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How do we keep them in the sport of wrestling longer so they are life long supporters of wrestling?

Estimates by age group that started the Kansas Kids state tournament series through a sub-district - using track wrestling data. High School Numbers were estimated using subs and district numbers. It would be interesting to see what the participation rate in the state tournament series is compared to the number of card holders by age group.


377 - 6 & Under State in Salina (Open Tournament) - Trackwrestling
863 - 8 and under (Using all the Subdistrict numbers - this includes some 6 year olds as well) - Trackwrestling
758 - 10 & Under - Trackwrestling (Using subdistrict numbers)
705 - 12 & Under - Trackwrestling (Using subdistrict numbers)
710 - 14 & Under - Track Wrestling (Using subdistrict numbers) (Includes some high schoolers)
463 - HS division - trackwrestling (Using district and subdistrict numbers) (possibly 15 an older)


In a study of youth participation in sport Seefleldt, Gilliam, Blievernicht and Bruce (1978) reported a progressive decline in participation after age 12 for both males and females, and the rate of attrition in youth sports has been estimated to be approximately 33% per year (Petlichkoff, 1996; Saap & Haubenstricker, 1978, cited in Burton, 1984).



1) Participation and Attrition of Children in Kids of Steel

http://www.mun.ca/educ/faculty/mwatch/Tim's%20paperParticipation%20and%20attrition%20of%20children%20in%20Kids%20of%20Steel.pdf




2) Examining Adolescent Sport Dropout and Prolonged
Engagement from a Developmental Perspective

http://extranet.nuorisuomi.fi/download/a...perspective.pdf

3) Effects of Enhancing Coach-Athlete Relationships on Youth Sport Attrition.

http://web.a.ebscohost.com/abstract?direct=true&profile=ehost&scope=site&authtype=crawler&jrnl=08884781&AN=20735197&h=mwP%2f%2bj3TvmvmDLzS9zf1NJdn0VtTXacA2Yktm5nwr2zuycRE612D9MdmqKxKDtBY%2fOnSGwzGe7xTWN6EfNFOJA%3d%3d&crl=c

Abstract: A field experiment was conducted to examine the impact of the Coach Effectiveness Training program on athlete attrition. Eight Little League Baseball coaches attended a preseason sport psychology workshop designed to facilitate desirable coach-athlete interactions. A no-treatment control group consisted of 10 coaches. Children who played for both groups of coaches were interviewed before and after the season and were contacted again the following year. At the end of the initial season, children in the experimental group evaluated their coaches, teammates, and the sport of baseball more positively than children who played for the control-group coaches. Player attrition was assessed at the beginning of the next baseball season, with control-group youngsters withdrawing at a significantly higher rate (26%) than those in the experimental group (5% dropout rate). There was no difference in mean team won-lost percentages between dropouts and returning players, which indicates that the attrition was not due to lack of team success.

Last edited by smokeycabin; 04/01/14 10:12 AM.
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Yo uth Spor ts i n Am eric a: A n
Ov ervi ew*
Ve rn D . Se efel dt, Mart ha E . Ew ing
MIC HIGA N STA TE UNI VERS ITY

https://www.presidentschallenge.org/informed/digest/docs/199709digest.pdf

TA BLE 2 0 .3
Pe r cen t of pa r tic ip an ts, by ag e, wh o in dica ted th at th ey wi ll n o t p l ay n e xt
ye ar , a sp or t th ey p l ayed th is y e ar .
Sp or t Ag e
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Ba seba ll 8. 5 12 .5 14 .9 14 .0 13 .9 13 .8 9. 7 6. 6 2. 7
Ba sket ball 5. 0 6. 8 11 .5 13 .8 19 .4 18 .6 11 .5 8. 3 3. 3
Fo otba ll 3. 3 8. 1 9. 6 12 .1 14 .8 17 .7 13 .4 13 .3 5. 6
Gy mnas tics 10 .6 17 .1 17 .1 15 .0 13 .2 11 .9 5. 7 3. 9 1. 7
So ftba ll 6. 3 11 .1 13 .5 12 .5 15 .8 16 .9 10 .0 8. 2 2. 7
Sw immi ng 9. 7 14 .7 12 .8 12 .1 14 .1 11 .3 10 .9 8. 3 2. 5
Te nnis 6. 0 12 .0 11 .6 14 .6 12 .3 16 .0 10 .5 8. 8 5. 3
Vo lley ball 2. 9 5. 4 10 .0 12 .6 22 .2 18 .5 13 .4 10 .2 2. 9
Wr estl ing 6. 2 7. 6 9. 2 9. 7 12 .9 17 .7 12 .9 15 .2 6. 6
Ic e Ho ckey 2. 9 6. 7 11 .5 19 .2 15 .4 10 .6 15 .4 12 .2 4. 8
Source: Ewing, W. & Seefeldt, V. (1989). Participation and Attrition in American Youth
Sports. Report to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, North Palm Beach,


Last edited by smokeycabin; 04/01/14 10:24 AM.
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First of all, don't use the word Attrition. 90% of the people will not know what it means or will they care to look it up. You will lose numbers of those willing to read this just because of that. wink

Second, ALOT of High School wrestlers are DONE after High School Season is over. The reasons for kids losing interest is not a sport problem, it is a parental problem. We lose most after 8U because it is a tough sport. The kids tried it and it is too hard so they move on to another sport, usually basketball. The decline is minimal from 10U to 14U. This HUGE drop in the High School Division is due to several options for the kids. 1) High School Season is over, so they move on to baseball and track. 2) Girls, they are off chasing girls at this age and don't want to go to another wrestling tournament. 3) They just want a break. They have been wrestling since September or October. Five months is plenty of wrestling for most kids.

There is always room for improvement, but I don't see a real problem here. Just because they are not wrestling does not mean they are not supporters. We only had one High School Varsity wrestler participate in Kids State, but we had 50% of our varsity show up to practice with to help and 70% showed up at Districts to watch and coach the little guys. Just because they were not wrestling does not mean they were not supporting wrestling.


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This is a subject that concerns me quite a bit as my goal as a coach is to eventually have my kids want to become successful high school wrestlers. So after reading this, I thought I'd look at some of the numbers as well. According to track wrestling, the number of wrestlers that competed in high school regionals this year:

6A: 383
5A: 387
4A: 657
321A: 657

This results in a total of 2084 wrestlers competing in high school regionals. This number also does not account for any JV wrestlers as there were quite a few full teams in both 5A and 6A. I think it would be great for some one to check on these numbers for accuracy.

What do these numbers help to prove? I don't know.


Jeremy Will
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Those numbers are not too alarming to me. I believe there are only 32 teams in 5A and 6A. That means there were 448 slots to be filled. Subtract Illness, Discipinary Issues, and not having enough wrestlers to fill some of the unnecessary weights, I think the numbers are pretty good.

Actually if we could get KSHSAA to cut it down to 2 classes, Big and Small, we would have every weight filled and every weight would be competitive. The watering down and making everyone feel like a winner is what is hurting our numbers in High School.


Unnecessary Roughness is Necessary
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Originally Posted By: smokeycabin
How do we keep them in the sport of wrestling longer so they are life long supporters of wrestling?

...


I know that I am going to sound like a broken record on this concept but I really believe if there are better opportunities in college wrestling with more college wrestling programs, more scholarships, and better scholarships that will help keep young wrestlers and their families more committed long term to wrestling. That is why I am a supporter of the Kansas College Wrestling Fund and I urge everyone in the Kansas wrestling community to contribute to the Kansas College Wrestling Fund.


Vince Nowak
Kansas College Wrestling Fund Supporter
Please join the fight with your contributions


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