Wrestling in Canada

Hello everyone,

I wanted to write an article about the Canadian way of life but I figured that Martha and Gabrielle have done it well so I don’t want to repeat what they said. So, today I am going to tell you about my experience as a member of a high school sport team. It all started 6 weeks ago, when I joined SRB’s wrestling team. I wasn’t the only one that joined the team at this time, Sacha and Martin, two other French exchange students came with me. My main reasons to join the team were that I would do some sport, which is one of the most important things in my life, but also being able to speak English to other people, and not literal English that we learn in class, but more of an everyday life English. So I went to practices on Mondays after school and on Fridays before school (I have to confess that it was a bit harsh to get up at 6 am and to walk in the cold) and it was so good for me to practice a total new sport in another language. During the practices I could see how wrestling is such a big deal in Canada, there were a lot of people and they were all different: there were some very good wrestlers (I even got to wrestle the Canadian champion), there were also rookies just like me and I was happy to see that everyone had a good mindset, when veterans were wrestling rookies, they didn’t go as hard as they could but they helped the rookie to get better, and this is exactly what this sport is about, respecting your opponent. So all these early Friday mornings led me to what was one of the things I loved the most, my first wresting tournament. My school went against two other ones for a little tournament and I was so glad that I was there. We left the school at noon and took a yellow bus (another Canadian experience to go to the other school) and left to go to Bell high school. When we got there, we had to go to the cafeteria where the mats were set up, we warmed up and checked who we would be wrestling. Here came a bit of a situation: I had no opponent, the guy I was supposed to wrestle wasn’t here that day. I was a bit mad to be completely honest but finally they found two other guys and I got the chance to wrestle in matches. All that to say that being in this wrestling club made me improve my English and do some exercise as I said earlier but most importantly, it allowed me to meet new people and make some friends and it was a wonderful thing to be on that team for 6 weeks.

Here are a few pictures of my wrestling experience:

When I am wearing my wonderful singlet, don't lie, I know you want one like this

Even though it is a respectful sport, tou sometimes get hurt, like now with a bit of blood on my shirt

And finally, a picture of me and Sacha (another exchange student) at the wrestling tournament

See you all very soon,

Bilal