Sportsfan02,

I have a few issues with your comment above....

1. Waiting until Nov meeting could result in a less than stellar turn out for the tournament this summer from KS wrestlers. I am fairly confident that this is the last thing we want to have happen.

2. When we discussed this at the Nov meeting this year it wasn't really discussed in my opinion. We talked a little bit about it and then it was decided to table it for the Executive session. I do not feel confident that the majority of the clubs or representatives at the meeting really got to contribute their thoughts. This is not meant to be a slam on anyone or the process, it's just the way it was.

If we are going to wait until next year to re-address the issue then I recommend the districts put it on their agenda for the district meetings. That way the districts can vote on it and then at the state meeting more clubs will feel represented.

I agree with 24/7 in that the decision has been made and we will deal with it. However, as I stated in my ealier post (before the vote), I will have a hard time strongly enocuraging maximum participation from the kids in our club. I will tell them that it is availabe but if parents ask me for a recommendation on whether to go to a college camp or spend their money on the southern plains I will have to recommend the college camps.

I still think it is a shame that we will lose participation in the tournament because of the camp requirement. I'm sorry, but I still don't understand the justification for the requirement.

Shawn Budke

With this being the requirement and this State group not listening to the population and as stated that they do not want to make this an issue about money I guess you get it some and possible a lot as this group likes it, will not go or compete and then if they like they do not want to make as I stated before about money will they provide for the dads and moms who have to drive out to Hays you said its not about money I would need gas, Hotel, food oh yea and then some hey you said it not me. I will turn in all expensed item as they like hey they can’t take and take and take list how the VOTE went why not .

A few more questions.

First, can a Kansas kid sign up through a Missouri team??

Do wrestlers from other states have to go to similar camps in their own states to be able to attend the tournament?

What were the reasons for keeping the requirements? They were not really stated on this thread.

And, finally, just wondering where in the bi-laws or else where is the authority to make this requirement?

I really enjoyed the Southern Plains Regionals in Hutchinson last year. Too bad we probably won't attend this one. I guess we can save the money and hit a Purler camp or something. Like I said earlier in a post on this, we have good camps a lot closer to home.

I have not had a chance to read all of the post on Southern Plains but I would like to let you to enter the Southern Plains tournament the cost is 50.00. Make note the camp I believe is 150.00 and it does enter your wrestler into the tournament. (There could be a price reduction for the camp) Give it a chance we will benefit from this.

Here is a recent question I asked? And still not clear as to how this could be mandated if there have not been any clear and concise rules, regulations, bylaws DOCUMENTATED stating this point. USAWKS Rules do not have this listed anywhere, Hey I know that summer wrestling makes winter champions. We need to open this up and make it an all comers tourney.
NOT IN FAVOR OF A MANDATED CAMP
MANDATED CAMP
This is the first year for this concept.
So if this Executive Council wants me to wear a Pink shoe on the left foot and a Green shoe on the Right at Southern Plains I must abide by this even though there is nothing in the Bylaws am I getting it now.
It must be written down. You cannot just pull this out of the air.




Jerry:

This decision came from the executive board vote in the September meeting. It was discussed at the State Body meeting in November, and I said I would take it back to the executive board in January which I did. There was a lot of discussion on this topic.

Since in September the motion was made, seconded and passed, another motion would have to be made to rescind the orginial motion. That motion was made and seconded but failed. This left the requirement to make the camp mandatory.

The bylaws do not cover camps, clinics or competitions like Southern Plains. This is left up to th executive council and the representatives of each district. Bob Philips acts as the director of the camp and is in charge of the Southern Plains coaching staff. He is the one that wanted to make the camp mandatory. His reasoning was that Kansas needs to create a "TEAM" concept. In the past Kansas kids that did not come to camp but competed in the tournament thought the coaches should stay and coach them. The coaching staff had no idea who these kids were nor did they know how to coach them.

Most of the Free-Style directors agreed that this situation had to be corrected. By attending the camp the USAW-Kansas Kids coaching staff can get to know the kids and the kids can get to know the coaches. This will help make the "Team Kansas" a team like other states that compete in the Southern Plains. All the kids will wear the same uniforms and look like a team.

I would suggest that if you feel strongly about this decision that first to contact your district free-style director and discuss it with him, he then can contact Bob Gonzales who is the Free-Style Competition Director.

This is the first year for this concept. I would like for everyone to give it a try and see if it works. Like I said earlier the executive council looked at the pros and cons and thought that it was worth trying.

Jeff Sheets




Jeff

I see that the Executive Board of the USAWKS has voted to keep this camp requirement just to be able to wrestle at Southern Plains. I as you may or may not know am opposed to this requirement also have been looking through the USAWKS Bylaws and do not see this requirement within these any where could you please let myself and the rest of USAWKS know where to find this written down, also I do not see any where as to how a person or persons would get something overturned i.e. Do we need a petition, do we need to have a special meeting with a certain amount of signatures is there a due process to complete this task to change something that we know we could make better.
Please let me know

Thanks
Jerry L. Bauerly
USA

AAU Grand Nationals June 14-16 Butte, Mt.
If Southern Plains Camp is a requirement then we may opt out for another tournament that week-end.
With the number of tournaments we are looking at


KANSAS HIGHSCHOOL STATE PARKCITY, KS FEB 23, 24
KIDS SUB PITTSBURG MARCH 10
KIDS DISTRICT OTTAWA MARCH 17
KIDS STATE TOPEKA MARCH 24-25
NSCHAA JUNIOR NATIONALS FOLKSTYLE VIRGINIA BEACH, VA MARCH 28-30
ASICS FOLKSTYLE NATIONAL CEDAR FALLS, IA MARCH 30-1
FILA JUNIOR NATIONAL LAS VEGAS, NV APRIL 4-7
AAU WORLD FOLK DETROIT, MI APRIL 5-7
BRUTE NATIONALS ??PRICE KCI APRIL 6-7
CLIFF KEEN RENO WORLD LAS VEGAS, NV APRIL 6-8
ROCKY MOUNTIAN REGIONAL LARAMIE, WY APRIL 27-28
EASTERN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS CHARLESTON, WV ARRIL 28-29
NORTHERN PLAINS REGIONAL**WATERLOO, IA MAY 3-5
IRONMAN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS LANCASTER, PA MAY 25-28
FILA JUNIOR WORLD TEAM TRIALS COLORADO SPRINGS, CO MAY 20-26
KANSAS STATE FR/GR JUNCTION CITY, KS JUNE 2
??SOUTHERN PLAINS (?CAMP) HAYS, KS JUNE 14-16
AAU GRAND NATIONALS (3 STYLES) BUTTE, MT.JUNE 14-16
WEST COAST AAU JR.OLYMPIC GAMES U OF CALF. DAVIS JUNE 22-25
JUNIOR DUALS OKLAHOMA CITY, OK JUNE 26-JULY 1
JUNIOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS FARGO, ND JULY 20-26
AAU JUNOIR OLYMPIC GAMES KNOXVILLE, TN JULY 29-AUG 3

- the funding is limited and time contraints limmit access to all of these. We will not be able to reach all of these destinations unless some rich usawks uncle comes forward. It would be nice if Kansas had a funded national traveling team.

I suggest to the powers that be, you might check the (square box) statement at front of the form you must check to get an account to this form.

I might add there has been some house cleaning in several districts and clubs and might I remind you that you are not above the law. Wrestle with that!

See ya Mat-side somewhere.

Grandpa A

All,

Was very disappointed to hear that the executive body voted to retain the policy that the Kansas Southern Plains Camp is a requirement for Kansas wrestlers to participate in the Southern Plains Regional Tournament.

Just reviewed the thread from head to toe and there are some heavy hitters that voiced concern of making the camp mandatory.

- Shawn Budke Head Coach of Leavenworth County (105 kids with 30 more high school wrestlers on the way from Lansing, Leavenworth, Tongi, and Pleasant Ridge).

- Tom Baughman - Coaches Slammer Wrestling (Slammers won over 30 Freestyle and Greco State Titles, multiple Southern Plains Championships, and several All-Americans in the last 5 years.

- Will Cokely and Eric Ackin -- MatSide Wrestling Academy producing some of the best freestyle/greco wrestlers in the state.

-- Chief Renegade (Eric Johnson), Mike Pursel, McCormicks, Flynns, ...

Basically, those opposed on this thread all said the camp was a good idea, just don't make it mandatory. By making it mandatory will cut down on Kansas Kids participating because of time and money. What I read as the primary reason for having the camp is to build a "team".

I hope I am wrong, but this decision may drastically reduce Kansas numbers.

Think the USAW Kansas leadership may be a little out of touch with the wrestlers, coaches, and parents in which they serve.

The decision to make this camp mandatory is simple a bad decision.

Having said that, I will do my best to make the Southern Plains Camp and the Regional tournament a success. The Leavenworth County Spartans will figure out a way to get our kids wanting to attend a ride up…and look for some ideas to reduce cost.

For my son Nick, it is about time. He plans an aggressive spring summer schedule and will have to decide if he wants to commit 5 days to Southern Plains or use that time toward other venues.

This will be my seventh year coaching and parenting through a free style season and for what it is worth…I am not happy with this decision.

Mike Flynn

I would like to add my two cents concerning the Southern Plains Camp requirement and my firsthand experiences with the Middle School and School Boy Duals.

First of all, since Southern Plains is geared towards the individual wrestler rather than the team concept, I think it is absolutely ridiculous to require wrestlers to attend the camp. My son attended the camp at Fort Hays and the Southern Plains Tournament in Carlsbad two summers ago. He really enjoyed the camp and did get some good workouts in. He wanted to go to the camp and I am glad he went, he made some good memories and friends. He did not go this past summer as he was worn out from the participating in the School Boy Duals. I know of some of the kids on the team that went straight from Indianapolis to Hays so they could make the camp. This was crazy! Kids who want to participate in the Southern Plains Regional tournament should do so as any other individual tournament; sign up, show up and wrestle! The amount of time and money spent on the camp, for most wrestlers, is not worth the two or three matches they get at Southern Plains.
Secondly, I would like to discuss my experience with both the Middle School and School Boy Duals. What a great experience!!!! Dads who have wrestlers who can participate in these events should give their sons this opportunity. From the standpoint of a dad, it was great to see my son make friends with some of the best wrestlers in the state. During the Middle School Duals, although we had no formal camp, the kids go to know each other on the long trip to Danville. They quickly formed a strong Team Kansas pride! We had two full teams and each squad got to know each other and cheer each other as the tournament progressed. I, myself was able to get to know some really neat dads whose main focus was to see their sons wrestle and have fun representing Kansas. Will Cokley and Eric Johnson did a great job coordinating the trip. I know that this was not an easy task.

Later in the summer, my son had the opportunity to wrestle on the Kansas School Boy team. Unfortunately, we could not even field a full team. Our kids wrestled well and had it not been for giving up four - five forfiets would have made a serious run at being in the championship bracket. Will Cokely was gracious enough to let the team use his facility to have a team camp. My son had a great time and it gave the kids a time to unify as a team. The trip and experience was very positive. I would stongly urge anyone who qualifies to take advantage of this opportunity.

I have heard that there are possible rumblings about money issues and the picking of the teams. This is a load of garbage. I attended both dual tournaments and there was never any improper use of funds, in fact many times, we dads dipped into our own pockets to pay for team needs. Also, as for hand picking the teams, also a load of garbage, there was ample time for anyone interested to put their name in the hat to have there kids be a part of any of these teams. In fact, we couldn't even fill the School Boy team, even after calling around and practically begging kids to come. As with anything else, it's always easy to criticize and make accusations when you're on the outside. Funny how no one wanted to step up and help put these teams together. I commend Will and all the others who helped to make this experience possible for my son and everyone else who participated. Without these guys stepping up, we would have missed out on some great wrestling and friendships.

After having my son participate in the Southern Plains tournament and both the Middle School and School Boy Duals, I can say without a doubt he had a much better experience with the Duals. Also, for the money, it was the best bang for the buck!!! If you want to increase the participating numbers in Kansas wrestling you sure don't go about it by making unreasonable financial and time commitment demands. Heck, that doesn't even make good business sense.

Sorry if I've gone on too long, but I have been wanting to get my two cents worth in. If you would like to personally discuss any of these issues or experiences with me please e-mail me (bluejayad@yahoo.com)

There still is no clear criteria on this matter there have been many questions asked and not many answered for no where does it state that you must attend this camp in any by-laws of the USAWKS, also there is no where in the by-laws of this State body to protest or request a change of the current decisions to be removed/change please elaborate on this matter if you know of the correct path to follow for even in the US Government there are paths and petitions that are put together to change an issue.
I'm just looking for some accountability for this vote we are part of this for everyone should see and be counted. I see it does state that this person wants this to be mandatory don't quit know why Bob Philips and the way it reads he is the one who makes the one and only decision is this true?

Here is a recent question I asked? And still not clear as to how this could be mandated if there have not been any clear and concise rules, regulations, bylaws DOCUMENTATED stating this point. USAWKS Rules do not have this listed anywhere, Hey I know that summer wrestling makes winter champions. We need to open this up and make it an all comers tourney.
NOT IN FAVOR OF A MANDATED CAMP
MANDATED CAMP
This is the first year for this concept.
So if this Executive Council wants me to wear a Pink shoe on the left foot and a Green shoe on the Right at Southern Plains I must abide by this even though there is nothing in the Bylaws am I getting it now.
It must be written down. You cannot just pull this out of the air.




Jerry:

This decision came from the executive board vote in the September meeting. It was discussed at the State Body meeting in November, and I said I would take it back to the executive board in January which I did. There was a lot of discussion on this topic.

Since in September the motion was made, seconded and passed, another motion would have to be made to rescind the orginial motion. That motion was made and seconded but failed. This left the requirement to make the camp mandatory.

The bylaws do not cover camps, clinics or competitions like Southern Plains. This is left up to th executive council and the representatives of each district. Bob Philips acts as the director of the camp and is in charge of the Southern Plains coaching staff. He is the one that wanted to make the camp mandatory. His reasoning was that Kansas needs to create a "TEAM" concept. In the past Kansas kids that did not come to camp but competed in the tournament thought the coaches should stay and coach them. The coaching staff had no idea who these kids were nor did they know how to coach them.

Most of the Free-Style directors agreed that this situation had to be corrected. By attending the camp the USAW-Kansas Kids coaching staff can get to know the kids and the kids can get to know the coaches. This will help make the "Team Kansas" a team like other states that compete in the Southern Plains. All the kids will wear the same uniforms and look like a team.

I would suggest that if you feel strongly about this decision that first to contact your district free-style director and discuss it with him, he then can contact Bob Gonzales who is the Free-Style Competition Director.

This is the first year for this concept. I would like for everyone to give it a try and see if it works. Like I said earlier the executive council looked at the pros and cons and thought that it was worth trying.

Jeff Sheets




Jeff

I see that the Executive Board of the USAWKS has voted to keep this camp requirement just to be able to wrestle at Southern Plains. I as you may or may not know am opposed to this requirement also have been looking through the USAWKS Bylaws and do not see this requirement within these any where could you please let myself and the rest of USAWKS know where to find this written down, also I do not see any where as to how a person or persons would get something overturned i.e. Do we need a petition, do we need to have a special meeting with a certain amount of signatures is there a due process to complete this task to change something that we know we could make better.
Please let me know

So far this is some of what I'm looking for does anyone have more?
Lets get it out there this is just not a good way to increase the event attendance?



Tom Peterman – No Camp

Ned Price – No Camp

Leanna Grater – No Camp

Kyle Roberts – No Camp

Tuff Hermreck – No Camp



Mark Stanley – Camp

Charlie Knox – Camp

Jess Kieth – Camp

Bob Gonzales – Camp

What if you don't want the team Kansas coaches to coach your kid. Why would i want a coach not familiar with my kid coaching him anyway. Even after a few days of camp these coaches won't know my sons strengths and weaknesses. I take my son to KCWC for freestyle and Greco, this team is coached by Eric Akin, Travis Phippen, Gonz and Mike Medina, I think he is already recieving excellent coaching. What can you offer, A $150 dollar camp, a 4-5 hour drive. What benefits can you offer my son that he is not already recieving from local practices. It sounds like Bob Phillips and Bob Gonzales are trying to boost camp numbers by making this mandatory. This is wrong and it seems like they are on a little power trip. I hope the numbers from Kansas are down significantly this year. If they are maybe they will see the error of their ways.

Tom Baughman
Slammers Wrestling

While I don't think that making camp mandatory to compete at Southern Plains is right, You have a horrible attitude. While your son has excellent coaches where he is at, it is always helpful to get another look or another angle on things. I went to the southern plains camp for numerous years and that camp and its coaches (while I had excellent coaches like Herman, Schauer, Coach Ed, Knox, Deshazer, Taylor's, Skip, etc.) helped me soooo much I couldn't even describe. Thats where I met other excellent coaches such as your sons coach Gonz Medina who was awesome with me at fargo.

Basically what I'm trying to say is that its good to get out of your box/comfort zone every once and awhile. You can always learn something!

And wishing low numbers at southern plains is just awful. If it is wrong to require camp (which I believe it is), It will work itself out. Don't wish bad on our state as a whole.

The reason I have a bad attitude is that most parents, coaches that I talk to are against a mandatory camp. Our officers are elected and are supposed to represent the people in their district. The executive council acts like they know what is best for each kid and each family,Make the camp mandatory if you want camp staff to coach your kid, if you don't want them to coach then open it up to everyone. This is the main reason that keeps getting repeated, My son has participated in 3 southern plains tournaments and I have never asked or needed a team kansas coach to coach him, Why should I have to pay for coaching I don't want.

Tom Baughman

I am not trying to stir the pot but I asked these questions in an earlier post (31 Jan 07) and the only answers I got back was from 24/7. Now I respect 24/7 a great deal and he is a good friend but I am really looking for somebody on the governing body or decision authority to answer these questions for me.

I do not agree with the decision but I will abide by it until we can get it changed. I also want to ensure that our team is supporting the state by maximizing our participation, however, I do not have answers to these questions. Until we get some answers for our parents we are going to have a hard time getting interest.


1. Can club coaches or parents attend the camp? Are we expected to send our 6,8, and 10 year olds to a week long, stay overnight camp without their parents or their coaches?

2. Who is allowed to coach the kids at the tournament? Is it only the KS team coaches that are allowed to coach or can the club coaches coach their kids?

3. Since one of the reasons for having this camp was to foster a Team Kansas concept, do the kids that attend camp and compete get a Team KS tshirt, shorts, singlet like the rest of the teams?

4. (This is a new one, not on the original post) It was stated that cost should not be an issue and that financial assistance could be given. How do I get the criteria for getting assistance and what is the process for applying for this assistance?

I am trying to be reasonable here and work through this but the longer these questions go unanswered the better a fun trip to Montana for the AAU Grand Nationals starts to look. Any answers from the people who made this decision would be greatly appreciated.

Shawn Budke

I think one of the big problems is that no one completely understands the entire picture. I will try to explain it all in the next few bullet points:



1. If you are a Bantam, Midget, Novice, or Schoolboy you MUST go to the camp in order to be allowed to compete in the Southern Plains tournament.

2. If you are a Bantam, Midget, Novice, or Schoolboy you MUST compete in the Southern Plains tournament if you wish to compete in the FS/GR Nationals in Green Bay, WI held the last weekend in June (Wednesday thru Saturday.)

3. If you are on the Schoolboy Dual team if you will be gone Wednesday thru Sunday competing in Indianapolis. You will then have to return from Indy very early Monday morning, regroup and report into Camp on Tuesday if you wish to compete in the Southern Plains tournament.

4. If you are a Cadet you can compete in any regional or the Kansas State tournament to qualify for Fargo. If you want to compete in the Southern Plains regional you MUST attend the Southern Plains camp.

5. A Kansas Cadet wrestler can travel to any other regional in the US other than Southern Plains without a requirement to be allowed to compete but if they want to compete in Southern Plains, in their home state, they have to attend the camp.

6. Juniors have not, to date, been required to attend camp but they would fall under the same guidelines as the Cadets.



I feel strongly that a large majority of the coaches, dads, and wrestlers do not want the camp mandate so partisan politics have somehow led to a slight majority voting in favor at the Executive Board level. Jeff Sheets told me that he needs to hear more from those who oppose the mandate. I spoke with the group from USA Wrestling who organize these events and they are against any requirement. Bob Phillips contends this is a team event but no team scores, team trophies, or any team competition of any sort is performed at this tournament. Bob further states there is a problem with kids needing coaching so they must go to the camp so that the Kansas coaches know the kids. Somehow Kansas kids manage to get coaching at all of the other national tournaments during Folkstyle season so this argument is truly weak. I am VERY uncertain what the motive behind the camp mandate. I know of at least 20 kids who would go to the tournament if they didn’t have to go to the camp. The number is probably more like 50. It is a serious burden on time and economics. If a kid wants to go to Nationals in Green Bay they have to give up nearly two weeks of their time. Kids, parents, and coaches should be allowed to cho0se their own means of preparation. If the camp is great then they will choose the camp if they can afford the time and cost. There is more apathy than anything else when it comes to this issue. I am working on getting everyone educated on the issues and get more support to lift the mandate. The funny thing is, my son has gone to that camp every year he could and so did I. One of the major differences from then to now is that we didn’t mix eight year olds with fifteen to eighteen year olds. Fourteen year olds were the oldest. I think this mix presents another potential problem.

For just one moment put your apathy for summer wrestling aside. I understand that only 500 of the 8,000 USA Kansas wrestlers participate past the State Folkstyle tournament. We need to hear from those 500. The question I ask is Does anyone SUPPORT mandating the camp?

Here I go again.......

I agree with Will and I think he laid out the different examples very well. From my perspective the bottom line is this....

1. As of now the camp is mandatory. I don't think we can get it changed for this year. The impact I think is that KS numbers attending the tournament will not be as good as they could be. Will they be better than when people had to travel to New Mexico, yes. Don't let that become an argument to keep the camp requirement. I think we would have great numbers if we didn't have the camp requirement.

2. Since as of right now the camp is mandatory can someone in the governing body please provide me the answers to the following questions......

a. Can club coaches or parents attend the camp? Are we expected to send our 6,8, and 10 year olds to a week long, stay overnight camp without their parents or their coaches?

b. Who is allowed to coach the kids at the tournament? Is it only the KS team coaches that are allowed to coach or can the club coaches coach their kids?

c. Since one of the reasons for having this camp was to foster a Team Kansas concept, do the kids that attend camp and compete get a Team KS tshirt, shorts, singlet like the rest of the teams?

d. (This is a new one, not on the original post) It was stated that cost should not be an issue and that financial assistance could be given. How do I get the criteria for getting assistance and what is the process for applying for this assistance?

As the head coach of a fairly large club, I really want to maximize our participation in this and support Kansas. However, until I get these questions answered I cannot have a good discussion with the parents to inform them. Now is the time we need the information. If you wait until later this spring it will be much harder to get involvement because kids will be on to other activities. If we have the info now, we can pass it to them and they can think about it during the spring.

Governing body: I don't agree with the decision but I will try and support it until we can broach the subject again. You need to help us help you by providing us coaches and club leadership some answers to the questions above.....please.

Shawn Budke

I agree with the need to have questions answered! I am working to get that done.

I wish everyone was as passionate about summer wrestling as they are about getting the entries posted The other questions that need to be answered:

How many kids went to the camp last year?
What was the break down by district?
How many kids went to the tournament last year?
What was the break down by district?
How many kids attended the last SP camp held at Neosho CC?
How many kids participated in the last SP tournament in Topeka?

I don't believe the camp was mandatory the last time the tournament was in Kansas but I would need clarification on that as well.

Bob Phillips keeps telling us that we trying stop him from trying his idea. Just what is that idea? None of us seem to understand exactly what he hopes to accomplish by MANDATING camp attendance. He does not respond to the posts, he does not respond to email, and he has even contradicted himself when he stated that USA Wrestling supports the camp mandate.

I sincerely hope Randy can get these questions answered but what really needs to happen is the mandate needs to be vetoed. I truly have no idea why a board that wants our sport to grow would place controls on its membership to prohibit them participating. We now have two such controls: 1) In order to participate at the USA Folkstyle Nationals you MUST wrestle at Sub Districts 2) In order to participate in the Southern Plains tournament you MUST attend a camp. It is time for the constituency to stand up a demand these mandates be removed.

Although I am not directly involved in the camp, I was present at the Executive Council meeting and was the director of the Southern Plains camp for several years before Bob Phillips took over. On that basis, I'm going to try and answer some of the questions posted here:

I'm not sure on this one. If you are interested in attending the camp, I would suggest contacting Bob directly at bphillips@holtonks.net. As far as sending midgets (born 1997-98) and novices (born 1995-96) to the camp, it's worth pointing out that parents have been doing this for years. Out of curiosity, I looked back at my old records and found that the camp in 1997 had 33 novices & midgets, making up 50% of that year's campers. I believe that was a typical year.

The hope by the Executive Council is that the wrestlers and coaches will develop a bond at the camp that will carry over to the tournament. However, there is no restriction against any qualified coach (current USAW membership and certification) coaching at the tournament. Floor passes will be available for purchase at the tournament - be sure to have your coach's card and bronze/copper card available.

Yes on the Team Kansas t-shirt. They will be provided team singlets to use which can be purchased or returned at the end of the event. I haven't heard anything about shorts.

I don't know specifically what this referred to, but I can confirm that many of the past campers at the camp have done fundraising within their communities in order to finance their way to the camp. For wrestlers planning on competing in both styles, the cost of the camp is an additional $100 over what they would have spent on entry fees. Getting the wrestlers involved in the fundraising also gives them a feeling of accomplishment as they "earn" their way to the camp. I don't think that this answered your specific question, but felt that you shouldn't overlook the possibilities of soliciting local citizens and businesses.

I hope this was some help.

Thanks Mike, that should pretty much clear things up. Maybe this will settle the masses! Can two to three people be a mass?