TAKE 5 with USA Wrestling's Whitney Conder

It's exciting to watch our children excel at the sports they love. Working hard toward a personal best or perfecting a specific technique are critical to success, but let’s also remember that playing multiple sports can be tremendously beneficial in the long run – and a lot of fun for our kids.

Branching out from just one sport offers youth athletes both physical and mental benefits, from enhancing current skills to learning to appreciate the new skills required by a different sport.

Liberty Mutual Insurance Responsible Sports sat down with USA Wrestling standout Whitney Conderto get her thoughts on playing multiple sports.

In our exclusive TAKE 5 interview, Whitney told us that growing up, shenot only wrestled, but also played volleyball and competed in track, cross country and gymnastics. Whitney said that she took several skills from these various sports and effectively applied them to her wrestling career.

“Cross country helped me with my endurance, and helped me know I could push harder,” said Whitney. “Track helped me with my quick bursts with my shots in wrestling. Volleyball helped me with my stance. Then gymnastics helped me with my flexibility and strength in wrestling, and to control my body better.”

Whitney also shared her story of how, when and why she decided to specialize in wrestling in this exclusive interview. She added that she currently enjoys dabbling in some rather unconventional sports to supplement her wrestling training and competition.

“I do rock climbing and break dancing,” said Whitney. “They help me with my grip and ties. Rock climbing helps with my grip strength, then break dancing helps me control my body and be able to move it quickly, in different ways or positions. When I wrestle, I am able to move my body and get out of positions – even when I may think it will be very hard to get out of. I can control my movement better because of (break dancing).”

To read the full TAKE 5 interview with Whitney, visit ResponsibleSports.com. And come back next month for another exclusive TAKE 5 interview!

At Liberty Mutual Insurance, we constantly look for ways to celebrate the countless acts of responsibility shown by people every day. We created Responsible Sports, powered by Positive Coaching Alliance, as part of this belief to help ensure that our kids experience the best that sports have to offer in environments that promote and display responsibility. We believe kids can learn valuable life lessons when coaches and parents come together to support winning on and off the mat.

©2014 Liberty Mutual Insurance Company