Nothing has been taken out of context. It was asked what the harm is in allowing kids to simultaneously compete for their club and their Middle School or High School. I gave you the reason - basically because it will lead to the elimination of school sponsored programs and DECREASE opportunities for kids. You are giving states reasons to elimate funding for extra-curricular activities and without state funding, who is going to pay for it and why would you pay for it when there is a club team that apparently does a better job?

Wrestling is more than just a unique sport. Wrestling is the greatest sport known to mankind. My rationale is not to deprive kids of choices. My rationale is to ensure that wrestling programs can be preserved as an extention of the school curriculum. We are one of several sports and they all want more time during the school year. We are fortunate to have the ability to coach our kids as much as we want through the summer without penalty. If we make exceptions here and there, then all sports will want exceptions here and there and eventually the integrity of interscholastic school competitions are nonexistent.

This isn't about fairness. You are not being asked to have your quicker wrestlers wear ankle weights during practice to slow them down. This is about supporting the school teams, so yes, that means committing to the program's coach and school.

If you don't think I care about our sport and that I don't want to allow opportunities for our kids to get better, then quite frankly, you don't know a thing about me.

A newly released 2013 annual rankins from Education Week has our schools ranked 37th in the country based on 13 indicators, such as high school graduation, family income and preschool and kindergarten enrollment. Clearly, we have bigger fish to fry than a handful of exceptional wrestlers who feel they must compete in both programs in order to successfully advance their educations.