Youth Sports
Quick Facts

Age in which children first have the capability to understand social dynamics of competitive sports: 8 years old

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, National Council of Youth Sports, NCAA.org, Jay Coakley's "Sports in Society".

· Number of kids ages 5-19 in U.S.: 61,446,112
· Number of kids ages 5-18 that competes in 61 top sports organizations: 38,259,845

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, National Council of Youth Sports, NCAA.org, Jay Coakley's "Sports in Society".

Youth Age Divisions

Youth competitions typically take place in two-year age divisions. These age divisions provide young athletes the opportunity to compete with other athletes of similar ability. The age divisions for competition year 2005 are as follows:

Age Division Year of Birth
Bantam (10 & under) 1995+
Midget (11-12) 1993-1994
Youth (13-14) 1991-1992
Intermediate (15-16) 1989-1990
Young (17-18) 1987-1988


2005 Divisions
The Junior Olympics is divided into six divisions for boys and six divisions for girls. The athlete's year of birth shall determine the division in which the athlete shall compete. With each succeeding year each division shall be adjusted. Listed below are the 2005 divisions (NOTE: Sub-Bantams do not advance past the Region 2 Meet in both Track & Field and Cross Country):
Sub-Bantam: Born 1997 or after
Bantam: Born in 1995-1996
Midget: Born in 1993-1994
Youth: Born in 1991-1992
Intermediate: Born in 1989-1990
Young: Born in 1987-1988

(NOTE: Sub-Bantams do not advance past the Region 2 Meet in both Track & Field and Cross Country):

Smokey,

I don't like the way the AAU does their age birthday cutoff (January 1) due to the fact that you have a high percentage of kids (those born between 9-1 and 12-31) whom every other year get cutoff from competing with kids in their own class and end up competing against kids two grades ahead of them. I know people disagree with this but I really like our 9/1 birthday cutoff better.

I know that is not the point of your post. I would point out that although Sub Bantam divisions do not compete in the AAU Cross Country they do run as Bantams just as we have our 6&U wrestle in 8 & U at State and there are a lot of very young kids who compete at this national cross country meet. The differences in cross country are that first you do not have the same space and time limitations as wrestling. You can run a lot of runners at the same time in the big outside parks that these meets are held in. A second difference is that there is not physical combat between the athletes in cross country, so there is no chance of a younger athlete getting overpowered physically by an older athlete.

I share the reservations about it being too early to take the 6&U to State but I feel this way about taking them to Salina, Park City-Wichita, Liberty Nationals and the other big in-season tournaments. I liked the way it was when my son started in 1st grade as a 6&U and he only wrestled four novice tournaments. I don't know if they wrestled 6&U at any open tournaments then. I am coming to change my position though now that this 6&U division is so widespread at so many major in-season tournaments. I think it is becoming more difficult to make the argument now that it is too much pressure at Topeka State but not at Salina, Wichita-Park City, Liberty Nationals and the rest.

Pennsylvania Junior Wrestling State Championships

Presently, we provide opportunities for youth wrestlers in 3 age categories: 10 & Under, 11 &12, and 13&14. The road to a PJW State Championship begins in your local community with a sectional tournament. The qualifiers from these tournaments advance to the Area Finals for the Area representing their community (this is similar to the PIAA Regional Tournaments). The qualifiers from the Area tournaments proceed to the PJW State Championship.

Yes bubowski, it is almost as lame as an excuse as the people that throw out the "where does it stop, why not have a 4u" Kids have the opportunity all year to wrestle, then the reward is pulled at the end of the season. By the way, I have no vested interest in seeing 6u have their spot at state in the future, I just believe in being fair to the younger kids. For those of you that say its all parents, talk to the kids that work hard all year (even the 6u) and you will see they do understand and desire to be the best with a fair place to prove it.

kylesdad-you said you have no vested interest in having 6U in state but earlier stated that your son was going to be 7 next year. So that means that your son was wrestling 6U and you are one of the parents that we are talking about. It is easy to say you want 6U when your son is that age. Say that when your son turns 10 or better yet, say that when your son turns 16. Yes, bubowski hit the nail on the head.

I have read all of the arguments for and against 6 and under participating at Topeka's State Championship. Some of the comments have been extremely harsh and VERY narrowminded. I was offended at the attacks to the Wrestling Moms. My family has been involved with wrestling for many years and I've attended four straight State Championships. I have a son who will be in 16 and under next year and had one in 6 and under this year. So I can empathize with the emotions behind both age groups. I have also had experience with another equally competitive sport, Premier Soccer. In both sports, indvidual excellence is the ultimate goal( You know what I'm saying...that high school Varsity spot or College scholarship!). ALOT of time and money on the parent's part is spent and the children are prodded sometimes willingly and sometimes not along the way. Similar to wrestling, those "first in the sport" parent's assume that because their child is very good and on a great team at an early age then their son is the next Freddie Adu. But over time, other's skills improve and puberty kicks in! The playing field levels significantly at around age 12. And as SmokeyCabin has said to my own sons, when you get to this age group everyone is tough because the average wrestlers have quit. You'll still see some of those once amazing 6 year olds at age 14 competing and then there will be a whole list of others that you say, "whatever happened to?" I do know that my 7th grader drove SmokeyCabin crazy at age six running around the wrestling room and climbed on Smokey's back more that he practiced those first two years. He placed at Novice tournaments and there wasn't a 6 and under Championship back then(if there was I didn't know about it).
But you know, I know he isn't looking back lamenting over if only he had gone to State at six, how great he would have been. If we are all honest with ourselves, at age six Gameboy and Hotwheels rank higher and the honor of a State Championship is short lived and it's more important to the parents in bragging rights. I could have taken my Kindergartner this year to the 6 and Under Championship, but you know wrestling season is long enough for all of us and the other two did fine without it. By the way my seventh grader got second at State this year, it was a long 7 year trip to the Championship, but it was well worth the wait! On the other side my other son placed too and he's moving up next year to 16 and Under so it will be the last hurrah, so to speak. I know IT IS IMPORTANT to a 15 or 16 year old (compared to a six year-old or parent of one) to place at State. Those Championship memories will be much more engrained in those wrestler's minds when they look back when they are adults than of those memories from when they were five or six. I do believe that the State Championship is more VALUABLE when it is kept as a PERSONAL goal or achievement. When it is something that a wrestler strive's for, it is kept special. So now that I've honored Vince Nowak by writing a book, I will finish by saying let's keep it the way it is, it works well. It is an honor to make it to State whether you are a six year-old competing at 8 and Under or a sixteen year old for the last time and let's keep it sacred. And for those out there who want to argue that it is their six year old wrestler who wants it most of all, that's great that your child loves the sport. However, it is alot easier to keep a child competitive striving towards a goal than to have to push them along after the disappointment of losing something they've already attained. Those are some of the ones that have burned out that we look back on and say "what ever happened to so and so, remember when you thought you could never beat him?" There's always an exception, but the pattern hasn't changed in my experience with wrestling, soccer, baseball, football and the list goes on.

I have posted on every topic that concerns adding 6U at state. I am really against it because as a teacher and researcher, I know that what we want for our kids is not always right. I also know about kids developmental stages, growth patterns and mental health. Kids need time to develop at their own pace-not their parents pace. Many people who are pushing to add 6U are only doing so because they have a son or daughter who is that age. They are not looking at the child's mental and physical development age. They are thinking of winning NOW instead of in the long run. On the topic titled "WOW...." I am going to list two articles and one book that I think EVERYONE needs to read. And for those of you who "hate reading" I will even summarize the articles.

Well, I checked the responses, average_joe and Jab44 are gone! Way to go wrestling Mom's!

Isn't it baseball season? :p

I am glad their negativity and name calling are gone! I have learned alot from this debate, and I really do appreciate the difference in opinions.

The postive note on this entire thread is seeing so many parents so involved in their children's lives. Kids need their parents actively involved - not only in wrestling, but in their school work, school activities, parent/teacher conferences, music concerts, etc. :-)

I was looking at the BASEBALL message boards this morning and came across this team website.

WE ARE A FIRST YEAR 4 AND UNDER TEE BALL TEAM. WE CURRENTLY PLAY LEAGUE AND TOURNAMENT BALL EXCLUSIVELY AT ***** BALLPARK.

OUR COACHING PHILOSOPHY IS TO TEACH TEAMWORK, SPORTSMANSHIP, AND THE BASIC FUNDAMENTALS OF BASEBALL.

MY COACHING DESIRES IS TO BUILD A TEAM THAT WILL BE TOGETHER FOR YEARS TO COME.
TEAM RULES:
ALWAYS BE ON TIME TO GAMES AND PRACTICES
NO CHILD UNATTENDED WITH A BAT IN HIS/HER HAND
TEACH GOOD SPORTSMAN SHIP
SAFETY, SAFETY, NO CHILD UNATTENDED WITH BAT OR BALL
CALL BY 9PM PRIOR TO MISSING A UPCOMING GAME/PRACTICE

I wonder who takes the kids to the bathroom and changes them if they have an accident? The parallel to wrestling is what age is too young? But I can guarantee you because I've seen it happen, that these baseball parents will do everything they can to get their kids to tryouts and if their son makes the team they will think they have the next A-Rod. Then unfortunately most of the kids will not be playing by 12 years of age.

By the way, this isn't a local team, this is a nationwide message board but it just goes to show you that this argument exists in ALL sports and generally with the same outcome, too much pressure, too early, then the kids drop out. And by the way, there is a t-ball world series out there!