[blindkid] wrestling
Steve Jacobson
steve.jacobson at visi.com
Wed Feb 24 01:08:17 UTC 2010
Heather,
While you probably are making some realistic points here, I would think it would be worth exploring with a local school.
A cooperative coach would certainly help, but working with a williing wrestler might also be an approach to fill in some of
the gaps and be an option for an uncertain coach to consider. A school for the blind should not be a requirement for
this. There are additional problems with home schooling involved, I recognize that, though, and wish you success..
Best regards,
Steve Jacobson
On Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:12:33 -0500, Heather wrote:
>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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