There has been a lot of discussion regarding this issue. What do you think?

Check your facts. Kids don't quit just wrestling. They quit football, soccer, baseball, you name it. This is a problem growing up, not wrestling.

I know that they don't just quit one sport. However, it seems to me that I see more kids quitting wrestling at an early age than other sports. My question is this: what reason's have you heard from people as to why they are no longer wrestling? If we know why, maybe we can do something about it?

It is a problem in all sports. I've seen coaches who have let their own kids quit baseball and soccer. It should be a choice the kids make themselves, whether or not they go out for the sport. I tell my kids that I don't care what sport or activity they are involved in, but that they will be invovled in something. I beleive in the old saying that "Idle hands are the devils workshop so to speak". Kids that have too much time on their hands are the ones that get into the most trouble. I also enforce keeping to comittments. Meaning that once my kids start a sport or an activity, they are comitted to it for the duration of the season. If you let them just quit whenever they feel like it, they will never learn anything. I also try to lead by example, meaing that I'm there with them at every practice and at every tournament if it within my power. the key is consistancy.

Kids are no different than adults, they usually quit something when it stops being fun.I think as adults\parents (including myself) we can put too much pressure on our kids to win and that can suck the fun out of anything.

I think there's alot more to it but, I know that my kids don't mind the practicing almost every night, it's the ALL DAY Saturday they don't like. It's takes alot out of the kids (and parents) to travel so much and spend ALL DAY Saturday in a gym.

My 12yr old made the comment at Maize tournment that he wanted to quit, because of the rude comments parents make at the side of the match that he was wrestling, he lost a match and the other people were saying yes thats what i am talking about , and high fives and making a big deal that he got beat.Not a real mature way to act in front of a kid who just lost.And he loves wrestling but there are some out there that ruin it for him.

I think the general trend is for most sports a reduction or quitting once entering Jr. High and High School. I think the primary reason for it is that most teams focus more on winning, have try-outs, etc, so there is a natural reduction in numbers, fewer teams to play for, less spots to fill on the fewer teams, etc. It would be interesting to see the numbers and verification of the numbers that end up quitting and why, but if I had to speculate why, this would be the primary reason. I also believe that more kids in other sports, where there are less opportunities, end up quitting than in wrestling. I coached High School soccer and saw large numbers of kids quit once they got past the kids level, specifically entering the Jr. High and even more so the High School levels. The lack of emphasis on winning in that sport among small kids (they say they don't even keep score, yea like parents and kids themselves don't keep score), would seem to show that the "lack of pressure" in reality don't prevent the drop out rates. By the way, more kids play soccer in America than any other sport, but those numbers drop off in huge numbers at Jr. High and High School. You don't see that sport complaing about the numbers that quit either, instead they talk about it being the #1 participation sport in America.

There is another issue I think that is important. Kids quitting when they are not good enough to make a team is not really that big of a deal. What I mean by this is that the nature of competition will in and of itself reduce numbers. I used to for example play tennis all of the time. However, after I realized I wasn't any good at the sport I just quit, don't even own a racket any more. The exception to this theory for me is golf. I am not that good, but will not give up my clubs. Fortunately, I measure my success in that game is by how many balls I have lost or found.

We came up against this exact situation this year. My oldest son decided that he no longer wanted to wrestle. He said, "It's not fun anymore, and I don't have time to do anything."

He is a great young man, respectful and responsible. He has a 4.0 in school, has participated in every sport this year, and last, was holding down a part time job (Fri. and Sat. nights), and had no time to just be a kid. This is his last year in middle school and because of his scheduling he had no time for school dances, spending time with friends, or anything else for that matter.

As we all know, becoming the best wrestler you can requires ALOT of time and dedication. Sometimes the love of the sport isn't enough to keep you in it. Sometimes the "fun" IS lost.

In hindsight, I wish we (his parents) had backed off a little, maybe let him skip a practice or two, not pushed for tournaments every weekend, done a little more encouraging and a little less criticizing (sp). Of course, this is all easier said than done.

Should anyone truly find the answer, please let me know, as I would love nothing more than to see him enjoy the sport he once loved again.

our oldest son decided last year that he didn't want to wrestle. I was pretty shocked, since he was in his last year of 10 and under and had been wrestling since he was 4. We went along with it and let him make his own choice. He didn't decide to wrestle his season until one week before signup. He has been more determined this season, and has never complained about going to practice yet, since he has decided to do this. He realizes now that he is only doing this sport for himself, and not for us. I did tell him, though, that once he signs up for a sport, and he has to see it through to the end. I think that taking a year off really helped him in what he really wanted, and made him miss it even more. He was a little rusty at first, but now he is doing fine. It's fun for him, now.

... a topic very near to my heart! About 10 years ago, the Michigan Youth Sports Committee commissioned a study on this very topic. They found that 70% of kids are done with competitive sports by the time they reach the age of 12. I don�t know about you but I find that is a significant number.

The question becomes why. Why would 70% of kids, at the age of 12, be done with competitive sports? Their findings were that first of all (as C Lusk stated) sports stop being FUN. Whether we realize it or not, participation in sports is a recreational and social activity. Competition takes the fun out wrestling for a lot of kids.

Second, too much pressure from adults turns kids off. That pressure can be from Daddy, Mommy or coaches. Too often we adults turn a fun activity into a high-stress and competitive one. Are adults setting the standard of �success� too high?

Of course there are other reasons but these two are the most prominent.

As we all know, wrestling is a very physical and mentally demanding sport. Discipline is the key. Ask most any ten year old kid if they think that wrestling is fun. If they answer "yes", I'll bet that they have won several matches and have had some success. Kids will not stay in this sport if they don't have some successes on Saturday's. We as parents and coaches need to fully understand the capabilities of our kids and put them in a position to best give them the opportunity to succeed. I'm not talking about under rating our kids to get them into the novice division or trophy hunting. However, when you have the chance to take a child(who's had little success) to a smaller tournament without all of the usual studs, then do it.This sport is certainly not meant for every child but we as parents and coaches need to figure out what success is for each kid and find a way to make it happen. This is how you will keep more children involved in this sport.

Why do kids quit wrestling??? All you have to do is go to any kids tourney and watch the crowd lining the mat screaming bloody murder at some five or nine year old who is doing his darndest to learn a very tough group of skills and you will have some idea why they quit. They don't quit because they lose, they don't quit because they aren't good at it, they quit because it is absolutely gut wrenching to have to go out there and have that kind of pressure put on you at that age. The better question is why in the world would they ever want to do that in the first place. I wrestled or coached nearly all my life and I sware it is a wonder we can keep any of those kids out for a sport where they are so desperately misstreated by so many people they thought loved them. Just sit and watch and tell me if all and I mean all of those people standing around those mats were in the stands if it would not be a wholey better experience for everyone around. It is a total disgrace and it is killing the sport. Most of those jokers have never been on a mat in anger in their lives or they would have some appreciation for how difficult it is without your parents standing nine feet from you berating you like you were worthless.

1. They get burned out on it
2. They want to do basketball or i guess just
quit because they want to.

I agree with timbob the mental pain of not being successful may push alot of kids away from the sport. Working hard in the practice room through the week, facing tough practice partners then getting beat out on Saturday can end up taking its toll. As coaches and parents we can talk about not putting pressure on kids to win but winning is the name of the game and the kids know it. Nobody likes to lose and hearing that you gave a good effort sometimes isnt enough. When a kid cant hit a baseball and his teammates can after a few seasons if he cant improve or keep up they will most likely move on. There are lots of activities to participate in. Some kids are not atheletes and they figure that out before the parents. Our society puts high value on being an athelete but there are many ways to compete without sweating. When kids give up on a sport there may not be anything wrong with the kid or the sport it might just be that its not their thing.
I will agree with westfahl though that 2 coaches mom and dad and sometimes more in one corner screaming dose not help anything. If all it took was effoft to win I know alot of kids who would win just on that alone but it takes some phsyical gifts also. I think some parents dont know how tough it is to wrestle off your back or not go there, they should try it themsleves. Just because a kid makes a "stand up" look easy dos'nt meen it is. The kid that makes it look "easy" may have a great work ethic and great physical gifts too. That is Not always easy to remember but its a fact that parents and coaches need to keep in mind.
I think kids quit when it stops being fun, either because they cant compete and get tired of losing or thier parents dont have a realistic veiw of thier childs abillity and puts unfair expectations on them.
I see plenty of parents and coaches giving the right kind of support to our young wrestlers every weekend and some of those kids will still quit to try other things. Most people spend their whole life searching for the right thing. When a person dos'nt like something we like we began to think there must be something wrong with them or wrong with what we are doing. Maybe they just dont enjoy it.
Jon Murray
PWC

Because X-BOX is cheap now and it saves the parents alot of money. No travle,entry fee's,and the cost of a USA card can just about buy a new game. Parents don't have to get up in the mornings on the weekends and jr. can just run wild. :-)

I could not agree with anyone more than westfahl, everyone should attend a tourney that they have no rooting interest in, sit for one hour and count how many times you see parents, throwing fits, it will amaze you. The one thing I like to listen for, the parent/coach who sits on the side of the mat and tells their wrestler "get up", no explanation as to how, just "get up". Attending the Clay Center tourney this year, I also saw a dad chastizing his 6 year old in the hall way with the comment "didn't I tell you to stay off your back?" Yeah, great idea but the other dad told his son to put me there!

Alot of parents need to be put in a headlock or a half and spend 30 seconds trying not to be pinned let alone getting off their back. It would be a reality check for many. The person described above needs to go to a highschool or college match and see anybody can be put on their back and stuck. Better yet go to a local college practice and ask to join in. Might change an outlook.
Jon Murray
PWC

In Ted Witulski's article, Dad-dash-Coach, (listed on another post) he comments about how some parents that have never wrestled ... should.

As a couple of guys have posted, if they spent 30 seconds trying to fight off their back, if they had to wrestle 6 matches in one day, etc. they would gain a new respect for their children.

Now put a 10-year-old in a tough competitive situation and have some coach or "parent" bereating their effort, and you will understand why kids quit!

Joe Renfro LCC coach commented to me after our tournument that a parent there should come to their practice and have a go with some of his wrestlers and then go talk about staying off their back with his kid. As parents sometimes its difficult to admit that the opponent our kid is wrestling is just a better wrestler. Effort dose not always win out, sometimes our best isnt enough. If as parents we remember this maybe we can be better teachers. I know this is something I can work on myself.
Jon Murray
PWC