Originally posted by bigosteve:
Still say keep the 16 & Under and add the 6 & Under, every time there is a poll on this the overwhelming majority of people vote for this option. Yet, no one making decisions seems to be listening.
There have been several posts on this subject and thought that BOS made a decent point here. Let me explain, here is the numbers of registered USA Wrestlers in Kansas:
6 & Under - 1,654
7 & 8 - 1,555
9 & 10 - 1,433
11 & 12 - 1,194
13 & 14 - 626
15 & 16 - 101
over 16 - 29
It is certain that the numbers for 15 & 16 and over 16 will go up with the conclusion of the High School Season and the beginning of the Freestyle / Greco Season.
That said, it is obvious that the largest membership of USA Wrestlers in Kansas does not receive all of the full benefits if considering that the State Tournament is one of the benefits, which I believe it is. I support the incorporation of a 6 & Under state for one primary reason; BOS is absolutely correct, when polls in the past have been put out, the overwhelming majority of individual members of Kansas USA Wrestling supports 6 and under being involved in the state tournament.
I believe that the additional volunteer base will help make up for additional volunteers that are needed, and provide additional revenues to take care of the additional costs. I also believe that if done correctly that you can include 6 & Under as well as keep the 16 and under, especially if using one of the proposals presented above, a single Jr. High Age division, and a single High School Division, in some ways this would also provide a sort of Grand State format for Kansas. The room that is currently used for weigh in's in Topeka could be used for additional mat space if needed. I know there is a cost to this, but remember more kids, more parents, more wrestlers, more fans, equals more revenues to pay for the additional costs.
A couple of other points and I'll let the debate continue. By the way, I really don't want to offend anyone here. I have a concern as to who should be making these decisions and that those making the decisions vote the way the majority in their districts choose as opposed to their own concerns. That is a part of the responsibility of representative representation. I would hope that individuals would seek appropriate information from those in their districts before placing a vote. The process is again pretty easy. The forums for example allow polls to take place and again, if one is placed here I believe we will see that easily over 60% of persons voting in that poll support the incorporation of 6 & under at the state tournament. Lastly, it should be clear that I don't have a child in this age group, my son is quite a bit older now and I will likely never have a son in this age group, hopefully someday a grandchild but never again a son. I have been involved in the sport for some time now and believe that the getting “burned-out” argument just don’t hold much water to me. For some kids, when pressure is placed on them by the coach and parents, that is certainly so, but that “burned-out” feeling can happen for a 1st year wrestler starting in Jr. High. Kids are actually pretty resilient and the truth of it is that, for many, to have one chance to wrestle at the big show, is better than never having the chance at all.
By the way, there are those that I have a great deal of respect for like Coach Lemon that obviously disagree with me, I am okay with that and won't loose any respect, we just disagree.
