This is about as good as anyone can put it. Great thoughts Shawn! For those of you who don't like novice or want to do away with it, all that would do is help kill the sport of wrestling. Don't let the small majority of trophy seekers ruin a great way to keep young ones wrestling.
Allie,
Last year I was asked to lead a committee for the state and try to develop a standard definition for novice. The idea was that the state could then adopt a standard definition. The committe had representatives from every district. We came up with about 5 options that were supposed to be presented to the districts and then taken to the state board. We could not gain consensus nor was there a lot of momentum to continue trying to define Novice so the issue was tabled. The state decided to leave the definition up to the tournament directors.
Here's what I personally learned from that process along with coaching for the past 10 years in KS...
1. I was not a big fan of Novice when we started seeing more Novice tournaments. I have changed my mind because I have seen it keep kids in wrestling until it finally "clicks" for them.
2. Some kids can legitimally be Novice for about 3-4 years depending on their skill set, their aggressiviness, maturity, etc. I have had kids legitemally wrestle novice for four years because they didn't even win matches in the pure novice meets. Then all of a sudden it clicked for them.
3. On the other hand, I have had kids that it "clicks" for them right away and don't wrestle Novice at all. Do we have folks that "trophy hunt"...yep. However, I think they are a small minority and I would hate to throw the baby out with the bathwater because of a very small population.
BLUF: As coaches and club directors we have a responsibility to monitor our our wrestlers and more importantly their parents expectations. This can cause some uncomfortable conversations but it is necessary for the good of the sport.
Just my 2 cents.
Shawn Budke
Bluff:
