling,
every Wednesday from 6:30 to 8 p.m. starting Sept. 18 until the
high school season begins in mid-November.
"I think our area really benefits from a real good youth program,"
Ferrell said. "That's why areas like the Beach do so well."
The club, which started last fall and resumed in the spring following
the high school season, is one of many such programs that have
appeared in Richmond and the surrounding areas in recent years.
Many local coaches and wrestlers realize that the best way to
compete with teams from other parts of the state is to get an
early start - that is taking up the sport at a young age, as well
as training and competing each year well before the season begins.
In addition to providing space to practice and learn, the club
helps wrestlers with arrangements to participate in preseason
tournaments.
Ferrell estimates around 30 athletes participated last year. In
addition to Collegiate students, athletes came from such schools
as St.Christopher's, Mills Godwin, Clover Hill, L.C.Bird, Douglas
Freeman and Hermitage.
Often the more-experienced wrestlers benefit the most from
practicing and competing amongst themselves.
"The older kids do their own thing," said Ferrell, who runs the
club with Thoma and other area coaches. "They push themselves.
They teach each other moves."
He added, "They got a competitive edge because they saw some
of the kids they were going to be wrestling later on. I think a lot
of them got into the wrestling mindset earlier - they progressed
farther than they would have if they had started fresh in November."
Other participants, sometimes as young as 6, require more instruction
and guidance.
"We go over moves, real basic stuff - single legs, double legs,
stand- ups," Ferrell said. "We just hone those real well."
The instruction is provided by Ferrell, Thoma and other area
coaches - as well as anyone else who wants to jump in and help
build the future of local wrestling.
"Some of the older kids take a real interest in the younger guys,"
Ferrell said. "They take time and show the younger kids different
moves."
Such moments are perhaps the club's finest. Local wrestling will
reap the benefits in the upcoming season and in years to come as
both athletes walk away better wrestlers.
"The best way to learn is to teach," said wrestler John Mcleod, a
senior at Collegiate. "When you teach a little kid how to shoot a
shot, it helps you because you really have to know how to shoot
that shot."
© 1996, Richmond Newspapers Inc.