Smoky,

I am a little confused here.

How is having a tournament which is already going on moved to a different location truly going to affect the brain of a 6 year old?

Last I checked no one is forced to take their 6 year old to ANY tournament let alone a State tournament. The simple fact remains is as long as a 6&U state exists at Ottawa there is always going to be a group of 6&Us who want to attend a state tournament, and another group that is "forced" to attend the tournament because their parent(s) think that is what they want to do.

Simply adding 6&U to the official USAWKS state tournament is just a change of venue. In my opinion there is very little that is negative about this. Those champions at Ottawa are told by their parents and everyone else that they are "State champions" whether they understand it or not. The same would be true if they wrestled in Topeka. I have had the pleasure of working with every age group in my capacity and I seen 6&Us get far more excited about winning than a 16 year has. I've also seen 16 years olds take defeat far worse than a 6 year old has.

Having a 6&U at USAWKS State is about giving these guys the same opportunity as the age groups above them. It doesn't mean that they or their parents have to attend the event.

As far as kids getting burnt out is concerned, that is always going to happen, and in most cases its not the fault of USAWKS the organization, it is the fault of the parents.