Olympic wrestler’s clinic gratifying for kids, coach
BY DAN STRUMPF Staff writer
Lucky for Naoki Yamaguchi, Kerry McCoy was just giving a lesson when he grabbed Naoki’s arm, hooked his hand under his left calf and started charging.
Naoki, 17, was on his way to the mat when the hulking two-time Olympic wrestler retreated and turned to the crowd.
“And then you finish it from there,” Mr. McCoy told them.
Mr. McCoy, who placed fourth at the 2004 Olympics and is now head wrestling coach at Stanford University, spent two hours Monday teaching wrestling to campers at the J Robinson Wrestling Camp at the University of Scranton.
The five-day camp hosted 80 kids, ages 8 to 18, at the Byron Recreation Center. Campers came from across the Northeast.
Mr. McCoy ran a fast-paced lesson. He pulled campers from the audience to demonstrate a technique, then paired them up to practice. Mr. McCoy and other counselors floated around, offering pointers and advice, until the process was repeated with a new move.
Naoki, who wrestles for his high school in Darien, Conn., said he was winded as the afternoon went on. But he was learning, he said.
“What he tells you works in a real match,” Naoki said.
Teaching a group of kids from such a broad age range is challenging, Mr. McCoy said.
You have to teach moves that they can all learn.
But he gets around this problem by sticking to the basics and “covering everybody that’s included,” he said. At the end, it’s a gratifying experience.
“The most rewarding thing is when you say, ‘OK, this is how you do this technique,’ and they don’t get it, then don’t get it, and then ” it clicks,” Mr. McCoy said.
About 14 wrestlers from Abington Heights High School attended the camp. David Potts, 16, who wrestles for Abington Heights, thinks the team will be that much better from the experience.
“I learned a ton of new moves here,” David said.
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