Positive Experiences - worked with an estimated 1,750 - 2,000
young wrestlers grade school, HS, and College. The kids who won their very first match or did not get pinned for the first time stick with me the most. All the funny things kids say - hundreds or many many stories. The wrestlers who will have many W's in their career you can pick out in their very first practice - the sooner you can get the importance of grades in all these kids heads - the better off they will be. If they apply their selves in the class room as much as coaches expect them to give effort on the mat - they will have hundreds of more opportunities if the do well in the classroom and on the mat. All the great friends, other coaches, parents, officials - to many to count and name. Watching the next generation of coaches and kids coming in is encouraging - it is their turn to carry the torch.

What are these participation numbers from? I figured it out.

"Particpation numbers in 1969/70 226,681
Participation numbers in 2016/17 259,391"


There are an estimated 124,000,000 more people in the good old USA
since 1970 - that is over a third of the current population. I would need to find the ages 5-17 date for both years to do a quick review.
The last decade decline is what needs to be looked into. There is an estimated 28,500,000 more kids ages 5-17 since 1970 - using US census data.



Sean - smokeycabin