It’s that time of the year again, folks. The high school wrestling season has officially started.
Hello and welcome back to Tyson’s thoughts, the only column around these parts that talks about all things going on here in the true North Island. I appreciate everyone continuing to read my thoughts over the years, it’s always nice when people stop me in person and say they really enjoy my work. I’m privileged to get to write about not just my hometown of Port Hardy, but also all of the surrounding areas here, and I hope everyone understands that.
With that little intro out of the way, let’s get down to business.
I’m excited to be back coaching wrestling at Port Hardy Secondary School for seventh year in a row (except for that one year during the pandemic where everything was shut down).
It’s always a good time getting to hangout with the youth, and I enjoy getting to teach them all the "deadly" techniques I have stashed in my arsenal. Freestyle wrestling is a very unique and challenging sport that you have to dedicate a lot of time towards practicing in order to get good at it.
It’s not just all about takedowns and pins, there’s a lot of strategy involved. For example, you have to know what stance to use in order to attack, when and how to defend, what techniques can be chained together, etc etc.
it’s a big learning curve, and when it comes to the majority of students, it takes them a bit of time before they really start to understand it, but once they learn what they are doing and how to execute their gameplan properly, it becomes the most fun physical chess match on the planet.
I look at every match as a puzzle that I need to figure out within six minutes or I’m going to end up having my shoulders pinned to the mat. No one wants to be pinned, but if you don't know how to defend yourself, getting pinned is what's going to happen.
Long story short, if you work hard and put the time in on the mats, you'll end up getting the results you want. Time will tell how the PHSS student athletes do this year in competition, but I know the ones who are dedicated to learning their craft are going to be the ones who excel.
Tyson Whitney is an award-winning journalist who was born and raised in Port Hardy. His family has lived in Port Hardy for more than 40 years. He graduated with a degree in writing from Vancouver Island University in 2008. Email: editor@northislandgazette.com
