I agree that the season IS TOO LONG! And I am scared that every year, there is another club that holds a "preseason" tournament before everyone else and pushes the start date a little earlier and earlier. I remember when my oldest son started, our club didn't have any practices until right after Christmas break. We didn't have to worry about going to tournaments and competing against others who started practicing a month earlier because most of the teams around us started at the same time. Now, we have to start in the beginning of Christmas because other teams do just to stay competitive. It becomes a vicious cycle and before we know it, there will be wrestling tournaments in September with teams starting to practice in August (we already have teams having tournaments in October).

Take a look at the number of kids in kids wrestling. Now, take a look at how many of them leave before they reach high school. Obviously, something is not right. I blame it partly on burnout that occurs because the season is too long. Something needs to be done. Even if that means we have a startup date like in high school sports (no one can practice or have a tournament before that date) and a stop date two weeks after high school state. (instead of three).

Yes, you could take a few weekends off during the regular season but you still have practices...believe me, it gets old quick after you have been doing it for over 10 years.