I feel that middle school wrestling is crucial to expose the school and community to wrestling. Kids participate in wrestling that may not otherwise wrestle kids due to cost, exposure... Many of these kids mature and grow into important contributors for their high school team. HOWEVER, kids club is absolutely the most important factor for kids learning and excelling in wrestling. Middle school is a taste of wrestling and is important. I encourage our experienced middle school kids to join our "club" at Prairie Trail in Olathe. No, they don't learn advanced technique and we stick to the basics but they are leaders in the room and can work with others to improve and learn. It is important for their future teammates to see them as leaders and the experienced ones learn by leading and teaching. Now I will say that our club is not sponsored by the KSHSAA and those kids can then workout and compete wherever they like on top of participating at our school. Win win for the Olathe schools that have started wrestling clubs in their feeder middle schools.