When Your Players Are not With You

I dropped off two of my wrestlers at Jeff Jordan’s State Champ Camp Sunday evening up in Urbana, Ohio.  It’s a tough camp!  The kids go hard against great competition for four full days.  It requires total courage, total patience, total focus, total perseverance….and as much help as you can get!

Earlier in the summer I stayed with my wrestlers when we attended, so I could help them, personally, through the week, but this time I was going back to Cincy and would not be there to motivate them.  As I drove Moges and David up to Urbana, I thought, “How can I help these guys, even though I won’t be here?”  I came up with a few things.  I think these things helped my guys this week and might be an aid to others who want to “encourage” loved ones when they are away from your personal care.

1. The first thing I did was talk to both my guys, individually.  I told them one-on-one, that they could do this week.  They had the strength, they had ability to make it.  We went over goals, what they needed to focus on, and I tried to convince them to enjoy themselves.  This camp was about getting better and just by being there, they were getting better.  Relax and enjoy the experience!

2. The second thing I did was talk to the coaches at Jordan.  I enlisted their help.  I explained to them that I wanted my guys to really push themselves.  Could the coaches make sure my guys pushed themselves?  Could they “watch over” them?  I needed people looking out for Moges and David, encouraging them when they were struggling, praising them when they were performing.

3. Thirdly, I decided I would pray for the guys.  I would ask God every day to watch over them.  Give the guys fortitude, courage, perseverance, faith, patience, etc…  I would not ask God once, or twice.  I must pray for the guys, UNCEASINGLY.  I would pray in the morning, I would pray in the afternoon and I would pray in the evening.

4. Finally, I decided I must sacrifice and suffer with Moges and David.  They would suffer this week.  They would have doubts, they would hurt, they would want to quit.  God let me participate in their suffering to help them through it.  This way, it would be like I was at camp with them.  So I got up and ran Monday morning, Tuesday morning and Wednesday morning.(I will get up and run tomorrow morning too!)  The runs were tough but I felt good about it.  

Then, WHAM!, God decided to really give me some suffering, He decided my leaky kitchen faucet needed to be replaced.  After 24 hours and $500, the faucet and kitchen sink were replaced by my wife, ( Krista), me and friends Jeff Sweeney and Craig Filipkowski.  If you know anything about me, I have no idea how to fix anything around the house and I don’t like parting with money that we don’t have, boy what suffering!  But God helped us through it and I KNOW that it helped Moges and David.  I can only imagine the pain they went through!

I can’t wait to see the guys tomorrow on their last day, to find out how they conquered the week.  I want to see the glow in their eyes, the confidence in their voices, the poise in their step.  I know they will have grown as men, I know they will have done something difficult and succeeded.  I know they will be more ready the next time they have a difficult challenge.  And I know that I helped them through the whole ordeal.  What a joy!  May God grant you the same opportunity!

Coach Willertz

Winton Woods Wrestling:  Wisdom is gained only through suffering!

“Character is what you do when nobody is watching”