Bockman,
I posted this somewhere else but you might not have read it.

Jack Spates (Head Coach for the University of Oklahoma) would only let his two boys practice wrestling. He did not let them participate in any tournaments as he felt this would not be good for their development. Jeremy, his oldest son, tried to bribe his mother with his own money to get into a tournament. Finally Jack let them start when they were 12 (I beleive). Both went on to win many, many matches and tournaments. Jeremy was an NCAA All American. I only heard this story last summer but it made me take a much more relaxed approach to my youngest son. We, as parents, need to moderate the amount of experience (both winning and losing) so our kids have something to look forward to. We cannot let them have EVERYTHING today or there will be nothing that will drive them tomorrow.

These kids might want to go to state but it is best to dangle that out in front of them as something to stay in the sport to achieve instead of giving it to them today.

The long term goals should be the ones we, as parents, keep our kids focused on. I truly believe this.