Young wrestlers demonstrate “resiliency, grace, honour and respect” at Watermelon Wrestling Festival

Tim Brody - Editor

Thirty-two elementary students in grades 4- 8 took part in this year’s Warrior Wrestling Club which ran for five weeks, culminating in the Watermelon Wrestling Festival on April 26, followed by an opportunity to compete in the Lakehead Elementary Wrestling Tournament.
Running each spring since 2016, following their own wrestling season, members of the Sioux North High School Warriors Wrestling Team take elementary students under their wings as coaches for the young wrestlers in the club.
Sioux North High School Wrestling Coach Rob Sakamoto said it was another great year for the program, “I think very well, lots of laughter, smiling faces and of course wrestling!”
Commenting on this year’s Watermelon Wrestling Festival, which took place on April 26 at Sioux North High School, Sakamoto shared, “I think it went really well, I am so proud of the SNHS student coaches and mentors for stepping up and donating their time and expertise.  I am equally proud of these young athletes who had the courage to compete, and did so with resiliency, grace, honour and respect regardless of the outcome.  I also feel that fun was had by all!  And lastly, a big thank you to all the parents and spectators that came out to support the kids!”
This year’s Warrior Wrestling Club coaches were Mihtig Donnelly, Ethan McCord, John Burke, Evan Burch, Omi Sakamoto, Diya McCloud, Ricky Quedent, Cassius Angeconeb, Cassius Talifur, and Byan Ross
Levi Melnichuk, a former wrestler in the program, also assisted.
“Kids these days have a lot of adversity in their lives, it’s nice to see them find success on the mat and beyond,” Melnichuk shared.
Eleven members of the club recently competed in the Lakehead Elementary Wrestling Tournament in Thunder Bay on May 1.
Commenting on the Warrior Wrestling Club, Sakamoto shared, “The programs’ goal is to develop leadership and mentorship skills for high school coaches, to provide a free of charge, healthy afterschool activity for kids in grades 4-8, and to support student transition from elementary to high school (elementary students become comfortable being in the school and will have a student/teacher contact when they arrive in grade 9).  The primary premise is that “Sport at its best is a vehicle for character development, and resiliency”.
Sakamoto added, “My dad always told me sports are just a vehicle for character development and that’s my philosophy, it’s not so much about the wrestling, wrestling is there, but through wrestling kids can develop resiliency, morals, values, character and all the things that make good citizens, and that’s the real end goal,” he said. He further shared, “My dad, back in the day, had a grapefruit wrestling tournament. We wanted to make it less stressful, and not super competitive, so instead of saying tournament, it’s a festival. When I lived in Japan, they had athletic festivals all the time and who doesn’t love watermelons, they are healthy and a little special, so I thought it would be nice to give every kid a watermelon. My personal belief as well as the coaches, is that it takes courage just to step on the mat, so every kid that steps on the mat is a winner.”
Following that philosophy, both kids’ hands were raised at the end of each match in the festival.
“I would like to thank Fresh Market Foods for donating 40 watermelons, Fair Convenience and Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority for donating prizes, as well as the SNHS administration for their continued support.”