There is absolutely no reason that a kid, whether he is with a middle school or high school program at the time, should not be allowed to go to an open tourney to see how he "measures up" against top level competition. Obviously, I wouldn't like it if our best kid left town at regionals or state, but I doubt if there was ANY kid that would do such a thing.

Does noone here think that the kid is doing the team a favor by making himself better at that tough tourney? Steel sharpens steel. And if a kid on our high school or middle school team sharpens his blade against some studs at a national level, or even an instate tourney that presented a tough matchup, rather than pin his way thru the Joe Blow Invitational, I am all for it.



Noone gives a hoot, nor remembers, who won the Joe Blow Invitational. But they always remember who won the state title, both individual and team.........