Kansas Wrestling Forums General Discussion Kids Folkstyle THE PROBLEM that everyone should be trying to fix!

Gymnastics season is 7 months (Nov. thru May) if you are an upper level gymnast and you make it all the way to Nationals. I say, if you think wrestling is too long, don't wrestle the whole season. Start a little later or quit earlier. You can make it as long or short as you want.

I have coached at the high school level and the kids level; I open with that statement in hopes of adding some credibility to this reply. I'd hate for all of the hard working volunteer coaches at the kids level to think that I didn't know your troubles and commitment to this sport.

I agree with Kit on this, and several other posters, that the kids season is too long for most of our wrestlers. When running the kid's club, a very well respected high school coach explained to me that it was my job to ensure all of the kids learned basic skills and enjoyed the sport. Sure, I could work on some advanced skills with the older kids, but my main purpose was to instill a love for the sport. If a wrestler learns to enjoy the hard work and commitment, then they will become a good wrestler in time. Too many times at the high school level I see good little league kids burn out before they get to me due to the long seasons, or they have learned that wrestling is just something you do because mom and dad expect it because they went to every tournament every weekend.

This post is not meant as a slight to any parent who pushes their kids to go to tournaments every weekend, but I'd like to end with one more comment from that high school coach I worked for: Kid's wrestling should be about fun, not national titles. Great athletes become great athletes because they have that intrinsic drive, the average athlete becomes great because they love their sport.

Most people will not stop wrestling until state is over. It is not as easy as start later or quit earlier. Human nature is to keep up (start early) and finish the season (quit later).

I think folkstyle season is way too long for kids and parents. Who can really afford $15 entry fee and the amount of gas it takes to travel every single weekend for 5 months. I don't know how my dad ever did it (maybe because it was cheaper back then, I don't know).

It'd be nice to see Kansas's folkstyle season line up better with the rest of the nation's, so people didn't have to choose whether or not to travel to nationals a week after they've gone to Topeka, miss out on various national folkstyle tournies (Brute), and miss out on great early season freestyle/greco tournies (USA Regionals).

End folkstyle right before High school qualifiers begin (before League/Regionals), have a couple week break until March, then hit freestyle and Greco or baseball when they should be starting. Instead, half of the wrestlers have to catch back up from folkstyle and the other half are totally burnt.

Actually most competitive leagues of most sports for kids will last as long as folkstyle wrestling season or longer. Competitive swimming for little guys is year round, baseball goes longer then 5 months if the kids are playing fall ball, kids football can go 5 months, gymnastics, volleyball, it goes on & on. One big difference with wrestling compared to baseball or football is the fact that you can take as much time off as you want, as long as it's not in March.

You make choices. When my son was younger, we quit wrestling before subs. It was just too long of a season for him at that age and that was fine with him and us! Now, he wants to finish out the season endng with state! He plays soccer next. That season has already begun but he wants to miss practices and games until state is over. These are the choices he/we make. Anyone else could do the same. Whatever is right for their kid. There are a lot of sports that are year round.

I agree gymmom. I have 4 boys-1 HS, 2 MS and 1 Elem.School. They all have made their own choices to wrestle or not wrestle. Our HS is a 2 time state qualifier in HS--but chose to sit out kids this year for a band trip he wanted to go on. One of our MS is a 2 time kids state qualifier, finished his MS season and was on the mat the next day for kids--his choice. Our other MS sat out 2 seasons before he decided he wanted to try it again. Our Elem School kid is just as competitive as our HS-so the more he wrestles the happier he is. We watch for the signs of burnout and take weekends off so we can all go watch one of the two older kids. The two youngest ones really enjoy this and I think that is what keeps the fire in them. If they told me tomorrow that they were done for the season-I would agree--and then sleep in on a Saturday!!!!!

Wrestling season is no longer than most other sport seasons...however what I see is that sub-districts, districts and state are held during Spring Break! Many families have to choose between a trip and wrestling and many just aren't willing to choose wrestling.

I agree with you Beeson. I haven't taken him to any college events yet, but we have attended some of the H.S. duals so he can see a little into the future. I love it when he tells me what moves he is seeing used on the mat and he knows the names and faces of the highschool boys. I would really enjoy taking him to some college matches soon.

My son is 12 and has been wrestling for 6 yrs. Ever since he started he has wanted to attend every tournament available, he loves the sport and has never complained about it being too long, me on the other hand is ready for it to be over by subs. I would like it to be a shorter season but dont think we should cut out the highschoolers, we have quite a few that look forward to the kids season. I think highschool kids get better compitition in kids wrestling than in H.S., you got 1A going against 4A 6A ect.ect. which only makes them better. I hope we can figure something out w/out leaving out the H.S. kids!

I disagree with the wrestling season being compared to some of the other elite sports where only a small portion of the students in Kansas participate. If I had a son who was totally committed to wrestling, I could have him wrestling year-around too. If I had a son that was totally committed to baseball, again, he could start practice in the fall, do tournaments over the winter and join his high school team in the spring and another group in the summer. So, I guess you could say that baseball and wrestling both have the same season. BUT, for the majority of kids, the season in baseball usually starts in the spring and ends in the summer. You can't compare the elite athletes or elite clubs schedule to a general club like Kids Wrestling. We can all find examples of some sports that have a longer season than wrestling. But we are not talking about those sports. What we are talking about is why kids do not finish the season as it is and/or why we see such a dramatic drop-off in the number of kids as their age progresses.

Does anyone have stats on what the drop-off rate as kids get older is in some of the other sports are? I quit basketball after 3rd grade, not because the season was long(it wasn't) not because my parents pushed me(they didn't) I quit because I wasn't good & I didn't like it! Look,kids start wrestling at an early age. Maybe, just maybe, kids are trying all kinds of different sports at these young ages to see which ones they like & maybe the kids that stop wrestling stop because they do not like to wrestle... What am I thinking? That is way too logical. They are quitting because the season is too long. Yep, that's definately it.

There are kids who quit because they don't like the sport. No one is questioning that. But maybe, just maybe you can also acknowledge that some of the kids quit because the season is too long and/or they suffer burnout.

I agree that kids burn out. I think a good percentage of those kids will burn out regardless of when they start & stop practicing each season. Wrestling is a tough, physically & emotionally draining sport. Kids have to learn to sacrifice before they probably should. Some of those scarifices are not worth the rewards for some of these kids. The kids have pressure put on them to perform. Pressure from coaches to execute moves properly, from parents for little Johnnie to be the next Dan Gable, from there peers at the tournaments. IMO, that is a lot for a kid that hasn't even reached puberty to deal with. Maybe instead of shortening the season...... here i go...putting my neck out there...... start kids in wrestling when they are a bit older.....maybe start them at 10 years old instead of 3 or 4. Imagine being 16 & never remembering life without wrestling. Imagine wrestling 10/under & it being your 7th year at a sport!! That is more extreme to me then when each season starts & stops. Shoot, if you start the kids at 10, by 12 or 13 they may be wanting to take it up a notch & wrestle year round due to maturity rather then quitting because that is all they can remember ever doing.

I think you will find in many instances it is the parents who burn out first because the season is too long.

After sitting through our sons fall baseball games this past year (first year kids pitch) I would gladly do over a season of wrestling and I'm sure our son would say the same thing! Our first year of wrestling we were practicing and doing what seemed to be a tournament every weekend. Now on our 3rd year and practicing 3xweek we ask our son what tournaments he wants to do and let him decide yes or no. I think that has helped him with not getting burned out. Last year he wanted to quit wrestling right before subs and then decided a week later he wanted to wrestle in subs and we got him back in the wrestling room and he went on to be a State Qualifier. We have not hear him once complain or want to quit early this year!

My bank account is burnt! It will be glad when the season is over!

Burnt, my bank account is torched, gonna have to sleep in car at district & state lol.

Well said Beeson, My son loves to wrestle, he's already talking about freestyle and baseball, and wrestling camps. The season is only as long as you let it be, in high school I wrestled all year long, the football coaches would flip when I came to practice in full pads and sweats just to make weight that weekend, wrestling is a sport where its either all the way, or watching from the stands and that takes mat time, take a tournament off now and then, alwalys go to practice thats where you get better.

Jake Keplar

coachbill sounds like you have the money for gas to make it to both, i will have to siphon gas to make it to sub districts lol or my wife is going to have to take another job, glad she does not read these comments i make, or i would forget about the gas , the shoes would be doing alot of walking.