What is the hardest sport to be a parent of?

Parents love watching their kids compete in sports, but it can at times be a harrowing experience.

At any level, from pee wee all the way to the professional level—the special connection, and intrinsic nervousness that a parent feels when watching her son or daughter perform cannot be matched by any other spectator experience. There is something about it, and you probably do have to experience it to understand it: the depth, substance, and meaning when you watch your own offspring compete.

Recently, I was thinking of what might be the hardest sport to be a parent of. I considered football with the inherent injury factor; hockey with its built-in physicality; the high dive in swimming (can’t imagine being a parent and the anticipation and nervousness of waiting while your kid is preparing to dive off the board); maybe being the parent of a goalie in hockey or soccer; or a pitcher in baseball; or how about a gymnastic parent watching your kid in mid-performance? All of the above are certainly nerve-tingling experiences I would think for any parent watching.

But for pure agony, for pain and grimace and body curdling uncomfortableness, I give my vote to the wrestling parents. Man do they go thru the ringer. Have you been to a match? First of all, the fans (parents in this case) sit right near the action. Wrestling events are usually not big fan attraction sold out events, so for instance, in a high school wrestling match the parents are typically sitting very close to the actual mat when the match is going on. Front and center with a good clear view of all the action.

Think about it then. They get to sit and see—up close and personal—as their kid is driven to the mat, face being squished, arm being twisted, fighting in agony to somehow gain advantage. Sweat pouring off, face grimacing, twisting and turning, and writhing in all levels of pain. Brutal for a parent and probably can’t be a whole lotta fun either for the kid fighting not to succumb to defeat.

I never had a child who wrestled (thank goodness), but I have gone to matches, and I have watched the parents and seen the look on their faces. The body language, the squirming in the seat, the occasional turning of the head and refusing to watch, and just the general agony of seeing your kid getting physically abused (legally) on the mat, tell me all I need to know.

Again, many worthy contenders here, but I can’t imagine a sport tougher to watch, for a parent, than wrestling.