I have talked to quite a few coaches around the state, and quitting seems to be on the rise this year. Our guys want to come up with a top ten list, based upon excuses that have been used this year....among those:
My mom made me quit.
My mom wants me to sing.
My dad caught me with dip.
I like to wrestle, but I don't want to practice.
I'm too good for JV.
I'm burned out.
I just want to chill.
I'm D1 material in football.
I'm going to study more.
My Dad wants me to wrestle, and I'm mad at my Dad.
I need to work to save money for
a) college,
b) insurance,
c) a car,
d) a speeding ticket
The coach is an !&^#@%&

Can anyone add to the list with REAL statements that were used?

Bought tickets to the Daytona 500 which falls on the weekend of regionals

I like to smoke cigarettes
Basketball practice is easier
Yes..both of these were used this year

I had a kid this year quit 40 minutes into the first day of practice. I am not sure if that is some kind of record, but it is pretty pathetic, which is what all of these quitters are - - pathetic.

what about having to quit to keep $2500 in academic scholarships? would that be considered bad?

If that were an entirely honest answer, it would be understandable. However, although it may take a little time management, I don't see how a kid could lose academic scholarships because of any school activity. If we were to look at GPA's of all state champions, I would bet that the same drive that made them great wrestlers also drove them to be above average in the classroom. I know that there are exceptions.

Relative to this subject is another matter of quitting during and before matches. Wrestling is about making the other guy quit. In practice, 40 minutes into the season or in the state finals.

At all levels kids quit before they step on the mat. John Smith pointed and yelled at Mason after he lost to Askren ina dual two weeks ago..."you lost that match before you stepped on the mat!" He yelled, screamed and fumed at him for what seemed like several minutes. He got away with it since the MU band was romping and the crowd was cheering and Mason was sitting on the floor behind the bench. Mason responded by soundly beating Klein the next dual.

A big difference between hs and college is that college kids quit less often after falling behind. If you're a hs wrestler how many times to you get at takedown put a tough ride to a kid and maybe score some nearfall and get comfortable. You rarely get matches like that in college. You can be beating the heck out of your opponent and sure enough he turns into Superman sometime in the match and comes back on you.

Yes, Alex that is bad if you love what you're doing on the wrestling team. What seems like a lot of money to you now won't in 10 or 20 years. I don't know how you put a monetary value on what you get in return for doing what you love. Taking money to give up what you love is bad.

The one I hear the most is that they dont want to waste their senior year. I always try to tell these kids that the things that they will encounter in college, military, real world will blow high school parties out of the water. They need to realize that they have the rest of their lives to work and also that good times dont end once you graduate from high school

Need to lift weights for football,
Need an off-season.
Baseball workouts are starting

What about the infamous I'm tired of cutting weight excuse?

I had a kid never come back after Christmas who was 9-1 at 103 and would have faired very well at State. He was gone for 5 days during Christmas practices and did not want to make up the extra conditioning. I find that most of the time I get no excuse, they just never come back.
But two I do hear often is that "wrestling is just too hard" or "I get to nevous and can not handle the pressure", I sometimes wonder if it is the sport or my practices.
Coach Brown

our 160 pounder said "well what does wrestling do for me anyway?" and walked out...

I hear that from many kids in all sports at the high school. It seems that they have been competing since they were really young and have kinda burned out. They look at their Senior Year as a time to do everything that they couldn't the year before. Some want to party, some want to concentrate on bringing up their grades, and others just want to relax.

"what about having to quit to keep $2500 in academic scholarships? would that be considered bad?"
Absolutely not bad. There comes a time when sports do have to take second to the rest of your life. There IS life after sports and while all you will learn by participating is valuable...there has to be more on a resume' than "I wrestled." Grades come first. I doubt there will be a regret down the road for making a choice. There is a difference between making a choice and quitting. Choosing an academic scholarship is just that..a choice. A good one.

you tell me. I mean I am the academic chair and all.

I started wrestling when I could in federation and up to my 7th grade year. Then my dad took a job in a 1A town and I had to try and play that other winter sport (ugly sight). My senior year I had a choice to stay and finish with my class or go to Colby (and wrestle). NEVER have regretted the choice to go and wrestle one year in HS and all that came with it.

WHAT'S MY POINT??

Those that WANT to - WILL, those that DON'T - WON'T.

Kids now don't realize how much they're losing when they start working and forgo athletics and the real "memory makers" or experiences of school. (Course maybe I was just TRUELY blessed at having two parents that loved, supported and provided me with what I needed so I could enjoy athletics and not needed a job, I mean an excuse...)

NurseKS, u are right there is life after sports, but u have to enjoy your sports while you can. you cant play high school sports forever, u only get 4 years so y quit because of the scholarship. im sure that if the kid was able to keep ur GPA up the first 3 years of high school to be eligable for the scholarship then u should be able to keep it up 1 last year.

I was talking about in college. I had a 2.6 GPA and need a 3.5 to keep my academic scholarships. I graduated with a 3.875 GPA in high school, now I have a 2.6.... sorry if I confused anyone.

Alex, I'm not judging you, because college wrestling is a full time venture. However, I agree with Gutwrench about the money issue. It seems huge now, but there are ways to do both. It takes more sacrifice, but it's possible. It drives me crazy when kids quit because they feel the need to buy new rims or stereos. You never get the opportunities that high school sports provide once you are out, but you'll always chase the mighty dollar.

Another thing I can't stand is when parents say they're making their kids quit because of grades. I flat out ask the parent if they are going to make sure the kid will hustle home and study from 3-5:30 every day. If not, wrestling isn't hurting them. More and more, I see parents almost wishing their kids would quit so they don't have to drive them to events or take up their time for their kids sake.

The only excuse I don't question is when kids quit saying "it is too hard." They're honest, and I'm not making it easier. I give them until team pictures to figure out if wrestling is for them. They know if they quit after pictures, they'd better not have team t-shirts on or say they wrestle. They also go on the AWOL section of our ranking board.