well, if i had it my way KU would have a D-1 wrestling program, but i am not in charge.
as for all wrestlers playing football, if they are not playing football then they should be running cross country or playing soccer. i have seen plenty of 'one sport wonders' who would have been a contributor to another sport but for one reason or another did not participate. the first week of practice is an essential part of the season, it allows you to review basic techniques and sets the tone for the rest of season.

I don't think we will have to worry about it. The few high school coaches I've talked to so far are not receptive to releasing their kids to miss the first week of practice.

Fortunately it is not the coaches decision.

If I choose to allow my child (student athlete) to participate in a pre-season tournament prior to attending any high school practice session - the coach is junk out of luck.

The coach will not dictate anything to me, or my child, prior to my student athletes participation in the school program.

I can't speak for all districts but I can say that is not how it works in our school. Plus, our team has special exercises for those who miss practice regardless of the reason. Those that have seen or done the those exercises tend not to want to miss a practice.

I can assure you that your district follows KSHSAA rules and your coach, athletic administration and local BOE are well aware they have absolutely NO control over an athlete prior to their participation in a high school activity.


I am not certain this situation would pass the legal litmus test, and if the administration would allow this discipline if the matter is pressed.

I would be very hesitant to punish an athlete for participating in an activity prior to participation in the high school activity. If the athlete misses practices after choosing to participate with the high school that is another matter entirely.

It is still up to coach's discretion as to who participates at the varsity level. I know there are wrestle offs, but the right to challenge is up to the coach's rules.

As an example, a 2 way football starter missed the 4 days of practice prior to school starting and was not allowed to suit up for the 1st game. The coach was notified well in advance and the reason for missing was the athlete was out-of-town at Philmont Scout Ranch hiking over 70 miles through the mountains (conditioning) and then to pass his Eagle Scout Board of Review.

In our school the participation in extra-curricular activities is a privilege. Students are allowed to participate at the discreation of the administration and coaches. The coaches decide when mandatory participation is required and the punishment for missing. I would never even think of attempting to remove that authority from them.

Unfortunately there are some coaches out there who put their own egos in front of what is best for their individual student athletes. This is consistent with the KSHSAA party line "Our rules reflect the desires of the voting membership." Why would anyone who is passionate about wrestling want to preclude an athlete from participating in a competition for no real reason. If you go to the CK Kickoff then you have been working out so missing the first week of HS practice is no big deal. If a coach doesn't want to put his best wrestler on the mat then it is time to find a new coach (unless there is good reason, I totally disagree with pulling a kid from a sport when the kid is doing something constructive with his time such as mentioned in the above story).

As fas as Jayhawk's case. I am not sure if there is a problem is a athlete wants to only focus on one sport?? If you wrestle and play baseball it is good to have break in the fall and that doesn't make you a one-sport wonder. Jayhawk, that is a strange argument you wish to make

Because the coach has the entire team to concern himself with, not just one individual wrestler. While attending some tournament in BFE might be beneficial to that one wrestler (IMO it would not), that same wrestler could be helping his team get better by practicing with a lesser wrestler. As the one known wrestler has indicated in this thread, the week of practice with his team was much more beneficial than attending a tournament.


I would say that if a coach doesn't understand this IS a team sport it is time to "find a new coach"!

How does this situation negatively impact the "team"? How many members of the "team" will be on the mat at any one point in time? Come on sporto this is a "quasi" team sport. It is an individual combat, one-on-one competition between two single competitors. Honestly, there is NO WAY that missing the first week of practice to compete in a tournament hurts the team or the individual. I guarantee you that if someone elects to do so they are practicing somewhere or they wouldn't want to compete.

Sporto, if your football team is in the playoffs your wrestlers who are football players have to miss wrestling practice so they can practice and play football. So are you going to say, "It is okay for the wrestling "team" and the wrestler to miss practice for a football game but it isn't okay to miss it for wrestling tournament." Sporto, not even you can make that statement make sense...

I believe, in this sport more than any other high school activity, that a coach walks a fine line in his treatment of his athletes. Our sport allows us to have high rates of individual success, while team success may be limited depending on how many of those individuals are experiencing those high winning percentages. Using the CK as an example, would I punish an athlete for missing the first week of practice to attend such an event? NO. Would I have them doing extra workouts after practices (drilling, conditioning, etc.)? YES. Not as a punishment, but as a way to demonstrate to his teammates that he valued the work that his teammates put into that week. He would be assinged a workout partner for eash session and be asked to work with some lesser skilled wrestlers so that they would benefit from his expertise.
I would hope my practices and coaching would convey to my athletes that no one person is more important than the team. Better, maybe, but not more important. I would assume that the athlete that missed the first week of practice would understand this as surely he has come to understand a team concept. His teammates would accept and support his endeavor prior to him attending practice, just as he would support and acknowledge their accomplishments by putting in a little extra work. Wrestling is a team sport due to the need for competitive workouts in the practice room.
As for the comment regarding coaches ego's and how they are a reflection of KSHSAA hiding behind the voting body's will, I think that point of view is a little skewed. I would ask that anyone who believes that should attend the KWCA clinic in Salina and find out how many coaches are not interested in making Kansas wrestling nationally renowned at all levels.
This post is not intended to be an attack on anyone or any team's policy. Team policy is written by each coach, and possibly building administration, as to what they feel is best for their athletes. While not every policy is the same, or agreed with, there are a few things parents can do. First, talk with the coach and determine why the policy is the way it is. Hopefully, you can then get a better grasp on the policy or possibly find a way to work it out. If that fails, then you can always discuss the policies with administration at the building or board levels. Either way, you would have an answer to this quandry.

Both I and the wrestler in one of the previous posts indicated exactly how it negatively impacted the team. If you choose not to agree that is your opinion.


I guess that is why you are not a high school wrestling coach.


You are correct about that, but then again I often can't make sense of your statements! I don't know why you allow yourself to be associated with wrestling if you have so little respect for the people doing this job of coaching our students.

We need more coaches like mawcoach and less forum contributors like Sport0.

I reviewed the entire post and I haven't found any
"wrestlers" pointing out how going to a tournament is going to hurt the team and Sport0, as usual, you don't really have a point or any data just an opinion.

Very few high school wrestlers will move on to wrestle in college. For most kids, the best thing about participating in high school sports is being part of a team and school spirit. Even if you miss the first week of wrestling practice for football playoffs, you are still part of your high school.

I have seen how high school wrestling functions as a non-team sport when the focus was on a couple of superior wrestlers and the rest were just there. I have also seen how a different coach took a group of new wrestlers and built a successful team. The camaraderie and character development will have a lasting impact on their lives way beyond wrestling

The individual must have deleted his post. To paraphrase his post, he said he had participated in CK and the first week of practice was much more difficult and beneficial to him.


You mean as opposed to all the "data" you offered? My point is let the coaches coach and stay out of their way. And when they have a different approach or opinion on how to do things, that doesn't automatically make them lazy or egotistical.

Lancer hit the nail on the head with this one. High school is the only time 99% percent of the population will ever get to be part of an athletic or non-athletic competitive team of any kind. In MY opinion every student in the school should participate in a sport/activity every season, you only get 12 seasons, so make the best of it. going to compete by yourself is not the same as being part of a team.

I would put a different slant on it. I would think the other wrestlers and coach should put a positive perspective on this, not a negative of "this kid is getting out of practice for a week or a prima donna". To me it should be "we have a kid who is so committed to wrestling that he has been working out for over a month early, and is traveling to test himself early against the best competition he can find." This should help set the tone for how hard work and extra work sets us up for wrestling and life success. This can be done in a very positive way. I will tell you the kids don't see this as a "prima donna" unless the kid is just a jerk, and that would be the case with or without the first week of practice. I would suggest most of the team would respect a kid who on his own time works countless hours to get better and in the long run,help their team. These are usually the same kids running in the morning on their own, etc. Not prima donnas.

24/7

Good point Mike. It is obvious that a kid that wants to compete at a tournament like CK, is not trying to avoid a week of practice. It will also be obvious to his teammates very quickly where he stands as a team contributor. The type of kid that wrestles at CK is usually the kid that wrestles through July of each year, when most of his friends quit wrestling at the end of February.

While I understand and have no problem with a wrestler reaching for that extra weekend, I would personally want my son at the team's first practice. There are opportunities already to get 15-20 matches in before November 12th.

The real sad fact is that many of the kids who will be participating will be practicing with their HS teams because their state organizations permit them to wrestle in open tournaments. It is too bad that could not be the case for all those who want to practice and compete in a great tournament. The 1% that Jayhawk pride speaks of.

The CK is a great preseason tourn and a lot of NE Oklahoma kids will be there and it is very tough and a great opportunity for anyone that could get there and wrestle in it. However there is no way that it can replace what will be gained during the first week of a high school practice. Any one that believes it is in their athletes best interest to participate in the CK and forego the first week of HS practice, has probably not been in a HS program.

The real issue is why can't we take our kids to an open tournament after a good week of HS practice...that is the problem that needs to be addressed.

I would load some kids and go if we could.