Late Bloomers

It's no secret some athletes develop at different stages of their youth or high school careers, both physically and mentally. Others just need a chance. 

That's why the sports world — including wrestling — is full of athletes known as late bloomers. The kid who suddenly puts it all together and exceeds previous results and expectations. Every program/club/team in the country has a late bloomer in the group right now — they just might not know it yet.

"Stick with it," says Mike Clayton, Manager of USA Wrestling’s National Coaches Education Program. "There are literally thousands of stories like Brandon Slay’s, where he was pinned in every match his first year in the sport and went on to win an Olympic Gold as well as serve as a coach for so many others working to reach their own goals." 

There's also stories like Andrew Nadhir at Northwestern University. From Bloomfield Hills, MI, and Detroit Catholic Central High School, Nadhir competed for the Wildcats and Coach Drew Pariano from 2007-2011. In high school Nadhir never placed higher than 4th at the state tournament. But it was the intangibles that impressed Pariano, and helped him get the opportunity to compete for an NCAA Division I program in the Big Ten Conference where he became a 149-pound All-American in 2011 after a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia. Nadhir's college win-loss record went like this:

·       Freshman: 10-18

·       Sophomore: 14-12

·       Junior: 24-12

·       Senior: 34-8 

"Andrew was not even close to a top 200 recruit coming out of high school," said Pariano, now a Recruiting Coach with Next College Student Athlete (NCSA), the world’s largest and most successful college athletic recruiting network. "I went to senior nationals to recruit Andrew. What I observed was a kid that wrestled extremely hard for six minutes straight, or seven or eight if needed. In the stands after he was eliminated from the tournament, I observed his disdain for losing. In addition, I noticed that he was processing the losses and thinking about how he could improve. My advice is to show your true colors to coaches during the recruiting process. Believe me, they will be observing you on and off the mat so be yourself because you are embarking on a four-or five-year coach/athlete partnership."

Jim Harshaw was also a late bloomer at the University of Virginia. Now an Executive Life Coach and speaker, Harshaw earned an 8th place finish at the 1999 NCAA Championships to earn All-American honors. He was also a four-time NCAA qualifier and three-time ACC champion for the Cavaliers.  

"I was a late bloomer," said Harshaw. "It forced me to rely on technique because the strength wasn’t there. When the strength came, I surpassed many of my peers. I never placed in high school but got on the podium at NCAAs."

Travis Daugherty is the head boys’ basketball coach at Mount Vernon High School in Fortville, Indiana and the author of Raising a Champion Athlete & Man in Today's Myopic World and Hidden Talent: Uncovering What Really Makes a Champion a Champion. Daugherty says late bloomers: 

·       Embrace early on the reality of the improvement process and

·       Include facing and working to overcome struggles/challenges in their definition of fun.

"Both are critical to future success, but hard to develop in a front-runner," says Daugherty.  

Some people call them late bloomers. Clint Wattenberg likes the term "whispering talent."

"Young athletes all develop at their own rate and as a coach it is critical to focus on helping athletes develop the attributes that lead to success in the long-run," says Wattenberg, Director of Nutrition for the UFC Performance Institute and a former USA Men's Freestyle National Team member. "Late bloomers — or whispering talent — require extra patience, time, and mentoring in order to not lose these athletes to attrition." 

Late bloomers are also inherently tenacious and able to bounce back from setbacks, and learn to persevere and prevail in the long run, says Wattenberg.

And late bloomers eventually find success because they have developed these traits over time, says Wattenberg: 

1. A passion for the sport

2. Community and safe space to try and fail

3. A willingness to attempt without fear of failure

4. Technical mastery

"All of these critical factors support young athletes developing a healthy passion for wrestling," says Wattenberg, former Head Coach and Director of the Finger Lakes Wrestling Club in Ithaca, NY and current Head Coach of Panthers Youth Wrestling in Las Vegas. "Focusing on these (and countless other) non-win/loss metrics, coaches can reinforce behaviors and activities that focus on personal and athletic growth. This growth mindset can benefit all athletes, but pays even further dividends for those who take longer to develop." 

Good coaches understand that every program has late bloomers ready to emerge. Developing these wrestlers over time is crucial to the sport.

"Youth programs that focus on tournaments, records, and win/loss success will inevitably drive away the whispering talent that requires much more time and patience to develop," says Wattenberg. "Programs that focus on the process of learning, having fun, team/community, and building technique from the ground up provide space for those that aren't blessed with innate competitive traits but rather the need to grow into these skills." 

Parents and coaches need to look beyond wins and losses as the barometer for success or failure. Instead, focus on the USA Wrestling mission statement, which reads: “USA Wrestling, guided by the Olympic Spirit, provides quality opportunities for its members to achieve their full human and athletic potential.”

Asking athletes this question can help serve as a reminder to the greater benefits of wrestling — beyond wins and losses: What do you want out of life — not just wrestling? 

"This question helps athletes learn that their identity and the qualities they will learn through sport go way past single legs and headlocks," says Clayton. "Mentors and leaders through our sport teach so many skills, like USA Wrestling's 7 Core Values:

·       Responsibility

·       Integrity

·       Dedication

·       Honesty

·       Accountability

·       Respect 

·       Diversity 

"We all win and lose from time to time, the great part of our sport is that with great leadership, we learn the skills to become great humans," says Clayton. “If we as coaches and parents forget about the human potential aspect of this mission, we are short-cutting our athletes experience with our great sport."

For about every quarter inch a child grows before adolescence, their neurological system must completely rewire, says Clayton. That means that if an athlete learn agility, coordination, and balance and then hits a growth spurt, they have to retrain their system again based on the new physical characteristics caused by growth.  

This is why USA Wrestling does not recommend weight management for competition at ages below 14 & Under.

"Our kids need to grow, learn the skills, and develop a love for this tough sport," says Clayton. "Once the growth spurt slows, our athletes can then really see the gains from all of the training and time they’ve invested. It isn’t a waste of time, it is just important to realize that the more kids are growing, the more “off” their physical attributes will be until growth spurts slow/stop." 

Every city/state/tournament features kids who are physically more dominant than their peers, especially at the youth level.

"We often see kids winning at young ages because they grew faster than other kids or had more physical strength," says Clayton. "Many of those physically mature kids lose enjoyment from the sport as other kids catch up with them (physically and emotionally)." 

Those struggling to find their way in the sport should find different ways to develop their wrestling maturity, says Pariano. For example, a 5-4 loss to a talented, state-ranked wrestler should not break a wrestler, or result in thoughts that one failed. Instead, use it as a learning opportunity, and focus on what needs to be done next time to defeat that wrestler, or other wrestlers along the way.

"I think late bloomers in wrestling are difficult to predict," says Pariano. "Think about this, when you are cutting weight, is it enhancing your wrestling or detracting from your skill development? I believe a late bloomer could be someone who just lets their body grow naturally. So if you are trying to hold down 182 for your senior season, contemplate going up to 195, because virtually every college coach in the nation is searching for an excellent 197 pounder." 

USA Wrestling has developed a new Coaching Philosophy Builder course (offered through membership at usawmembership.com).

"Knowing your philosophy as a coach will help ensure that we don’t overlook these young people who might need wrestling, right now, more than wrestling might need them," says Clayton.  

Remember, says Clayton: “Success at an early age is no predictor for future success. Similarly, lack of success at early ages is also not an indicator that the athlete lacks the ability to be successful. Think long-term and see how much more fun kids have at practices and how much more fulfilling coaching can be for our leaders."

USAW Long Term Athlete Development Poster