Coach Ed,

I fail to see what taking a nap on a Sunday afternoon has to do with taking a Bronze Clinic Class, especially since it is at a local police-training center. I mean, after all, have you seen me lately. I believe that from my appearance it should be obvious that the last place I would desire to be is anyplace near the police. Especially those not trained to the fullest capacity of appropriate restraint or appearance assessment.

In regards to the clinic, I know who the instructors for the class are and have come to understand that it will be pure torture to try and stay awake during the time there. I will have to muster up every bit of strength, confidence, and courage to attend this class. But rest assured, plans are on, and I have actually scheduled a shorter sermon on Sunday, at the delight of my congregation so I can attend class on time.

Now to Jeremy, you shouldn't be drinking coffee at 7:00 PM, especially at your computer. Now come on, you can't blame me for any damage that may have been done to your computer on that one.

In all seriousness, I think tbaugh's and Mr. Sayler’s points are well taken, this topic started "this time" over an incident that tbaugh mentions. However, the truth is, that the events that lead to the incident occur every season, frequently! It is for that reason that I believe a rule should be considered.

Simply put, it is obvious that while many clubs may enforce a self-imposed rule, many others do not or do not have the ability to. It is my belief that when guidelines and rules are in place, it helps prevent the spread of rules violations and interpretations. If this were not an on going problem, there would be no ongoing discussion.

Our club is hosting a "Kansas Novice Championship Tournament" this year. As a club, we had a great deal of discussion and finally came up with the definition of 1st year wrestlers only as being eligible for the tournament. Part of the problem is, is that there are no teeth to bite when someone finds a way to slip through the cracks after the fact. You can’t very well go back, take a medal away from a kid, to give to another who rightly deserves it, by the way, don't think parents can get into a fit, give the kid the wrong color medal and see, even if an honest mistake. I just happen to believe that when someone knows that there are consequences for breaking the rules, they are less likely to break them, I believe that in society that is called deterrence. We have already had individuals trying to get us to not use this guideline so they can enter their 2nd and in some cases 3rd year or more wrestlers. It just makes it easier for us to try and stick to a pure novice tournament which in most cases and all definitions would obviously include 1st year wrestlers.

But even here it is sometimes difficult due to the ability of the kid. For example, we have a true 1st year wrestler with our club, who is a phenom at this point. At least I would think so, he just won Liberty Nationals at 12 and Under 115. Is he a novice wrestler? He still has a ton of technique to learn but what he does know he knows and works well. He uses his basics to advance his winnings.

I guess that says something about how much one needs to know. How many different takedowns did Cael Sanderson use for example? We often tell kids to learn 2 takedowns, 2 escapes and 2 pinning combinations better than anyone else and you will be very difficult to beat if not impossible. I may be wrong, but we start our novice kids learning the basics and some will pick it up quicker than others will and I don’t believe that is any different in any good room. From a technical point, I would say the kid with our club is a novice wrestler, however, reason tells me that from the results of his tournaments he is definitely an advanced wrestler who needs to be wrestling in advanced tournaments to get better.

From a coaching perspective, it really is about helping the kid get better and Mr. Sayler is right on, on this point. For those of us who have been in the sport for some time, and especially have kids that have done well, we know how many boxes of trophies and medals are in our basement or garage that never leave the box. I will take quality mat time for my son, and wrestlers I coach, any day over a $3 medal.

In most situations the problem comes from parents, for parents new to the sport, guidelines may have to be set, especially if the clubs themselves don’t have the fortitude to control their “medal hunters.” At the very least I would hope that coaches, clubs and parents would do exactly Mr. Sayler has suggested in his last post.