The Next Season

JT started wrestling in 8th grade and I have since then come to realize that it’s as much a sport as it is a cult.  Our coaching staff is not of the old-school starve-yourself and sport-a-cauliflower ear variety, for which I’m enormously grateful.    In a state with a commitment to the sport, our team has a tradition of tough practices and an admirable team ethos.  Outside of practice, the team is closely-knit and there is a lot of laughter among the wrestlers.  It’s detracts from mat-burned faces, so I think that’s all to the good.

I’m told that there’s nothing like 6 minutes of grappling on the mat to show you what you’re made of.  As a mama who has watched her son battle through those 6 minutes, I’ve decided that I’ll let his example teach me the lesson.  Where cross country fans are a civilized cheer-everyone-on variety, wrestling has a more bloodthirsty fan base.  I’m gearing up to yell things like, “stuff the head” and looking forward to the inevitable moment of the season when T gives me a sidelong look as she sniffs the funky gym air and points out, “If you’d had a girl, we’d be watching basketball right now.”

Alas, we are wrestling moms instead.  Stuff the head!

Smack Talking and On the Move

JT's Senior season of country practice has begun.  The team runs its first race a week from today.  In hindsight, it’s not much of a surprise that JT has taken up this sport.  He was smack-talking from the get go.

He was at his happiest when he was left to run and plan.  He made everything a game.

He slowed on occasion.

His bike and a scooter were always welcome diversions.

He liked speed and would give anything a try.

For a kid who ran for hours and hours in our backyard and at every local park I could find, I guess that cross country is the obvious sport of choice.  This summer, the miles have piled up and I’m excited to see where they take him.  Bring on the Senior season!

Muddy Man-Child

Yesterday, JT and some of his cross country teammates, including his coach and some assorted friends of the team, joined one another for a local mud run.  He’s never participated in an event like this, but for a boy who grew up logging countless hours at local parks and playing in puddles, it was a fitting start to his final high school cross country season.  The race was a 5k, punctuated by 21 muddy obstacles.  The team started off clean but ended rather muddy.  JT ran the race with his buddies L and E.

At the final obstacle, there was no avoiding the mess.

They got right in it and triumphed.

After a wash in the outdoor showers, the racers celebrated their finish.

I was a spectator to the muddy spectacle, marveling at how much my kid loves a messy challenge and reflecting on the places I will travel to watch him race.

Senior season, here we come.