Translating what Jbeidelschies says: You don't graduate high school or college, and walk in the door at XYZ Corporation and become the CEO. It takes hard work, commitment, and loyalty to the company (wrestling) to become top dog.

We as coaches try to let parents know what they are in for, and that it is a marathon, not a sprint. And one of the hard parts is convincing parents that they will have to watch their kids get pummeled by kids that were taught technique that will win them matches at 6u and 8u. Keeping kids out, that have just about had their heads dislodged from their bodies by a headlocking 6u manster, is a tough sell. But oh my is it satisfying the first time one those kids that got muscled around, turns the tables on the headlocker........ Again, this is a lesson that kids must learn. There are always going to be people that are in a hurry to win, no matter how young their kids are.

Smokey, your cause is noble, no doubt. I think where our focus needs to be is making sure that our Novice coaches are teaching technique that wins matches at the 10u, 12u, 14u, HS, and College levels. Focus on the many feel good stories of kids that didn't win many matches as grade schoolers or middle schoolers(Bradley Little for example) that went on to be HS state champions and wrestle in college.

You also have to remember that there are also a LOT of kids wrestling at the highest levels that were also really good at the 6u, 8u, 10u levels, and still are today. The Bo Nickals, Joey McKennas, Bo Jordans, David Taylors, etc. etc. We can't make it "boring" for kids like that at a young age.

While I agree we should not put much emphasis on 6u (and often joke about 6u tourneys being for the "Intergalactic Championship", and tease referees to bring their A games, because this 6u tourney is for all the marbles), we do have to realize that the money that the 6u kids spend helps fund a lot of our older kids' development thru duals and such. So we can't just use them up and throw them to the curb.