Every family is different, and I respect that. cost in any sport is always a deterrent no matter how big a family or the overall cost of the sport in question. I was just stating that gas is going to cost the same no matter how you put the 300 miles on the vehicle whether it be in town running all over the place during a week or taking a trip that equals 300 miles overall. This was nothing but a comparison, and especially for families who have several kids doing different activities at the same time where those running all over town activities can rack up the miles rather quickly.
Spending all day at a tournament is not the most enjoyable aspect of wrestling for many parents. This is a great reason for split session tournaments. The culture of the sport needs to adapt somewhat for the good of the sport so that more parents new and old alike are able to squeeze in as many of the activities to their schedules for their kids. Parent involvement in their kids' lives should be a priority for everyone involved.
We have all discussed the length of the season for wrestling as being exceptionally long before, especially if you start doing summer Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling as well. We have also discussed in earlier topics about the specialization of sports and how some sports seem to be going to a year round activity (year-round baseball, soccer, basketball and so on). This can lead to burn-out for whatever sport the kids are involved.
Mom4, you bring out some good points and things that we all need to look at and discuss further.
