Scooby hit on somthing I feel is a top motivator for kids of all ages, the friend factor. Its a great thing to have a few friends pushing each other and sharing their struggles. Once in a while I will even take one of my kids b-ball friends along. Talk about motivation, kids love to put on a show in front of their friends.
As a bonus several b-ball friends have decided this wrestling thing is pretty cool. You will probably see a couple of them next week at state!

One more item for Food for Thought...

My son Jarrett was about 10-12 years old and after the season told me he wasn't going to wrestle anymore. I said, "ok" very nonchalant. (we had been through this with lots of club kids and I knew my reaction was key). A few months later I was ordering wrestling shoes and stuff for the other boys and he said, "aren't you gonna get me any shoes?" and I said, "you don't wrestle anymore, I thought." Needless to say, he kept on wrestling and now may even wrestle in college, which we never dreamed would happen.

My point, sometimes the statements are to see how the parents will react. I have found in these situations, the less reaction the better.

Just two more cents from another wrestling mom.

Ms. Jenni

No, but he did perform at Topeka when he made State when he was in the 10U bracket .
I am very proud of him because he knows what makes him happy and does not let the ribbing he takes from his former wrestling teammates bother him. He really likes his new activity, particularly since it is a summer activity and most of the females are 18+, and they spend the whole day practicing in the sun, and it's hot so they dress accordingly,...

I went through the burnout last year, after subs and before districts. My son also had a very successful season. We took a couple of nights off from practice and discussed the opportunities he had with the state tournament and regrets he may have later. He wrestled out the season and decided to take this year off. We have done other things to stay close to wrestling, like high school duals, college duals and most recently went to the semifinals matches in OKC. He definitely enjoys wrestling as a spectator.

I hope he will want to wrestle again, but that is his decision. I know that the length of season is an issue. No one wants the competition to get a leg up by starting later. We keep seeing tournaments earlier and earlier in the year. The kids season is longer than the HS season. The kids season is too long for the young kids.

Most say leave it to the parents or leave it to the kids. Should a 5,6 or even a 10 year old be making that decision. Most kids will answer those questions in the manner they feel that a parent would want them to answer. Some parents also do not make the best decisions on the childrens welfare. I am not sure there is an answer.

shawndj, I agree that if you start the season somewhere from mid-November or early December and wrestle it out until the end of March that for most kids that is too long of a season and probably for most parents too. I also agree with you that if you want to be competitive all the way thru that you do not want to give your competition too much advantage by starting late in the season. Starting late could also put you behind some of your own club's practice partners. I also agree with you that our Kids folkstyle season just goes too late in the year. It does not seem right that Kansas Kids actually finishes after the NCAA finals, so Kansas Kids not only finishes after the high school season but the college season too. I think this late finish with the better weather and Spring breaks contributes to kids and families starting to burnout this time of year. Several years ago the State Body meeting minutes indicated that the KWCA had come to our board telling them that they thought our season went too long and that we should end before high school State so kids could come watch it and then have a few weeks off for a break before starting freestyle.

As individuals though we can make the decision not to compete after a certain point in the season. I would like to see Kansas Kids change to finish the season before the high school season ends like the KWCA suggested but nothing says that a wrestler has to wrestle in the State tournament series (Subs, Districts and State). Over the years, I have seen wrestlers who have competed all the way thru the season and then stopped before Subs. My son wrestled this year thru the high school season as a freshman JV wrestler and made that decision not to wrestle Kids this year and he seems fine with that decision. I know this is not easy to do if a kid wants to be competitive until the end of the season to see how he or she measures up against the best in the State. If a kid really wants to do that bad enough though, I would say that they are most likely not suffering from burnout.

I started dealing with burnout during my sixth year of wrestling, in the sixth grade. I credit splitting my time wrestling and playing basketball in the 7th, 8th, and 9th grades for allowing me to get through high school as a wrestler. But I was still burned out. Mostly I believe I was extremely competitive and could not handle losing. My sopohomore year I lost at districts in kids and decided to not wrestle in state, I look at that as one of my mistakes in life. I believe the best way to handle any sports situation near the end of the season is you can quit when the season is over. Oddly enough, I went out for basketball my junior year, was cut from the team, then won a wrestling state championship. The best thing my high school coach Jeff Watkins ever did for me was calling me during my 10th and 11th grade years and asking if I was going to wrestle. Also he stopped asking me if I was warmed up, he asked me if I was mentally ready to wrestle. He knew if I wanted to wrestle and was ready, I would do well.