Doug,

"Maybe so" is all I can say to your comment about the middle schools shifting their seasons. But I wouldn�t count on it. So if we move our schedule around in such a way that is in conflict with some middle school seasons we will in effect be making the kids/parents choose one or the other. Depending on those choices the schools options on how to react are wide ranging.

1) They could choose to compete with us for the athletes and they could be upset that we are competing with them. Whatever kids they are successful retaining will in effect drive down our numbers.
2) If we are successful in getting kids to wrestle club instead of for Middle School teams it could lead to some Middle School programs being eliminated due to lack of participation. This would in effect eliminate some kid�s from the HS pipeline that do not have the means compete at the club level (or just don�t want to).
3) They could move there season.

Of the three things that could happen, two of them are not good for USAWKS participation numbers and/or could negatively impact getting kids exposed to wrestling in the 2-3 formative years before they get into the HS room.

The main point of this post is to say we should go into any changes with our eyes wide open.

There are numerous reasons that the MS seasons are when they are (even if we don't agree with these reasons or the logic behind them we need to understand what they are)....some include;

1) Facilities availability (sharing facilities with other programs)
2) Coach availability (sharing coaches with other programs)
3) Desire of the local communities

If the Middle School schedule was prime to change then change would happen with our without outside pressure. I don�t think it�s safe to assume that "anything" we do will �force� the Middle School Leagues to do anything and we need to be prepared to deal with the consequences of our actions.

Mark Stanley