Coach Neil, that is a very good post. You are so right that our job as parents, your job as an educator/coach and even the student wrestlers is not to build champions but to build people. That is so true. I need to print out that last paragraph of your post and hang it up somewhere.

It reminds me of something my boss told me that he had read in a book about John Wooden. Mr. Wooden said something to the effect that there are some players that want to be characters when his main goal for them was to build character. I was reminded of that when reading your last two sentences about us being so concerned about building champions and winning titles that we've lost sight of what should be our true job of building people.

I do not think your were ranting. I just think you were sharing some wisdom with us. Thank you for posting and sharing your wisdom and experience on this topic.