Pin N Win Wrestling….. Join A Team, Not A Gang!!!

The Pin N Win Youth Wrestling Association has partnered with Duval County Public Schools in their “Join A Team, Not A Gang” initiative. The focus for Coach Chris McNealy, Founder and CEO of Pin N Win is to help kids focus on the fundamentals of learning including reading, and writing, but also developing their athletic ability through achievement in wrestling. IMG_2251The mat is very different from the court, diamond or the field. An athlete’s individual achievement on the basketball court,baseball diamond or the football field very rarely influences the outcome of the game. But on the wrestling mat, an athlete has the opportunity to dictate the outcome of the match solely. Essentially all power to win rests in the youth’s individual performance. It’s what makes the sport very popular yet intimidating at the same time, as athletes must be in excellent physical condition to just compete. But Pin N Win Wrestling takes the intimidation factor away by training youth from the basic fundamentals of the sport. Youth have the opportunity to enter the club from the age of 5 yrs old to 18 yrs old. And no matter the age, no matter the athletic back ground, the kids can be reassured that they will be able to discover their strength within the sport of Wrestling. IMG_2252Senior Demontae Davis of Westside High School is a perfect example of this. After playing football he decided to join the wrestling team to simply occupy his time in the off-season. But Demontae would soon develop a passion for Wrestling and realize that he could go a lot further using a take down instead of a tackle.  Wyatt Leduke is in his third year of wrestling at Pin N Win. At nine years old he is one of the youngest in the club, but one of the more experienced and skilled. His father Paul has seen a big change in his son after joining Pin N Win. ”  We saw a sign a few years ago near our house and just decided to give it a try. From the start it took him a little while to get used to it, but I’ve seen a giant change. He wouldn’t talk or say much when he started at five years old, but now he talks, he has more confidence in himself, I mean every aspect of his life has changed”.

It’s changes like these which has Coach McNealy hoping other youth will take advantage of this unique opportunity, especially the younger kids. ” One of our primary focuses is from the age of five to fourteen years of age. None of the middle schools in Duval County have youth wrestling. So our focus is to have youth wrestling in the community outside of the school”. Pin N Win not only grants youth an opportunity to wrestle, but it also grants many youth the opportunity to change their lives.

For More Information Regarding Pin N Win visit PinNWin.com

 

About the author

Andre' Ellis, Founder/ Lead Writer DuvalSports.com Florida Times Union All-City 1998,LB, Sandalwood Florida A&M Unv, BA , MBA