Making it happen

With a determined look and with all the grit a five-year-old can muster, a fresh-faced boy takes a few short steps, explodes through a weighted wrestling dummy and slams it hard to the ground.

Just another lesson in the art of the takedown learned.

On the opposite side of the room, a strongly-built eighth-grader grimaces as he pulls his father across the gym with a resistance-strap knotted around his waist.

Make no mistake about it, the 40 youngsters in the Yuba-Sutter Combat youth wrestling program are not here to play around. They're here to improve, and judging by the exhausted looks on their faces after practice, they work hard to get there.

"It's not an easy sport and it grinds on you, so there is a lot of attrition," said Yuba-Sutter Combat founder and head coach Jared Slack. "But once you wrestle, everything else in life is easier."

A standout football player and wrestler during his playing days at Sutter High, Slack cut his coaching teeth by guiding a high school team in Japan while serving in the Navy.

Once returning home from the service, he attended Yuba College and although he played for the 49ers' soccer team to pass the time, it was wrestling that was in his blood.

With his knowledge of the sport and a desire to give others an opportunity he didn't have when he was young, Slack started the program four years ago and went to work.

Since that time he has poured is heart and soul into it five days a week and eight months a year, and his passion for wrestling has rubbed off on the kids.

"I love the sport and I want the kids to be better than I was and take it to the next level," said Slack, who uses Sutter High's facilities for practices and tournaments. "I want to help get the kids into college and hopefully to the Olympics some day. That would be my dream."

Many adults share his passion for sports, but Slack is different than a normal volunteer coach one sees in youth sports from Little League to Pop-Warner.

He doesn't do it to make a profit. In fact, he spent much of his own money during the first few years. And although he charges $200 for a full eight-month season, nearly all of the money goes toward registration fees and some goes to gas money for weekend tournaments.

Even more astounding is the fact that he has never had a child in the program. When he leaves his job at the end of a busy day driving trucks for UPS, all he usually has time for is a quick bite to eat before heading off to lead a two-hour practice.

With practices four nights out of the week and tournaments held every weekend, it's rare to find someone who donates so much of their time for little or no compensation. He does it to make the kids better, and seeing his rugrats win on Saturdays is how he gets his reward.

"The money I make goes right back into the program," said Slack, who often pays top-notch collegiate coaches from Sacramento City College and UC Davis to instruct the class from time to time. "UC Davis is a D-1 program, so having one of their coaches come and help is out is pretty cool."

Slack's selfless way of giving back to the community is rare, but what parents rave about most is his ability to instruct and bring order to an otherwise chaotic room of rough-housing boys.

"I want the kids to take it to the next level, so you have to get their attention," Slack said. "Their attention-span is only seven to eight seconds for some, so you have to stay on them."

With music playing from a stereo in the corner of the room, the youths break up into partners and practice individually on a specific move or technique. As they work on the lesson, Slack works the room by observing each pair, stopping to give individual advice and tips whenever he sees the chance.

After a few minutes, he walks over to the stereo and turns it down before bringing the entire room together in a half-circle to be addressed. The kids quickly fall in-line and horse-play is relatively nonexistent.

"He's passionate about the sport and he gets all the kids to pay attention," said Frank Gildea, whose son, Jacob, has been in the program for three years. "But they don't have much of a choice, either. If we're loud, he'll point us out, too."

When Slack shouts out instructions, the kids stop and do it. The structure of the training sessions is remarkable when one considers the rambunctious nature of boys ranging from 5 to 14, especially ones who were choking each other just moments earlier.

"We have a lot of different age groups, so I try to make the practices different every night, so there's not a lot of repetition," Slack said of his training method. "Now we've built a program where the older kids teach the younger ones."

One of Slack's prize pupils is eighth-grader Chase Gildea.

A strongly-built 180-pounder, Gildea has a state title under his belt and has trained against Sutter High senior standout Austin Morehead at practice — he has the bruises to prove it.

"I like it because it's all on me, it's not based on a team," said Gildea, who has been in the program for four years. "It's an individual sport and it takes a lot of physical and mental toughness to do it."

With grapplers like Gildea leading the way, and with the words "Make It Happen" as the motto, Yuba-Sutter Combat has gained a reputation around Northern California, and today kids from Woodland, Orland, Chico and Grass Valley make the trip to Sutter to take part. And once the prep season ends, many high school wrestlers join the team to compete and help coach.

After a grueling practice session two weeks ago, Slack spoke to his team one last time and addressed the importance of controlling their emotions, win or lose.

"If you guys are working your hardest, there's no reason to cry — unless you get kicked in the face or something," he said, before asking them one final question. "What's the first thing you're going to do when you get home?"

In unison, the tired group answered back, "Take a shower," bringing laughter — and some relief — from the parents on hand.

It was just another day's work for the man who makes it happen.