Length of kids season in any sport including practices.
I have included some sports medicine articles below.
Preseason and post season activities. In my mind I have the kids season from Late November/Early December to the end of March is that long enough? Of our state participants maybe 200 to 300 train year round folkstyle, freestyle and greco, camps and clinics. How much time does the body need to recover or develop or just grow each year??

Any thoughts on the number of competitions 50-100. 100-200 matches???? In addition, kids mature at different rates.
So some kids can handle more than others that are the same age.


2 Articles Below - pretty lengthy.

Dr. Gwenn Is In
2007 #4
Youth Sports: Take A Closer Look At The Game Plan
Curt Schilling has one. So does Manny, Mia Hamm, Tom Brady, and college athletes. What about your young athlete? What is the mystery thing? An off season.

#1 Avoid Injuries: The Importance of an Off-season
And it is a mystery. It’s a mystery why pros have one and youth athletes don’t. It’s a mystery why coaches and parents refuse to acknowledge the reams of data proving youth sports are out of control. And, it’s an ever bigger mystery why community based coaches, and parents, fail to heed the cries of these athletes whose bodies and minds are screaming out that enough is enough by record numbers of injury rates and emotional burnout.
The concept of an off season is simple. Work hard while in season but work differently off season. That’s why you see so many pros playing golf off season! Brian Grasso, Executive Director of the International Youth Conditioning Association (www.iyca.org) notes “The off-season is important, so much so that true athletic development and the ascension to becoming a better athlete isn't possible without one.”
“The key”, notes Grasso, “is to make sure that people understand the notion of off-season not as completely devoid of exercise or even competition, but more accurately a re-characterization of the activity stimulus that young athletes encounter. Simply put, play a different sport. Participate in no organized sports, but remain informally active.”
Eric Cressey, strength and conditioning specialist at Excel Sport and Fitness in Waltham, who has trained all levels of athlete from youth level to elite, shares Grasso’s perspective: "The in-season period is the ideal time to develop the player, but the rest of the year should focus on developing the athlete. This should take place at the Olympic and professional levels making it even more important at the youth levels. The off-season is a time to escape from competition and focus on preparing the body in a general sense for what's ahead."
The proof for the need in an off season lies in the injury rates seen in youth sports. Dr. Pierre D’Hemecourt, Pediatric Orthopedist at Children’s Hospital Boston, has seen “an exponential rise” in overuse and repetitive use injuries over the last decade. Like Grasso and Cressey, he feels lack of free play and cross training are the culprits. To add insult to injury, kids are also not being allowed to heal properly after an injury. The pros have a disabled list. Why not youth sports teams?
#2 Play According to Age: Kids Need Time to Develop
It may help you to conceptualize a child’s developing body like baking a chocolate chip cookie. For the perfect cookie, you need specific ingredients in the right proportion for the cookie to bake correctly. A child’s growing and developing body is similar and needs a variety of ingredients to grow correctly – a balance of foods, physical activity, education, rest time, enrichment, and fun. Miss an ingredient, add too much of an ingredient, and the child won’t “bake” right.
For our kids, today’s level of youth sports participation is like having too many chocolate chips in a cookie – too much of a good thing, particularly in prepubertal kids. Labelling a child as a star athlete before puberty is complete is like awarding a baker the best recipe for a cookie before the taste tests are complete.
During puberty, growth rates accelerate, hormones change strength and physical changes occur and as a result a child’s coordination becomes temporarily awkward. Many kids, in fact, become worse at sports during puberty before settling into their new bodies. All kids have to get used to new height and strength and girls have to get used to a completely new body shape all together.
Bob Bigelow, former NBA player and youth sports activist, is very concerned that too many kids are marginalized as being poor athletes before they’ve been given an opportunity to finish growing and develop. Many of our best known sports stars had their own sports struggles. Did you know that Michael Jordan was cut from his sophomore varsity basketball team? He was only 5’9” at that time. But, over the next two years he grew 8 inches and developed enough coordination while on JV to be on the varsity team as a senior in high school. And, that’s when his true skill started to shine.
Many sports are starting to take a more developmental approach which is why soccer now has shortened fields, and t-balls are used for young baseball and softball. Bigelow would like to see modifications in other sports as well. For example, have a 3 on 3 for youth basketball instead of the 5 by 5 we may be more familiar with from TV. Bigelow is quick to remind parents that what we see on TV is the tip of the iceberg, the most elite. Kids are still developing so they need very different sports structures and experiences. As Bigelow notes, “adapt the game to the kids, not kids to the game”.
The idea is to encourage kids to “play against their last best effort”, as Bigelow puts it, and not focus on specialization until growth is complete, which may not be until the junior year in high school for most teens, or even college. This is no different than majoring in any subject in school. You’d never pick a major without first tasting a smorgasbord of courses. And, even then, you always have a minor or two to keep yourself balanced.
One way to create variety is to expose kids to individual sports that can be enjoyed into adult life without the burden of a team. Golf, tennis and swimming fall into that category and so do baseball and basketball where there are often adult leagues. However, Bigelow cautions, it has to be on the child’s terms. “Kids love wacking balls”, notes Bob. “Let them create their own rules. Give them balls and a racquet and let them decide how to wack them over the net”.
#3 Stay Active: Mix Organized Sports with Downtime
Kids need a certain level of kid-friendly activity for their bodies to develop appropriately as athletes. Otherwise they will end up either underdeveloped, and overweight, or pushed too much, with physical and emotional burnout and injury.
Appropriate levels of activity also impacts youth sports injury rates. Dr. D’Hemecourt explains that many sports have been studied and the injury rate does increase if participation is beyond 15 hours a week for most sports. For example, if little league baseball players play for longer than 9months a year, shoulder injuries rise.
Equally important to the need for physical activity in childhood is the right amount of activity. In fact, appropriate levels of sports participation are actually much less than what kids are currently doing. Youth sports experts like Bigelow and Grasso feel kids in 3rd to 5th grade should be doing 1 organized sport per season for no more than 3 times a week at 90 minute durations. And, all kids should do something active every day informally with friends and family.
#4 Have a Good Leader: An Experienced Coach is Important
Baking a cookie and developing a young athlete do have one important difference: we can bake an outstanding cookie by simply following the recipe. But, coaching involves a great deal more than following a recipe. In fact, it is what is not in the play book that our kids need. Bigelow compares coaching to teaching. “A parent coaching doesn’t make any more sense than one of us teaching English or math because we took it in school.” Just like we have trained and educated teachers, youth sports needs trained and educated coaches. As we all know, today’s community coaches are often well meaning parents whose only expertise is watching ESPN and having played sports as a child.
When in doubt, just have fun.
Sports are in good company in today’s childhood. The same overuse phenomenon is happening in music, dance, art, acting, horseback riding, and just about every activity our kids are interested in. Sports should be coupled with nonsports and everything coupled with downtime. Otherwise, today’s kids will end up incomplete – just like serving chocolate chip cookies sans the chips.
Don’t let your kid become chipless. Give them a chance to absorb all the right ingredients, in the right way, before it’s too late.



Participation in any sport, whether it's recreational bike riding or Pee-Wee football, can teach kids to stretch their limits and learn sportsmanship and discipline. But any sport also carries the potential for injury.
By knowing the causes of sports injuries and how to prevent them, you can help make athletics a positive experience for your child.
Causes of Sports Injuries
Kids can be particularly susceptible to sports injuries for a variety of reasons. Kids, particularly those younger than 8 years old, are less coordinated and have slower reaction times than adults because they are still growing and developing.
In addition, kids mature at different rates. Often there's a substantial difference in height and weight between kids of the same age. And when kids of varying sizes play sports together, there may be an increased risk of injury.
As kids grow bigger and stronger, the potential for injury increases, largely because of the amount of force involved. For example, a collision between two 8-year-old Pee-Wee football players who weigh 65 or 70 pounds (30 or 32 kilograms) each does not produce as much force as that produced by two 16-year-old high school football players who may each weigh up to 200 pounds (91 kilograms).
Also, kids may not assess the risks of certain activities as fully as adults might. So they might unknowingly take risks that can result in injuries.
Preventing Sports Injuries
You can help prevent your child from being injured by following some simple guidelines:
Use of Proper Equipment
It's important for kids to use proper equipment and safety gear that is the correct size and fits well. For example, kids should wear helmets for baseball, softball, bicycle riding, and hockey. They also should wear helmets while they're in-line skating or riding scooters and skateboards.
For racquet sports and basketball, ask about any protective eyewear, like shatterproof goggles. Ask your child's coach about the appropriate helmets, shoes, mouth guards, athletic cups and supporters, and padding.
Protective equipment should be approved by the organizations that govern each of the sports. Hockey face masks, for example, should be approved by the Hockey Equipment Certification Council (HECC) or the Canadian Standards Association (CSA). Bicycle helmets should have a safety certification sticker from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Also, all equipment should be properly maintained to ensure its effectiveness.
Maintenance and Appropriateness of Playing Surfaces
Check that playing fields are not full of holes and ruts that might cause kids to fall or trip. Kids doing high-impact sports, like basketball and running, should do them on surfaces like tracks and wooden basketball courts, which can be more forgiving than surfaces like concrete.
Adequate Adult Supervision and Commitment to Safety
Any team sport or activity that kids participate in should be supervised by qualified adults. Select leagues and teams that have the same commitment to safety and injury prevention that you do.
The team coach should have training in first aid and CPR, and the coach's philosophy should promote players' well-being. A coach with a win-at-all-costs attitude may encourage kids to play through injury and may not foster good sportsmanship. Be sure that the coach enforces playing rules and requires that safety equipment be used at all times.
Additionally, make sure your kids are matched for sports according to their skill level, size, and physical and emotional maturity.
Proper Preparation
Just as you wouldn't send a child who can't swim to a swimming pool, it's important not to send kids to play a sport that they're unprepared to play. Make sure that your child knows how to play the sport before going out on the field.
Your child should be adequately prepared with warm-ups and training sessions before practices as well as before games. This will help ensure that your child has fun and reduce the chances of an injury.
In addition, your child should drink plenty of fluids and be allowed to rest during practices and games.
Common Types of Sports Injuries
Three common types of sports injuries in children are acute injuries, overuse injuries, and reinjuries:
Acute Injuries
Acute injuries occur suddenly and are usually associated with some form of trauma. In younger children, acute injuries typically include minor bruises, sprains, and strains. Teen athletes are more likely to sustain more severe injuries, including broken bones and torn ligaments.
More severe acute injuries that can occur, regardless of age, include: eye injuries, including scratched corneas, detached retinas, and blood in the eye; broken bones or ligament injuries; brain injuries, including concussions, skull fractures, brain hemorrhages; and spinal cord injuries.
Acute injuries often occur because of a lack of proper equipment or the use of improper equipment. For example, without protective eyewear, eye injuries are extremely common in basketball and racquet sports. In addition, many kids playing baseball and softball have suffered broken legs or ankles from sliding into immobile bases.
Overuse Injuries
Overuse injuries occur from repetitive actions that put too much stress on the bones and muscles. Although these injuries can occur in adults as well as kids, they're more problematic in a child athlete because of the effect they may have on bone growth.
All kids who play sports can develop an overuse injury, but the likelihood increases with the amount of time a child spends on the sport.
Some of the most common types of overuse injuries are:
• anterior knee pain: Anterior knee pain is pain in the front of the knee under the kneecap. The knee will be sore and swollen due to tendon or cartilage inflammation. The cause is usually muscle tightness in the hamstrings or quadriceps, the major muscle groups around the thigh.
• Little League elbow: Repetitive throwing sometimes results in pain and tenderness in the elbow. The ability to flex and extend the arm may be affected, but the pain typically occurs after the follow-through of the throw. In addition to pain, pitchers sometimes complain of loss of velocity or decreased endurance.
• swimmer's shoulder: Swimmer's shoulder is an inflammation (swelling) of the shoulder caused by the repeated stress of the overhead motion associated with swimming or throwing a ball. The pain typically begins intermittently but may progress to continuous pain in the back of the shoulder.
• shin splints: Shin splints are characterized by pain and discomfort on the front of the lower parts of the legs. They are often caused by repeated running on a hard surface or overtraining at the beginning of a season.
• spondylolysis: Spondylolysis often results from trauma or from repetitive flexing, then overextension, twisting, or compression of the back muscles. This can cause persistent lower back pain. Spondylolysis is commonly seen in kids who participate in soccer, football, weight lifting, gymnastics, wrestling, and diving.
Overuse injuries can be caused or aggravated by:
• growth spurts or an imbalance between strength and flexibility
• inadequate warm-up
• excessive activity (for example, increased intensity, duration, or frequency of playing and/or training)
• playing the same sport year-round or multiple sports during the same season
• improper technique (for example, overextending on a pitch)
• unsuitable equipment (for example, nonsupportive athletic shoes)
Reinjuries
Reinjury occurs when an athlete returns to the sport before a previous injury has sufficiently healed. Athletes are at a much greater risk for reinjury when they return to the game before recovering fully. Doing so places stress upon the injury and forces the body to compensate for the weakness, which can put the athlete at greater risk for injuring another body part.
Reinjury can be avoided by allowing an injury to completely heal. Once the doctor has approved a return to the sport, make sure that your child properly warms up and cools down before and after exercise.
Sudden exertion can also cause reinjury, so your child should re-enter the sport gradually. Explain that easing back into the game at a sensible pace is better than returning to the hospital!
Treating Sports Injuries
Treatment of sports injuries varies by the type of injury.
For acute injuries, many pediatric sports medicine specialists usually take a "better safe than sorry" approach. If an injury appears to affect basic functioning in any way — for example, if your child can't bend a finger, is limping, or has had a change in consciousness — first aid should be administered immediately. A doctor should then see the child. If the injury seems to be more serious, it's important to take your child to the nearest hospital emergency department.
For overuse injuries, the philosophy is similar. If a child begins complaining of pain, it's the body's way of saying there's a problem. Have the child examined by a doctor who can then determine whether it's necessary to see a sports medicine specialist. A doctor can usually diagnose many of these conditions by taking a medical history, examining the child, and ordering some routine tests.
It's important to get overuse injuries diagnosed and treated to prevent them from developing into larger chronic problems. The doctor may advise the child to temporarily modify or eliminate an activity to limit stress on the body.
In some cases, the child may not be able to resume the sport without risking further injury. Because overuse injuries are characterized by swelling, the doctor may prescribe rest, medications to help reduce inflammation, and physical therapy. When recovery is complete, your child's technique or training schedule may need to be adjusted to prevent the injury from flaring up again.
Reviewed by: Suken A. Shah, MD
Date reviewed: August 2004
Originally reviewed by: Steven Dowshen, MD

Sit your kids down & tell them they dont have to play if they dont want. I dont understand why the complants about the length of Kansas folkstyle season. The tournaments are not mandatory. Ask your kids if they want to go to a tournament, If they say no dont go. I think kansas wrestling is great I dont think we should do any big changes. If Kanasas kids are not in sports what are they doing. Playing X-box,watching TV,overeating,getting fat. Look around at these kids in kansas alot of them look like they need more sports, they are over weight & out of shape. My boys play baseball,football & Wrestle year round. They Love These sports & I do my best to help them to be successful. My rule with them is If you start It you have to finish it. Its not fair to rest of team to start a season & then quit in the middle of it. If you dont want to play let your mom & I know & this will be OK with us. No disrespect smokey I just dont agree with you on this one.

Michael I respect your opinion and we can agree to disagree.
My point is the body needs some recovery periods/healing.
You can not run a car continously without service and rebuidling periods. The body kind of works the same way.

Overuse injuries can be caused or aggravated by:
• growth spurts or an imbalance between strength and flexibility
• inadequate warm-up
• excessive activity (for example, increased intensity, duration, or frequency of playing and/or training)
• playing the same sport year-round or multiple sports during the same season
• improper technique (for example, overextending on a pitch)
• unsuitable equipment (for example, nonsupportive athletic shoes)

The season can be as long as anyone wants to make it as there are wrestling opportunities abound in every month except August. Only a minority of our 8,000 kids are interested in that type of season. The state tournament series needs to be changed for lots of reasons including that it ends too late in the year. This doesn't mean that your wrestler has to stop wrestling but it does mean that for the majority of wrestlers in our organization it will be better. I strongly feel our state tournament is too big now so I think we need to look outside of the box to accomplish two goals: 1) Finish the Kids State series earlier 2) Make the size of the tournament(s) more manageable.

Finish the Kids (6, 8, and 10) with a sub, dist, and state tournament that ends in February. All of these events could be one day events which would make them more economical. Have another state tournament for 12, 14, and 16 after the JH/MS/HS seasons have ended. There would be no need for subs as the numbers don't justify it. Start this series the weekend after HS state. If there are some MS/JH programs extending beyond HS state we need to work with those leagues to end them earlier to permit these wrestlers the opportunity to wrestle for a state title (something KSHSAA doesn't offer). These tournaments would be small enough in size that they could be moved to all four districts. Honestly, the only city big enough to adequately and fairly host the current state tournament is Wichita. Topeka doesn't have the hotel room capacity needed not to mention it is not centrally located. The younger kids should be going to the HS state tournament to see what their long term goals are. We need to join forces and advocate a single site HS state tournament where we all gather annually to celebrate and recognize our wrestlers and the greatness of winning a HS state champioship.

This plan shortens the season for the kids and doesn't eliminate the opportunity for the older wrestlers. I feel it is a win-win. It lets the younger kids, who are involved in soccer, baseball, or whatever other activity feel free to be finished with wrestling but if they are not their are numerous events they can participate in past the state tournament series.

I would never advocate that we MANDATE a shorter season by telling kids are parents that they CAN'T start practice or attend tournaments but I think we have to be cognizant of the fact that for most two or three months of competition is plenty. We have to focus on ways to grow the number of competitors.

looks like there has been a ton of thought put in those comments. Now Will I take back all those bad things we went back and forth about last year and I like your ideas. It is very important for those youngsters to be able to watch older siblings and friends wrestle at highschool state. I coach a young football team and we practice on the same field as the jr high for that very same reason. thats where they want to be in a few years and it works. those kids talk about it all the time. I cant wait until i get the chance to play over there.

I like your ideas Will. I think the wrestling body needs to take a very close look at them and try to implement as many as they can.

To the people who say "you can make the season as long as you want and stop at anytime", I'd like to point to a problem with that rationale. The reason this doesn't work for most parents/wrestlers is because if you start the season later than most, you will be at a disadvantage to others on the matt. And if you stop sooner than others, than that means you will miss out on sub-district, district and state (the ultimate goal for many wrestlers). So in a way, you are kinda forced to start when the club starts and see the season through the end. Now, I agree that you can take weekends off and I strongly suggest people do during the season, but there is still practices to go to. And then if you volunteer your time as a coach or as a parent who actively helps the club - you can't just stop when you want to. I personally think this is why some clubs are having a hard time finding dedicated coaches and parents. There are not that many people who are willing to volunteer 5 months out of the year spending most of that time on a Saturday in a gym.

I myself never wrestled until middle school. But I've been involved in kids wrestling with my son and the club for just six years. But its been a great six years and looking foward to many more. And all I would like to say is "The only people I've ever heard complain about the length of the wrestling season is parents." I've never had a kid come to me in practice and say "I wish wrestling season was over its just to long." Now I've had several parents complain about the length of the season. I look at it like this we love wrestling. He works year round and all he asks me for is a pair of shoes some knee pads and drive him everywhere. OH and work with him at home when he wants help. sounds an awful lot like the same thing we all go thru with school. Only my son complains about having to go to school.

You may not have kids come to you and say the season is too long but what about the drop out/non-return rate? I think several do not return because the season is too long. Kids season is a full month or more longer than the high school season.

Why would we split the state tournament? I still struggle with the size of the tournament and question why we include high schoolers into the program. Don't they have their opportunity in high school to qualify for state? I'm sure this will spawn a lot of feedback.

Now let's talk about the disadvantage this puts some families at if we split the Kids State Tournament. How about the families that have a younger kid(6,8 or 10) and older kids also(12,14 & 16)? You are telling these families in a time of hard times anyway, that now you will have to go to 3 different state tournaments in 3-4 weeks time. Here we are trying to figure out how to keep families from leaving our wrestling ranks, but we offer up an idea that in the long run is just going to cost more money. Truthfully, I like having the Kids State Tournament the way it is. It doesn't interfere with my high school age childs state tournament, and it gives my high school/middle school kids a chance to participate in a format that is similar to qualifying for the high school state tournament, which is needed so our younger participants that are serious about the sport are going to have to get used to. Maybe we as parents should entertain the idea of not allowing our child to participate in tournaments except for ones scheduled in January, February and March. This would keep the tournament participation down to 3 months time, with maybe 2 weeks to 1 month of practice before hand.

As far as high schoolers being allowed in, if it wasn't for our Kids program allowing them the opportunity to wrestle in this type of tournament, we may not have any of the serious sticking it out and maybe advancing on to college.

This may get alot of response, but as everyone says, "Everyone has an opinion." I respect everyone elses opinion on this matter, and this is mine.

6 & Under 1,938
8 & 9 1,703
10 & 11 1,480
12 & 13 1,307
14 & 15 1,095
15 & 16 655
over 16 116
Number one reason for drop out rate "wrestling is hard" My Son wrestled two years before his first win. Every week I listened to parents complain about how they are to have to be there all day. We were home by lunch. But every week he ran to pratice and every saturday he wanted to wrestle. Why I have no idea why he always went back to take his woopin but he did and that always made me proud. Drop outs as you see also grows as they get old I say its because its hard not long

High school KIDS state 1 bracket full of 6,5,4A great competition all those great kids wrestling each other its great. Some of the best don't go to kids state they say its just not fair. If they want better competition they have to travel. But I always enjoy everyone being in one spot. Those who like to watch wrestling you just can't to all the high school state tournaments.

Not all high school wrestlers have been wrestling since they were young children. At our school, we do not have middle school sports. Most of our team first took up wrestling as freshmen. The Kids subs, districts and state tournaments allow these wrestlers to get in more matches and better prepare them to compete the next year in high school.

For 6,000 out of the 8,000 plus wrestlers, 2-3 months of practice and competitions is plenty. I knew the downside to splitting the tournament would be putting the disadvantage on families who have kids in both groups. (I am one of those). There will be pros and cons to every solution. I am convinced we need to change the current format. There are more cons than pros to the current situation. The tournament is TOO BIG.

Come on Will...Let's add the 6U, that will solve all the problems.

I agree with u Beeson.Give those little guys their due......

I was just giving Will a hard time. We definately are not ready to add them at this time. If the tournament was split into 12U-16U, and 6U-10U it might work. Let's work with what we have before we add.

I think the state needs to take a hard look at that though Beeson. The 6u kids are the biggest group. If the State could add them to the state tourny, it would help with the financial downfall the State is having. If there is not enough room then move to a venue that has the room. You could elimanate a few weights in other age groups that had only 4-5 kids at state. Add the 6u kids and you have full brackets for about 10 brackets. The 6u division could be run on a half mat over a 2 day time period which state is.

Adding 6&under has undergone a "hard look" many times. It has repeatedly been voted down by the body of the State clubs.

I am sure, they will look at it again though!

I think there are a lot of issues that our elected officials need to take a "hard look" at this year. I know that no matter what decision is made not everyone will be happy. That is why it is so important for those people to do what is best for the sport of wrestling in the state of Kansas.

If we are in need of additional money then adding the 6U to our state event is a logical choice. I think it also keeps the younger people excited about what true reward is at the end of a tough season, going to THE State Championship Tournament. We encourage our young wrestlers to watch HS events and HS state events then it should be the same for the 6U kids.
Please don't raise the entry fees. The concession prices at Topeka just don't give people much more room to wiggle! LOL!

If adding the 6U to our state event creates a SIZE problem then we will need to look for a new venue or a split style tournament. I think being too large of an event is a great problem to have. I personally would love to look for a larger venue in the Wichita Area but if I have to drive to Topeka or even Kansas City (for the good of the sport) then I say "Load up the Car! It’s Road Trip Time!"! I think there are a lot of pro's to adding the 6U's to our state tournament.

You hear a lot of people talk about the season being too long!
Some say just take time off and some say you have to keep to the grind stone to maintain that competitive edge because everyone else is. Even if you take weekends off then you still have a week of practice.
I say that we should have a Black Out (or Bye) Week in the middle of the season. Do not let any Kansas Club schedule a tournament that week. I would hope that a lot of clubs would follow the same idea and take a week of practice off or at least a much reduced week of practice. Those people that really want to wrestle can look for an out of state event or maybe a duel with another club. At least USAWKS will be taking a true proactive step to reduce "Burnout"!

People also "Debate" the reason why the numbers of our wrestlers reduce each year of age division. Has anyone ever really asked these people why they left the sport? Why can't the state create an Exit Survey? Every year that someone does not renew their USA wrestling card they are sent (to their previous address) a brief Exit Survey. It is a SHORT, self addressed, postage paid survey (or maybe a link to web survey) that asks them the real reason why the stopped wrestling. Maybe add a few other questions in there and also leave an area for comments. I think if we make it that simple and FREE then people will take the time to tell us the real reason why they left the sport.
We can then take this info and start fixing/addressing some of the issues that may truly be out there in our sport.
If we reduced the number of people that left the sport by only a few % each year then this would pay for itself in very short period of time.

Growth of the sport!
Love of the sport!
And the Economics of the sport!

These sound like a great place for them to start!!!

Some say the season is long others say too many kids at State. My opinion is too long take a break,and too many kids at state drop weight divisions, example 37, 40, 43, 46, maybe 49 how many of the 1500+ 8u are 8yrs. and weigh these weights. Something to consider it would eliminate 80 matches and shorten the length of the State tourney. I agree with all Wichita is the place to be more rooms, restaurants, just plain things to do.

I think that EVERY sanctioned USAW weight class should represented at State. I also think that if there are open spots in weight brackets due to not enough kids at that weight from a certain district and there are others available at that weight in one of the other districts then we should use them to fill the bracket. Use them like an alternate.
I also think that 6U kids should not be allowed to wrestle up. I know of kids last year that wrestled in 3 state events. The two 6U events and as an 8U at the State Event.

We need to embrace the size of our event. We need to use the size of it to make venues and cities come running to us!
What would the city leaders of Wichita or Topeka say to the businesses that they represent when those businesses hear that an event of this size has been moved to Kansas City MO. because venues, lodging, the hospitality businesses in those cities failed to embrace/accomodate our event. I would imagine that we have a ton of leverage when it comes to picking a site for our state event. The bigger the event, the more leverage, the better the outcome for everyone!

Sorry for any spelling errors! This was typed on my Treo LOL!