First and foremost, this is our most energetic, athletic and co-operative group of wrestlers thus far. All the Coaches are extremely excited and impressed with the level of enthusiasm, attentiveness and eagerness for the sport. 

As you may know, we break our team up into two groups; Elite and Mighty Mites.

Elite is generally made up of 5 – 8^th graders who are expected to compete in all dual matches and some weekend tournaments. Since they are older and more mature, we will challenge them physically; establish a good base and move toward more complicated moves with some select core strength training and cardio. We will also focus on team building, leadership and self confidence.  Practice attendance is crucial since we cover new skills each night.  Our first Dual Match will be against Ridgefield Youth Wrestling on Thursday Dec 17^th. Full schedule is available on newcanaanwrestling.com.

Our Might Mites are generally made up of K – 4 grades. We use a technique called “games theory” to organically teach them general techniques and skills.   We go about this through a group of very patient coaches who expose them to fundamental moves and skills without losing their interest in the smaller details of the skills. This theory is recommended by our National Organization, USAW. 

Some parents have voiced concern that 3 nights a week is too much for some Mighty Mites, so we have made Thursday nights optional for all Mighty Mites.  Additionally, all our Elite Dual Matches fall on Thursday nights so we will not be holding Mighty Mite practice at all on those Thursdays, consult the web site schedule for details.

As the season progresses, the coaches will recommend that some 4^th graders train with the elite group. There will be opportunities for these select Mighty Mites to compete as long as you, as parents approve.

We will be sending out an email each week updating everyone on issues or schedule changes. These bulletins will also be posted on newcanaanwrestling.com along with driving directions to matches and New Canaan High School Wrestling News, results, schedules and standings.

By Monday, we will also publish our list of Tournaments we plan on attending. Tournaments are great places for wrestlers to gain experience. On average, most kids will get at least 4 matches. Competition is broken down by age, weight and experience (select beginner tournaments). NCYW pays all tournament fees. More on Tournaments later. 

For safety sake, we believe in a very tightly controlled environment. Since this is a full contact sport, we must supervise all live wrestling very closely. We also insist that there is no horse play in the room and most importantly that all wrestlers wear headgear any time they are drilling or live wrestling. Your support in these policies would be greatly appreciated.