recently i have been asked by a few of my advanced wrestlers when i would take them to a national tourney or a out of state touney in which i was in mind of taking them because i believed they were ready. i have only been coaching for 3 yrs. and are interested in some feed back in when coaches believe that thier wrestlers are ready for that level of competition.

I have been coaching for about 19 years and your the man the kids and dads look up to, that being said I was lucky enough to have a great group of wrestlers when my son was in the kids and I had about 6 or 7 that we took all the time at about age 12 and under. This group stayed together in Hiawatha and there second year of hi school thet won regionals and that was a great day for not only me as a coach but our school.
Since that day I have had two or three kids that are very good but over the years parants think they know more than I did or others that helped with the club and at the start of this year even got so mad when we spent 60 dollars out of the clubs money for gas to go to the state meeting that we quit. Since then I have started a new club in Hiawatha and the older kids are going to wrestle as soon as Hi school is over, so like I said you make the choice and stick with it. You sould like a great coach and you decide its a great time for wrestling and the kids will thank you later on and thats all you need.

I heard a coach say one time that "unless you're placing first every week at the local tournaments you still have competition in your own back yard".
I still use that determining factor today. Many parents can't afford the cost of traveling nationally and for those I say, bump your kid up a weight where technique becomes more important or bump up an age group where experience creates more of a challenge.

The answer is different for every kid. I have seen kids place top 3 in the locals and go to one national and come back and be a different kid. Some kids come back with the intensity that is at the national level. Others it just beats them down. One thing for sure, if a 16 man bracket freaks you kid a little, take them to a national tournament. The 32 man bracket, lights, glimmer and haveing 1600-2500 kids there will let them know that the 16 man bracket back home is nothing compared to what they have seen and wrestled in. It brings confidence and tougher mental attitude. How much of wrestling is mental? There are different levels of national tournaments also. But, like grandad said, stick to your decision.

I'd say start them off going to some Oklahoma tourneys or Missouri tourneys to get a taste of out of state wrestling for them and go from how they do there.

You said �my advanced wrestlers�.

Well, I always listen to a �Granddad�. You decide, �it�s a great time for wrestling�.

I also agree with Sportsfan02. "Unless you're placing first every week at the local tournaments you still have competition in your own back yard". Moreover, to continually improve, technique must become more important than winning or pounding on them with your strength.

And any kid�s first national tournament is overwhelming, but necessary. Mr Chenoweth offers a great suggestion, �start them off going to some Oklahoma tourneys or Missouri tourneys to get a taste of out of state wrestling for them and go from how they do there.�

All that said, there are still very fine lines between (1) ready, (2) willing, and (3) able. A �Yes� list:
 Can we afford it (without cost being a distraction/stressor)?
 Is it the second time they�ve asked (shown a genuine interest)?
 Is it possible (are they ready enough) to win at least one of their matches?