The predominant situation throughout the state is that coaches don't want to spend the extra time outside of the season to make a significant impact. There are definitely exceptions and we all know who they are. They are the same coaches who help kids regardless of the stupid KSHSAA restrictions. If all coaches would, in mass, stand up and push back by helping with youth programs and attending events outside of the high school season what choice would the KSHSAA have? Are they going to suspend a major percentage of the coaches and/or programs? Are AD's all over the state going to fire their wrestling coaches because they worked too hard to improve their wrestler's abilities? I have always beleieved these rules are in place because the majority of coaches and AD's do not want to invest additional time and resources to make their communitie's programs better (not just in wrestling but other sports as well.)
What urks me even more than the KSHSAA restrictions are the schools that will not give access to their wrestling rooms or they charge excessively high fees to clubs to use the facilities and charge the clubs rent for use during a fund raising tournaments. Didn't our tax dollars build these facilities? Don't our tax dollars pay the utilities, custodians, and maintenance?
Each year more obstacles confront our sport and I think it is time we spend some of the USA funds to lobby for less restrictive rules and more opportunities. Why shouldn't our wrestlers be allowed to travel more than 400 miles to compete against the best in the country? Why can't middle school wrestlers compete in USA tournaments if their team is not competing that weekend? What is wrong with wrestling 60 or 70 matches during a high school wrestling season? So what if a coach somewhere in the state wants to devote everything to make his team the best of the best by coaching practices year round, taking kids all over, and coaching them in independent tournaments.
Improvement is needed but I don't know if the focus should be at the kids level. For example:
I know a program where the combined varsity records for individuals was something like 25-125. I invited this coach, his staff, and the middle school coaching staff to attend practices conducted by Tony Purler and Eric Akin. They never did. I invited these same coaches to the Fall Brawl to see what other kids were doing. None of them showed up. The barn is open to anyone but I have seen only a handfull of HS coaches show up.
I agree that all of us can learn and become better coaches but I don't think I am going to buy into the kids programs are hurting the high school fundamentals until I see high school coaches GIVING their time like the dads and volunteer kids coaches. The kids programs are the farm systems. The middle school programs are the farm systems. The JV programs are the farm systems. Summer programs are the farm systems. We need more kids in all of these programs. We need more coaching, more facilities, more opportunities and more funds to fuel all of these areas.
