How She Found Confidence In Wrestling
By Aniah Tan
I remember the first wrestling tournament I attended, an individual scrimmage. I was so nervous while standing in the gym and looking around at all of the people who were waiting for their matches to start. Even though I had a small arsenal of go-to moves from the weeks of practices before, I still had little confidence in my abilities and was very nervous.
All of the other wrestlers looked so much stronger and experienced than I was. My mindset was “just don’t get pinned”. I didn’t even allow myself the chance to think I had a possibility at winning. My matches came up and although I lost all of them that day(besides a forfeit when one of my opponents did not show up). I walked off the mats with the biggest smile on my face. I had my first real taste of the sport and I couldn’t wait to go again, to try something different, and to get better.
I had my first real taste of the sport and I couldn’t wait to go again, to try something different, and to get better.
As time progressed, I started to win more and more of my matches against both boys and girls. My perspective changed to “how will I win” or “how will I pin my opponent”. By the time I was competing at states, I had my eyes set for placing as a first year and I knew I could do it if I truly wanted it more than the people I was going against.
With each match I won there, my faith in myself improved. I ended up placing 8th in my weight class and I was so proud of myself. This event in my wrestling career was definitely the most monumental moment because from then on I knew I could do even better next time.
My coaches already knew that I had the potential to compete and win, I just needed to find it within myself. Finding your confidence definitely takes time and hard work but the payoff is amazing when you finally see how much you’ve actually improved.
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