What You Gain from Sports

One of my coaches always said, “Once you’ve wrestled, everything else in life is easy.” I couldn’t agree with him more. Wrestling shows you discipline, responsibility, accountability, mental toughness, and personal goal setting. Knowing how to be all of these things will help you tremendously in life.  

When I tell people I wrestle, they say, “Why wrestling?” I never really knew how to answer that question. I just showed up one day and never really stopped showing up. The thought of never being able to wrestle again is so devastating to me. Wrestling has been a big part of my life. I have learned so much being in this sport, it has made me the person I am today.  

I think this is the case for many wrestlers out there. We dedicate years to wrestling and sacrifice things that normal kids or teenagers do to make time for wrestling. But it is all worth it when you get your hand raised. I think that feeling keeps wrestlers wrestling; it is addicting and hard to step away from. Going out with a loss is hard to accept, so we continue wrestling and setting goals for ourselves. Losing a tough match fuels wrestlers to practice more and work harder. We strive to be the best versions of ourselves.  

It’s not only in wrestling that you will learn how to be disciplined, responsible, accountable, and mentally tough. Many other sports teach these things, but I think it has a lot to do with the person and if they want to be the best. If you want to be the best version of yourself, all these traits will come easily to you because you must be willing to do whatever it takes to be the best.