[blindkid] wrestling

Tue Feb 23 17:12:33 UTC 2010

At some point I might try to get Jeremy into wrestling, but it will be 
difficult, because A. the closest school for the blind is a joke, and I 
wouldn't send my dog there, let alone my son.  I know there are better 
schools for the blind out there, but even if we lived near one, I don't know 
if they would let him compete and participate, since we will be 
homeschooling him.  B. Getting a coach in a public school to accomidate a 
blind child or a homeschooler admited to the school for extraciricular 
activities only, is not an easy thing, put the two together, and it could 
get quite difficult indeed.  I really want to get him into nice mainstreamed 
sports like horseback riding, gymnastics, swimming, wrestling, etc, that 
require little adaptation and are not spacific teams for blind children. 
Therefore, although, I won't refuse to let him play something like beep 
baseball or goalball, I will make sure that he knows what real baseball and 
football and soccer are like and I will encourage him to also play a sport 
on a sighted team.  I always hated playing goal ball myself, for two 
reasons.  1.  They never let anyone win.  No matter how many goals our team 
scored, they would never say that we won, that we beat the other team, and 
it drove me crazy.  And we are not talking about seven year olds.  We were 
fifteen.  In one game we made 28 goals and the other team made three.  I 
congradulated my team mates saying, we won.  We kicked butt, good job team, 
I was the unofficial team captain, and the organizers went nuts on me saying 
that there are no winners or losers.  I bluntly informed them, that the 
other team were losers, this time, and that we were winners, that we didn't 
think less of the other players, but that saying that we had not won would 
be a lie.  I really got going, saying that it was assanine to never let any 
team claim their well won victory, that that was a defeatest and almost 
communist view, and the rest of my team went nuts with me and we all walked 
off and they couldn't get together games anymore.  and 2.  Whenever people 
would see me playing a highly adapted or specialized sport, they would ask 
if I were going to be in the special olimpics.  This drives me absolutely 
insane, as, although there are official competition games for blind people, 
deaf people, those in wheelchairs, etc, the special olimpics is a seperate 
thing, and is for people with MR, not simply people who are blind, deaf, 
etc.  I would always tell ignorant people off, get in their faces if need 
be, set them strait nicely when possible, but, I knew that for every ten 
people that I explained all of this to, there were probably a hundred who 
saw me playing beep baseball and just walked away, making assumptions about 
me and my blind teammates.  Long story short?  Any team Jeremy plays on, 
blind or sighted must be a truly competetive team, the coach must not give 
him extra privilages or praise when he hasn't earned it, and he must give 
him equal play time and opertunities to the other players.  I had never 
really considered wrestling before, but I think it might be right up 
Jeremy's alley when he gets older, as he is a very physical little guy, has 
relatively strong bodily kenesthetic intelligence and would probably enjoy 
being part of a team, he is a people person.  Thanks for starting this 
thread, it has given me some fun new ideas.  Also, it would probably really 
apeal to Jeremy's father, since he is a United States Marine and he had a 
lot of fun with me, when we took a personal defense class together for our 
PE requirement in college.  Have a nice day all.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Jacobson" <steve.jacobson at visi.com>
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)" 
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 10:09 AM
Subject: Re: [blindkid] wrestling


> Many years ago, I wrestled for the school for the blind here in Minnesota. 
> We had a mixed schedule of some other schools for the blind but mostly 
> area public
> schools.  However, the structure of our practices was very similar to that 
> described below.  There are some wrestling moves that could be taught best 
> with a little
> individual attention, but as noted below, the fact that one cannot wrestle 
> without a partner builds in much of what one needs to learn various moves. 
> <smile>
>
> If there are questions that any of us can answer, please let us know.  At 
> least in the past, blind wrestlers were not uncommon at all.  Most of the 
> schools for the blind
> used to have wrestling teams and most of those wrestled compettitively 
> against public schools.  In addition, I know of quite a number of blind 
> wrestlers who also
> wrestled in mainstream schools.  Some have gone on to wrestle in college 
> with some success, but the rules were different and there was not the 
> constant contact
> rule that exists in high school, unless this has changed, but blind 
> wrestlers worked around that.  I did not wrestle in college because I was 
> sick of watching weight to
> the degree that one has to in some cases.  Still, it is probably the 
> physical sport in which we can compete most equally.  These many years 
> later, I still feel I benefit
> from what I learned and developed regarding balance.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Steve Jacobson
>
> On Mon, 22 Feb 2010 21:19:17 EST, EMMOL at aol.com wrote:
>
>>
>>Becky,
>>My son wrestled in our local youth wrestling program during elementary
>>school & really enjoyed it.
>>He learned the moves as everyone else did. Sometimes when teaching a  new
>>technique they demonstrated it using Patrick. That way he was going 
>>through
>>it as well as getting the verbal. They all practiced with a partner. When
>>running their laps he ran with a friend. During meets, one of the coaches
>>walked  with him to the center of the mat. Constant contact was reviewed 
>>with
>>the opponent. All of the refs were familiar with the technique and it  was
>>never a problem. (I was more nervous than he ever was during matches!) 
>>What
>>a smile on that first win! Unfortunately it became more competitive in
>>Middle  School. He wasn't able to make weight. (He was always slight.) But 
>>he
>>continued to practice with the team.
>>
>>Eventually he gave up wrestling and concentrated on his golf which he had
>>started around the same time. He continues to golf, is a member of the
>>Junior  Blind Golf Assoc. and worked at a golf course this summer teaching 
>>golf
>>to kids.  He can't wait for the snow to melt so he can get out on the 
>>course
>>again!
>>Eileen
>>
>>Date: Sun, 21 Feb 2010 14:33:56 -0600
>>From: Becky Mondor  <beckym1027 at gmail.com>
>>To: "blindkid at nfbnet.org"  <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
>>Subject: [blindkid] Wrestling
>>Message-ID:  <87C2571B-AE1A-4F19-AC76-55620932B959 at gmail.com>
>>Content-Type:  text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed; delsp=yes
>
>>Hi  everyone,
>
>>My son Noah is 10 and would like to join the local youth  wrestling
>>league.  I know that this is a very popular sport for  many blind youth
>>because the two wrestling remain in contact with  eachother throughout
>>the match.  However,  this is where my  knowledge begins and ends!   I
>>was wondering if anyone else  has experience with this that could give
>>me some helpful tips for his  coach?  I am excited he wants to do
>>this,  it will be great  exercise and a chance for him to be a part of
>>a team sport.  I  just want to make it as successful as possible!
>>Thanks!
>
>>Becky in Indiana
>
>>Sent from my  iPod
>
>
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>
>
>
>
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