BackyarD Wrestling Club
Select Fridays 3-4pm and Saturdays 10-11am
Westminster Schools Wrestling Room in Turner Gym
Grades 2-8
Open to all schools
$25 per session
*USA Wrestling Membership required
*see below for membership instructions
Fridays: October 25, November 8 and 22, December 6 and 13, January 3, 10, and 24
Saturdays: October 26, November 2 and 9, January 4, 11, and 18
Welcome to Backyard Wrestling!
At the middle and elementary levels, we prioritize fun followed by learning the basic movements and pressures involved in wrestling and most every sport. Games like Spikeball abound to promote hand-eye coordination and agility, and mini-games break up wrestling instruction throughout.
Winning is great, but we’re the Backyard Dogs because I believe dogs (at least mine) have the right mindset towards wrestling: there’s never a winner, and there’s never a loser – it’s pure play. Our goal is to instill that attitude alongside sound technique and games.
Go dogs!
At the high school level, we focus on quality reps and the invaluable experience of live wrestling. In conversations with two longtime high school coaching legends with over 70 state titles between them, they each said Nike’s been right all along:
“Just do it.”
Get consistent reps, get comfortable on a wrestling mat, get in phenomenal shape by pushing yourself and your wrestling partner, and see where things shake out when you toe the line next time out.
It’s a simple recipe that works.
**For USA Wrestling Memberships
($42 one-time fee, ~$20 annual renewal)
1. Go to USA Wrestling’s Homepage – www.themat.com
2. Under the Memberships tab, select Login/Join
3. Create an account and profile for your wrestler
4. Go to Profiles, click blue Manage Profile button
5. Click on Get Memberships
6. Purchase/Renew an Athlete Membership
7. Select a Traditional Athlete Membership
8. Option to add the plastic membership card for $12
USA Wrestling governs wrestling clubs across the country in an effort to promote safe and reliable access to this phenomenal sport for beginners on up to Olympians. USA Wrestling provides Backyard with the insurance necessary to lease space in schools and delivers background checks and certifications for all coaches. Memberships protect everybody in the room to ensure our collective ability to compete and grow.
Coach Robert Friddell with Westminster wrestler Jack Polhemus circa 2019
Bio
Robert Friddell wrestled at Collegiate School in Richmond, Virginia and coached four seasons at The Covenant School in Charlottesville, Virginia while earning degrees in English and Religious Studies from University of Virginia. In 2021, he authored the book intangible on UVA’s Men’s Basketball program under Head Coach Tony Bennett. Coach Friddell spent the past eleven seasons as the Assistant Head Coach of Westminster’s varsity wrestling team, and he currently writes and lives in Atlanta with his wife, Laura, and two sons, Mac and Blair.
