Joanna, in my experience, the "novice" title gets abused FAR to often. I have been in Steve Earle's world, and heard the exact same things. If there was in fact some sort of guidelines or tracking system for a wrestler's experience/record, this could all be avoided. But, in Kansas, last season there were over 8,000 kids with USA cards. Tracking records for novice/open is not possible. So, it is totally up to the parents/coaches to control this. Unfortunetly, ABUSE of the opportunity for mat time overrules some people's better judgement.