Youth Friendship Games Holland

rjwigger · Joined: 23 Jul 2007 Posts: 1

Anyone have any information about the wrestlers? Or information about the people to people athletes from the US?

gamom · Joined: 20 Jul 2008 Posts: 18

i have a 13 year old in the 119 weight class, who is there participating from Georgia.

baizefamily · Joined: 21 Jul 2008 Posts: 11

Hi gamom, my 11 year old son Jesse is also competing, however he will be in the 138 (i hope) weight class. He weighed 142 when we put him on the plane Saturday. This was pretty scary for our family, sending our baby to a foreign country with strangers!! He was so excited to go though, has really been looking forward to it. He called us Sunday afternoon, really sounded exhausted. He flew from Louisville, KY to Minneapolis, MN then on to Amsterdam. What route did your son take? Do you know how many kids from the USA are wrestling?

gamom · Joined: 20 Jul 2008 Posts: 18

Alex says that there are 15 in his age and weight group. Being from Georgia, he had a direct flight from Atlanta to Holland. Don't feel bad about being upset about him traveling alone, everyone in the airport was laughing at me while i cried as he got out of my sight. He's my only child and I have never flown before so i was really worried. Alex says things are great over there and I hope that Team USA kicks butt and takes names while we are there. Good luck to the 11yr and 13 yr old groups and to all of TEAM USA

baizefamily · Joined: 21 Jul 2008 Posts: 11

thanks gamom for writing back. I held my tears in until we were almost home, which is about 2 hours from airport. Then, look out!!. My eyes were still swollen in church the next morning. Jess has not contacted us since that first time :cry: . I am sure everything is going well. I am kind of worried about him losing his wallet. I have checked his visa gift card he took and nothing has been put on it. they say no news is good news, but I dont know about that anymore. Maybe whover came up with that didnt have their child across an ocean!! Oh well, there is nothing to do but hope he calls soon. I really hope the team does well over there. Jesse has been training with our wrestling club, weightlifting, and going to camps over the summer. Go TEAM USA!!

Tysmom · Joined: 23 Jul 2008 Posts: 18

My 16 yo is wrestling i believe 160lbs, although he is below that now. He always drops about 5 lbs a practice, always has. He was 167 when he left. We are from Illinois. He said there is about 40 wrestlers from the Us. Even though he is 16 i am still nervous about him being so far away. We have been communicating through e-mail. we did talk to him on that first day but due to the time change and difference it is hard for them to call. I have not seen any charges on his card either, i would not worry about that. Did you send him with some Euros also ?? He may be using those instead of charging. He said the practices are tough but he is having a good time and the coaches are cool . I am not sure how they are doing the practices if they seperate groups or what. I am sure they do not hav e 16 yo practicing with the little guys but they may be in the same room. i would be happy to ask about your guy if you would like to message me with his name as soon as I figure out the message system here. lol

gamom · Joined: 20 Jul 2008 Posts: 18

Welcome to the convo Tysmom... Alex says the practices are broken down by age group. So where Ty may have 40 in his age group, Alex only has 15 boys in his group from the USA. I checked the website and Jessie and Alex should be in Group A so they should be practicing together. Tysmom, i hope your son's group does well also.

I found out today that the guys are in their hotel at 4pm est each night. If you have cellphones, call and check on getting the international calling plan for a month, for Verizon and Sprint users the cost is only 4.99 a month and they will allow a one month usage. Then for Verizon it is .99 a minute to call them and for Sprint it is only .08 a minute. This is a great option if you are needing to hear their voice. If you need the number to the hotel, i have the number available. *yes, i miss my son horribly and have to hear from him each and every day*

Tomorrow is "Opening Ceremonies" and then the games begin. GO USA!!!!

Tysmom · Joined: 23 Jul 2008 Posts: 18

We have vonage and got a v phone before he left . you plug it in the a computer usb port , It has headphones almost like a hands free device. a keypad pops up and you can type in a number to dial. He called home on it the first night and he sounded like it is in the next room. Since it is run through the computer there is no additional charge it is like dialing a 815 to 815 number. I also added international to our vonage plan for 6.99 a month. 6 cents a min. i was told the older boys (16 up) get a little more freedom as long as they are in groups.

aparently they went to a old church today built in 1513. Ty said it was cool.

How long have your boys been wrestling ?? Mine has been wrestling for 7 years.

Where did you find more info on the p2p wrestling. i have not been able to find any.
Have a good night and i am sure the boys are having a great time. Hang in there moms. ((( hugs )))

gamom · Joined: 20 Jul 2008 Posts: 18

Tysmom,

I clicked on the link at the top of the page that says wrestling, then clicked the Tournament Regulations. This gave me some more information. I am hungry for information about what is going on over there and not wanting to question everything that is going on with Alex while he is there, I turn to the website for more info. I scour it daily looking for whatever info I can find.

We were told during our last meeting that the kids 15 and older could travel in groups of 4 with an adult, but those 14 and younger were in groups of 2 plus an adult at all times.

Alex has been wrestling for 6 years and loves it. Alex wrestles for his school and for a private club as well as the USA club we have in our town. Our only problem with the USA club is that this is the last year that he can wrestle with them, they don't do the older kids wrestling after they get out of Schoolboy age. As long as he wants to wrestle, I will find a venue for him to participate. I'm happy that this is something that he enjoys as I have found that he has grown as a person in this sport, growing in a way that only kids involved in extracurricular activities can grow. (And it keeps him off the couch and not playing video games, lol)

Hope you hear from your kids soon.

Shannon

baizefamily · Joined: 21 Jul 2008 Posts: 11

thanks ladies. I just posted about an hour ago, but I dont think it went through, so forgive me if it does and I repeat myself. jesse called me at work yesterday (tuesday) and we talked for a little while. He said he is training hard and is very sore. My husband called and talked to him last night right b4 he went to bed. He said he is having a good time. He told our daughter that 2 kids from the basketball group got sent home for going into a store they were not supposed to. This could be a rumor, idk. He says that he weighs 132 now, which would be a 10 pound loss from when he left. Perhaps our scales are wrong, which would mean I weigh 10 pounds less, yeehaw!!!
Jesse has wrestled for 3 years altogether and he really enjoys it. He is really athletic and very competitive. He has always been tall for his age and very solid, so he usually has an edge over other kids he wrestles. I agree with you, gamom, that as long as they are involved, they are not laying around.
He told me they were going on a bike tour today to visit a wooden shoe and cheese factory. that should be interesting. This is their rainy season over there, so I hope he remembers to take his rain poncho. I thank you both for sharing and I'll relay any info I get. Have a great day!!

Tysmom · Joined: 23 Jul 2008 Posts: 18

I am glad you talked to your son. It is nice talking to you gals kinda makes me feel a little connected. Thats whats great about the wrestling community. It is like one big family.

Ty said they went to a church yesterday. he said the floor was graves and the tour guide lifted up one and showed them bones. he said it was cool but kinda gross. lol 16 yo mentality.

This is his first freestyle adventure. he has always done folkstyle. He does not care for greco too much so we shall see what he thinks about freestyle.

I know that the group leader told all of the p2p kids in the meetign that they have a zero tollerance policy. No alcohol or drugs. No clothing with either of those on them. He did say they can buy clothing with both on them but they were not allowed to wear them. He said they would have no problem sending them home .

They were in Haarlem today Ty used his atm card . At least we can track them that way . lol

Have a great afternoon

baizefamily · Joined: 21 Jul 2008 Posts: 11

just talked to jesse, cant wait to get the bill on these collect calls! we were told to have him buy an intl phone card when he got over there, but I think he is too scared to ask anyone to help him. We were also told that the hotel would take care of his laundry needs, but he told me he just washed his polo shirt in the shower, rolled it up in a towel and stomped on it. Oh well, whatever works. I guess he and his roommate were not clicking so well, so Jesse got woke up last night and was moved to a room next door with two other boys closer to his age. He said he is getting along better with them. His weight is now 136, but official weigh in will be tomorrow. They took a bike tour today, visited a cheese factory(which he said was yuck) and went to a shoe factory. I told him to ask a grown up about shipping his purchases home, he doesn't know about things like that. Thats all I know for now, tata for now.

Tysmom · Joined: 23 Jul 2008 Posts: 18

It may cost quite a bit for Jesse to ship his purchases home. As long as he has not bought anything super huge it should be ok. If he has bought a lot have him check into buying another bag, backpack etc. Technically you can check 2 bags and have a carryon and a back pack per airline regs.

Have Jesse talk to his leader. Maybee he can help him out.

When I called the hotel they said they have laundry send out but it is probably expensive. At the p2p meeting they said the best bet was to have the kids wash in the bathroom. lol at stomping on the shirt. That is exactly what any boy would have done.

Laundry was my concern too beign that wrestling was a dirty smelly sport. we sent a ton of clothes and told ty to make sure he kept the dirties in a ziploc bag separate . You know how boys are they sniff and if it smells ok they will wear it again. lol

gamom · Joined: 20 Jul 2008 Posts: 18

i went to our local Dollar General and purchased an international calling card, then emailed Alex the number to call home on and the pin number. (You have to call the card customer service and get them to give you the number, its a 0800 number vs a 1800 number, but they will tell you how to do it. i know that for me calling him from my cellphone is just .08 a minute with my international calling plan, so i have been calling him at 10pm his time. This is cheaper for me and he doesn't have to go through the hassle of dialing out.

Alex has never wrestled freestyle prior to this either, but he says he is loving it.

i packed an extra bag since wrestlers don't have "gear bags", this was so he would have a bag to bring home his purchases in.

Alex loved the bike trip, the shoe factory and the cheese factory.

i think that Jesse is in Alex's age group. Alex told me today that he was one of the oldest in his group and that he was with the youngest group. That would be group A. I will tell Alex to find Jesse and try to help him out if Jesse needs some help. Tell Jesse to find Alex (William Davis) if he needs some help. i know Alex will be glad to help out if he can.

Tysmom · Joined: 23 Jul 2008 Posts: 18

I did see the general inof on the site. I thought maybee there was some more specific info. It is hard to not know what is going on . We are so involved in our kids sport. Oh well noone said I was a patient person. lol

I asked Ty to e-mail me his room number I am going to try and call him. he is sounding a little home sick or more like he misses his girlfriend. UGH . He said it is not easy to get to a phone or on a computer to call us with the time change.

Have a great night everyone