So, What? stop the season befor HS is over and lose 1200 14s, 15, @16s to gain 200 8s???????

nix, I might be flintstoning it the way gas prices are going. Know anybody with an electric car? lol

Ending the season earlier is a bad idea. Those high school kids give the younger wrestlers someone to look up to and an idea of their possible short-term future. It’s great when you can point out an individual state champ or a state championship team. The younger kids need role models for work ethic, effort and desire. Starting later could help but families or individual wrestlers could decide that for themselves. My sons don’t start until after the New Year and they are both very competitive.

ok so what are some ideals that a club can do to stir the intrest and get more kids to wrestle ? what do other clubs do to get kids in the room? how do we keep them ounce we get them?

we lose kids cause wrestling is not for everyone. we are a select few. anyone can play basketball but not every can wrestle. its hard. lots of kids try it but its too tough for alot of those kids. parents baby their kids way too much these days. they let them sit around play the computer and gameboys all day. then when they are 30 they are still living at home and wonder why. thats why we are losing kids. no burn out junk. maybe a few but thats not the main reason kids stop wrestling.

We can't just discount many, many legitimate issues just because some of us don't want to change anything. Here are some of the reasons that are legimate and can be addressed:

Season is too long
Tournaments take too long
Too many practices
Cost
Spring Break
Watch High School State
Watch NCAA Tournament
Compete in National events
Get started in GR and FS

We can shorten the core kids season without taking away anything from the MS and HS kids. If you don't want to quit there are many, many tournaments to go to. Right now our state tournament conflicts with USA Middle School National Duals. It almost conflicted with USA Flk Nationals. Our district kids tournament is going on the same weekend as the NCAA Finals. That means our kids wrestle longer than the college wrestlers!!! It is too easy to rationalize and not do a thing. We have to figure out how to grow our sport.

I am proud to report that my son knows several great wrestlers in the more recent history of the sport. He enjoys watching the HS and college matches and couldn't wait to get autographs from the metro classic.

Several have asked how we "got our son to love wrestling so much" and the correct response is we didn't. We are grateful that he has a true love of the sport. He realizes his own potential (something I wish every kid could do) and as much as he is supported and encouraged, he is never forced into anything.

I would ask you to reference another intersting post, "I've been thinking", which refers to related topics...

OK, then. It appears the general view is to shorten the season....let's get 'er done.

It's already done! If the season is too long start later! No one says you have to go to tournaments in November & December, shoot you don't even have to practice (but I suggest you do). Over half our club didn't start going to tournaments until just before Salina. The other half started at the kickoff in November or Emporia at the first of December. It is up to you & your wrestler(s). I do not see how you can end the season earlier without putting the screws to the high school kids. Why start the season later? While most of us, wrestlers & parents are ready for a break by this time each year, I will venture to say that most of us, wrestlers & parents are anxious by the end of October to start it all over again, and I guarantee the kid that works out 1-3x per week in the spring & summer & goes to camp is definately ready to get to a tournament by November.

I disagree, It is not already done. The answer is not to start later. We as a state are behind, every other state in the union is done and started with freestyle. I just got a catalog in the mail for freestyle. The Cover said "Middle of the Season Sale", I assume they are talking middle of the season for everyone but Kansas.

Missouri state is the same weekend as Kansas. Still researching the rest of the union.

Conneticut- 2/24, New Jersey 2/24, Iowa 2/24, Wyoming 2/29
Georgia 3/15, Illinois 3/15, Indiana 3/15, North Dakota 3/21, Wisconsin 3/21, Utah 3/22, Arizona 3,29; that's all I could find on USA website. How about Getting the month back that was stolen from local freestyle/greco this year.

I really feel that starting Kids practice after Thanksgiving even perhaps in December and only going to 1 or 2 Tourneys December, 3 tournaments in Jan and 3 in Feb and then doing Qualifiers in March will suffice for most competitors.
Taking a week or two off during the middle of the season is of benefit as well as not having to attend every single practice. I believe this to be true especially for youngsters 10 &U.
Having a season that is 4 months long with 2-3 practices a week and the grind of travel and long days each Saturday and for some also Sundays wears on them.

I feel that SPLIT formats to perhaps shorten the day and the more relaxed and less pressured NOVICE Tourneys for beginner wrestlers on Sunday are two of the greatest things to happen for this sport.
I do wish that our Kids wrestlers had the opportunity to attend the HS STATE Tourney and that it would be mandated across the State for Kids wrestlers to take that week off so they can see their older siblings and area HS kids compete in the "Big Dance". I like that HS Freshman, Sophomore and even many Juniors (16 & Under) are able to compete in Kids State at the conclusion of the HS season which would not be the case if the season ended in Mid Feb.

I don't believe that very many of our states kids would attend the Middle School Nationals or even go to watch the NCAA Championships. Those elite kids who are capable and who can afford the travel, costs, etc. are able to attend Liberty, Tulsa, Reno, Summer Nationals etc and so forth to determine where they stand on a National level. So to that effect I don't feel that ending the season in Feb will grow our sport but that parents & coaches should gage their kids to allow for a complete week long break from wrestling (*NO* practices/Tourneys)
a couple times during the season to keep them from buring out and sustain their interest.

Nebraska State March 9th
Oklahoma State February 15-16
Texas State March 1st
Colorado State ??? Looks like 6U-14U are on Feb. 10th and Fr.-Soph. are on March 8th.

I'm not saying this is the answer, just something to think about.
Have 16U seperate after High School State. At this age the kids do not really care about the venue, just a chance to wrestle for a state title. It could be held anywhere. This makes room for 6U to be added. State gets moved to the first weekend in March. We are able to watch NCAA's, Big 5, High School State, and the little guys can go watch the Froshman and Sophmores in March if they want.

I think this is about trying to improve our retention rate. In other words, what do we do to stop kids from dropping out. I do not think adding 6U to state and moving 16U to somewhere else will do that. The main part of the question being addressed is the season too long. I have mixed opinions on this. Is it too long. If you want to compete in national tournaments they start in November and end in April (USA Nationals). Even if you end the season earlier, a lot of kids and clubs will continue to practice to compete in these tournaments. You see the posts asking about Brute practices. And, Oklahoma which is noted in other posts starts earlier than us. But, the season is long. However, my daughter played competitive soft ball and it went from January thur October. But, there were breaks. So how do we in Kansas keep our kids competitive, but solve the question at hand. Maybe we should look at separating kids differently. Should we use the same age groups as the USA Nationals tournament and then have a Kids state for the kids that would basically be 9U or maybe 7U earlier than the rest of the kids. Maybe like a novice championship held right after Salina???

I believe the junior high kids get a lot out of practicing with the high school kids. Go to one of the rooms and watch this time of year. I also believe Randy was right, alot of burn out is due to not coaching the basics/drilling. Cokeley is obviously right, something needs to be done, but I think this question requires us to think past just shortening the season.

I would like a 2 week break for HS Regionals and State. That would give the kids 2 weeks off and let them watch the high schoolers.

And, Patrick is right, why did we lose a month on the freestyle season??

I am not trying to argue with anyone, I believe we really need to so something. The more ideas we get the better.

I think that the price of fuel and the other cost of going to the meets on the weekend have cut into the number of kids that take up wrestling in kansas and other states and the money it cost to enter keeps on going up each year along with people stealing money from the kids programs and what the state body did at the state meeting this year by taking a pass away from the clubs that left early.
All the coachs the went to the state meeting paid there fuel cost out of there own funds and then they find out that they lost a floor pass on top of everything else is a hard pill to have to come back to there clubs and tell them.
I have been helping dist 1 to set up the state tournament for the last 6 or 7 years and have hauled wrestling matts to Topeka free, the gas comes out of my pocket and have done it because the kids need people like me and others to make it work and yes I will be back this year but I think its time to understand that people sometime in life have to cut things out when people steal and the price of gas goes over 3.00 dollars a gallon and people make rules up at the state meeting as they go.
Now you may not agree but think about what it cost a weekend end to wrestle and not all people make a lot of money like bankers and lawers.

This has been a long topic and I think some of the parameters have been lost/overlooked over the course of the discussion. Just for clarification, the numbers of wrestlers in Kansas has been increasing, not declining. While this growth has been relatively slow, it has been steady over the past several years. Will's concern is over why the number of entries into the subdistrict tournaments has declined this year (I don't know if this is a one-year phenomenon or not).

The season is too long. Some go from October 1 to March 31. That's 2 months longer than the HS season! Ok for some kids but not all of them.

I'd like to see us hold kid's state in early to mid-Feb. . . ending just before HS Regionals and state.

Then in early March hold a USAWKS sanctioned HS Grand State championships. Then move on to freestyle if you need/want more and represent Kansas nationwide.

Then we could go watch our Kansas Native college wrestlers at conference championships and NCAA championships as well, instead of going to Subs, Dist's, and kid state all of March.

Our club does not put a tournament on the schedule for the weekend of high school state. A few will find a tournament to go to on their own and then of course Liberty Nationals is that weekend but for the most part it is a break. In our weekly e-mails to the club I try to give people an update on the high school team and encourage parents to come out and bring their kids to watch.

What about allowing Middle school and High School wrestlers to join local clubs, participate in clinics and tournaments other than school events?