I see parents yelling at their kids every single week. Unrealistic expectations are what’s driving kids away, as soon as they’re old enough to stand up for themselves and big enough that Dad/Mom can’t make them do something they won’t. Help your kids by finding value in their performance aside from winning when they lose to higher level wrestlers.
I never wrestled but find myself the parent of a kid who wrestles pretty much year round. He doesn’t like baseball or soccer and is too small for mom to be comfortable with football. If a parent made his kid quit baseball to wrestle freestyle people would think he was crazy. I think it’s just as crazy to try to force my son to stop doing something he really enjoys just for the sake of “balance” or because “I don’t want him to specialize”. Kids want to do sports they want to do. Parents need to just stay out of the way.
