Originally the cost of the Card and the tournaments were set to cover the costs of running the kids programs. Then surcharges were added to provide funding for the cadets program, the southernplains camp, etc. etc. that is fine if you are participating in it , but if you are not, many felt you should not have to pay for the cadet program, and money from kids tournaments and kids qualifiers, and kids state, should stay in that program. since there are much fewer participants in the cadets and freestyle programs in the summer, it was decided long ago that the kids programs could fund it so that it would be cheaper for the guys doing the summer stuff. The cadet coaches are supported when they go to Fargo, Southern plains, etc. by usawrestling. there have been others besides myself that have brought up this point as the card prices were increasing, but for the most part the argument to make the cards as reasonable as possible fell on deaf ears as most of the folks on the governing boards were participating either as parents or coaches in the funded summer programs. That may sound as though it is a bunch of hooey but the guys that have been in this sport since the seventies and eighties can attest to much of what I have said about the escalating costs. As far as moving out of the state, My kids are all through wrestling at the kids and high school levels, so I don't
have to make the choice, but I would still point out that even though everyone figures the usaks. program is superior, all the toughest and best in Kansas go to Tulsa every year to see how they stack up, and Kansas wrestlers don't seem to have any more, if even as many, champions as anyone else. Our program is not inferior to Oklahoma's, its just more expensive.