NYAC

I was in New York City over the weekend for the annual NYAC Holiday tournament. USA Wrestling intended me to be a kind of fill-in for National Team coach Terry Steiner when they flew me out as Terry was not able to attend. Nevertheless, the trip provided me with some valuable opportunities. Three athletes whom I have been working very close with in recent months were set to compete against some mid-range competition. It was an opportunity for them to see, and me to scrutinize their newer skill sets as well as identify other trouble areas. Katie Downing, Sally Roberts and Randi Miller were my primary targets.

While my focus for the weekend was one of criticism and low-key evaluation, I left the tournament on Saturday with a slightly elevated sense of accomplishment and a pleasant perspective on the future. Downing won the title at 67kgs, Roberts won her title at 59kgs, and Miller upset Olympic silver medalist Sara McMann at 63kgs as she was crowned champion. More important than the wins themselves, "my" girls competed well, listened even better, and are clearly improving at a quicker rate than other girls at the OTC (or other places). Such developments are good for me, good for the sport of wrestling in the US, and, ultimately, good for Patricia.

Patricia will be back on the mat in early December. At that point, her trek back to top-flight form will begin anew. I will be with her nearly every step of the way as she tackles new challenges and tries to get as prepared as possible to become Olympic champion. I have been thinking, and am now saying aloud, that Patricia will bring a style and a fervor in a lethal combination of techniques that will be impressive to watch when she gets the chance to put her new wrestling on display. We have been working for some time to make Patricia monumentally better than she ever was before. For the most part, I have been the thought and she has been the uncompromising work ethic behind what will eventually be her final efforts on the mat in the upcoming year. However, my coaching decisions have historically been unproven. My craziest thoughts and designs for Patricia's wrestling are little more than unsubstantiated theories guided by my, perhaps, unjustified belief in myself as a coach. Perhaps, in future posts I will explain the roots of my confidence as they are quite interesting to me. For now, let's simply say that I do have this confidence that drives me and steadies my faith in my instinct-- which, in turn, allows me to make bolder moves with a steadier hand.

But, I think, in New York over the weekend, validation began to materialize in the form of three hard-fought championships. Katie, Sally, and Randi all have drastically different styles from one another. I find it reassuring that I am able to help each without imposing a single-minded style on all. Furthermore, the solutions that I have helped generate are inventive, bold, and being implemented rather quickly. None of these girls, nor I, believe that winning the NYAC tourney is a major achievement, but I saw things during the course of the event that tell me we are all on the right track. When Patricia gets back on the mat in just over two weeks, she will get back on her track. With a renewed confidence based on some positive feedback, I will dump my efforts into pushing Patricia back into the forefront of the chase for Olympic gold. For mounting reasons, I believe she will get quite comfortable, and permanent, there.

(***Quick shoutout to my friends in NY who also helped make my weekend quite memorable as I celebrated a great weekend.***)

-Levi

Chair races and moving forward

Hoy, friends of the dream...

Patricia has cleared another hurdle in her quest to return to top flight form. We have now moved approximately half her time in the Sports Medicine room to the Strength and Conditioning gym. Besides the weight room being geographically closer to the wrestling room on the OTC campus, her new and extensive weight program is closer in form and function to wrestling. Have no fear; Patricia will continue her 9 hours + refining her new ACL and supporting structures as well as chiseling out her body to competition size and shape. Now, however, the majority of her time will be away from the doctors and those bent on slowing and confining her natural modus operendi that seeks to advance outside the industry acceptable rate. Stay tuned, she will be back on the mat in very short order--likely a full month before schedule.

To help Patricia bear the somewhat arduous mental strain of doing physical therapy down in Sports Medicine (up to 5 hour/day in the past), I stopped by to chat and perhaps inject some fun into her routine. True to her nature, Patricia jumped at the novelty and set up a "vehicle" race between her and me. Propelled by unitlateral hamstring or quad output, we motored little wheeled stools round and round the carpeted exam area. It, perhaps, wasn't as thrilling as a Johnson/Gorden dual, but there was something Nascaresque about the way we slammed each other into the walls and had to make pit stops occasionally when a bump in the track would leave our equipment without wheels or unfortunately upended. For the record, I lost most of the races. As usual, I was graceful in defeat and showed my respect for her scooting ability by kicking over my chair and calling her a "goddamn cripple." Patricia just smiled the same grin she always portrays when the refs raise her hand at the end of a wrestling match.

Finalist...but don't get your hopes up

Hello all-- bit of news here-- Patricia and I just found out that I have been selected as one of four finalists to be named as the official Olympic team coach for the Beijing Olympics (for women's wrestling). There are four coaches named that vie for the 1-2 spots. The other finalists are 5x World Champion Bill Scherr, Oregon State wrestling coach and NCAA Champion Troy Steiner, and Tadaki Hatta. The final selection will be made in a few weeks after a few rounds of telephone interviews.

Quick word-- don't get your hopes up... While it is flattering to be selected as a finalist for the Olympic team position, the committee holding power had little choice but to include me in the final four because I have strong support from the resident team in Colorado. However, I have few allies on the Coach's selection committee, and the politics are staggering. Suffice to say, I am not optimistic that I will get to be the US representative for this position. I'll keep you posted.