Can anyone PLEASE tell me why the 6 & Under kids cannot be involved in the regular State Tourn. I don't feel this is fair to them. They work just a hard as the rest.

very good question, i also would like to hear the answer to that one!!!!

Pretty simple answer ... lack of volunteers at the state tournament, lack of time, lack of interest.

Nigel there are over 1500 kids @6 & under so your responce that there is no interest doesnt make any sence at all.I would love to see them added with out dropping anyone but if a group had to be dropped in order to add them I feel it would be better to drop the 16 yr old division .I dont have anything aganist 16yr olds but they already have a state tournament. The six & under are also with the team all year and work just as hard as the other kids.

No not lack of interest of fans, I mean lack of interest in those that put on the tournament, namely the kids state board.

Read in the Oklahoma vs. Kansas State topic about what Coachjt would like to see happen. I have not been a strong advocate of adding six and under because of the overcrowded conditions on the State arena floor already. I also feel it might be a little too much pressure on most of the young kids and families of 6 & unders (not all of them I know some are ready for it). But if Coachjt's plan were implemented, I believe it would take care of the floorspace problem. I like Coachjt's plan and it does allow for the possibility of six and under.

I am the mom of a 6 and under...he was upset that he couldn't go the the regular state with the other kids and I, myself, got upset when I heard several clubs didn't want to take their 6 and unders to Ottawa, that were Qualified and mature enough to go,because it was to much hassel or some other nonsense. I feel if you let them wrestle at the regular tournaments than they should be included in everthing they pay their dues and practice like the older ones. I felt as though they thought that the 6& unders were "less" of a wrestler because they were too young to go to the "big show". the 6 and unders in our club work harder than the older ones in my opinion!!!

Actually your kid could have wrestled at state but he would have had to qualify to state through the 8 & U bracket.. If hes good enough to do so then I don't see why he should not.

This topic has been discussed at great length for the last four or five years and it has ran off people from coming to the state meeting because they would argue about it for so long. District II has been pushing to add 6&U at state the other three districts have been apposed.

Now not everyone in district II is in favor nor are all the people in the other districts apposed. But last year we voted for 6&U at state and it got turned down 70% to 30%. This year was the first state meeting without discussing it and it was nice.

The main reason everyone used was it put to much pressure on the 6 yr. olds to wrestle at state.

Well said Coach,

This is just ones of those issues that many people woulnd't mind to see in practice but the issues it cause makes it not worth the time

i think that the 6 yr olds should be able to go to state just like the others.they work there butts off just like the others.there are more 6yr old in usa wrestling than any other age group.usa get there money just like the other kids THAT GO TO STATE why cant they wrestle? becouse they r to young that is a copout!what they should do is let them wrestle let them know what it is like.i know that most coaches would rather work with the older kids but the one thing that they need to rember is the 6yr olds are just as ready as the others.nigel i know how you feel about the 6yr olds! you think that they are a wasts of time becouse they cant do the moves you teach. GIVE THEM A CHANCE LIKE THE REST!!!!!!!!!

No I don't think all 6&U's are not good wrestlers becuase there are certainly exceptions I think you know of one! But overall there is not a lot of real wrestling that goes on in that age class, just rolling around. My feeling towards this age class has nothing to do with the moves I try and teach them, I can't expect them to be able to assimilate everything. The sad truth is that many wrestlers who never make it to high school wrestling are that way becuase their parents start them out too early and put too many expectations on them when they are not ready for it and they get burnt out, one of the best examples is a club that opperates near where I live. As a kids club they are excellent and have many good wrestlers however most of them never make it past middle school wrestling because they were pushed far too hard. Its stange that in a town that big with such a good kids club that they can't even compete at the state tournament in high school. Anyway as I said before I would not be against adding the 6&U's to the state tournament but not at the expense of another class such as 16&U or moving to another weekend.

6 & UNDER STATE IS TO YOUNG PERIOD. I know I am not speaking for everyone. I have coached youth wrestling for over twenty years. I have coached 5 year olds and I have coached college all-americans. I also vote at the state body meeting and I will never vote for 6 & under state. We do not need to put false expectations into these young childrens minds. A 6 & under state champ may not make it back to state for another 4 years or ever. This creates false expectations in the child and in the parents who think their kid is the toughest roughest rumbler this side of the Mississippi. My son was an pretty decent wrestler at six and under and won the majority of his matches in the two tournaments I let him pick to enter. When he graduated to 8 & under and he was all of 7 years old he was getting it handed to him pretty hard by some eight year olds. When he was eight he dealt some of the 7 year olds a whipping. I think as a whole that is the natural progression the majority of kids make. I as a coach do not want to burn out the young participants when he or she is in eigth grade.
I have seen it all to often that a parent is trying to create a national/olympic champion. Your child is not you and never will be you. So lets stop all this nonsense for a 6 & under world champ. I have seen parents run their kids out of baseball, football, track, tennis, golf, etc. Do not live your life through your childs eyes.
I have seen parents way out of hand watching the six and under group and our sport doesn't need that kind of pressure put on these young people.
The boys and girls will grow up at their own pace - not in your or my time frame. THE END!
not in

I don't understand why at the State meeting, 6u was voted against wrestling in their own class in the State Tournament. Everybody keeps stating that the kids are to young and the expectations ("parents") are to high but yet a 6u can wrestle in the 8u division at State. Explain to me why allow them to wrestle at all. I personally know of several kids who are 6u and have competed successfully in the 8u division at State. In MO you have to be at least 7 years old to wrestle in State Tournament, period. No 6u are allowed, no matter how good they are. My own personal opinion 6u should be allowed to wrestled in State. I mean, you have the 6&U Championships, don't you think that the expectations of the "parents" are high at that tournament as well?

As far as a kid getting burned out on wrestling, that doesn't happen because a kid goes to State at 6 years old, that happens because the kids parents cross the line from entering their child for the fun of it and then taking it to seriously. A serious parent will burn a child out regardless of the age, so that arguement isn't valid.

I agree with the thoughts expressed by smokeycabin above and Mr. Noblet in the Kansas vs. Oklahoma topic. We all have older boys and we have seen what happens to a lot of young kids who are pushed too far and too fast. Too many of these young wrestlers and families end up dropping out due to the pressure of winning at the highest level possible. I really do not believe the majority of these young kids are ready for that pressure and once you throw a potential State title into the mix there is automatically more pressure. I know my son would not have been ready for it as wrestler and truthfully I was not ready for it as a parent either. I remember how important I thought it was that he ought to be best wrestler in his age group at 7 when he started. I was wrong. It was more important that he was growing slowly as a wrestler every year and having fun at it. Many of the kids that had great success in his group at 8 & under at State are either out of wrestling now or not being as successful at the older age group.

From the practical side, it is not going to happen either in our current system. The resources at the State tournament are stretched to about their limit. You have older grade school kids wrestling on smaller mats than they should be at a State competition. You have long waits between matches on the first day, especially if you lose your first match. There are other things like an overcrowded parking lot and lack of a good warmup area for the wrestlers, etc. Parents of six & under should be concerned about these things because you will be experiencing that soon enough. Anyone who has experienced the full mats and shorter waits between matches for all age groups (at the Johnson County Classic and the District 1 South Sub-District at Pittsburg) can appreciate the difference between that experience and the smaller mats at State for 10 & 12 & unders. Contrary to what some say I believe our young wrestlers appreciate that difference. I know my 12 year old does.

I would say for those who want the closest thing to a State experience for 6 & under that you should take advantage of two events (the Park City/Wichita Classic and/or the Ottawa 6 & Under Championship meet). Encourage other parents on the forum next year to have their kids participate in those events. I agree with Mr. Noblet that an event that is 6 & Under only would be a lot better environment for children that young. If your team coach does not want to take the team to either, you can probably still go as an individual. In most cases you will be able to find a willing coach from another team who will coach your son or daughter at the meet. That is what happen for my son at Liberty Nationals this year where we entered him and our team did not go. He had three different coaches for his three matches and they were great and gave him some different perspectives and good advice after each match.

in responce to saying that 6 yr olds can go to state but they must compete in the 8 and under bracket..isn't that pushing them?? my son did go to the 8 and unders (all his choice) and the kids were twice his size. It left him feeling that he was fat and no good but thank goodness for the 6& under championships because now he is as proud as could be!! so I will never reccomend any child bumping up an age bracket. If my son had wrestled kids his own age they would not have matured as much yet. In the lighter brackets it might not matter, but my son wrestles 88lbs and boy there was a difference. it looked like the kids he wrestled lived in a gym!!

very well put by smokeycabin,

Its not so strange that the majority of the people than want to have a 6&U state are the very same parents that fall into that category of wanting to push their kids too hard. I know it can be hard to step outside of your own life and see what you are doing but it is something that everyone needs to learn. To a parent in this situation their though process is something like "well im doing this for the good of my child, and the more he wrestles now and the more I push him now, the better he will be in the future" Also these parents think that they know what their kid wants to do and they will either force them to do it or make them feel guilty for not doing it. Im sure I'll get plenty of critisim for this remark but I think many of the other coaches in this forum know about what im talking about, cuase they have seen parents in thier own club do it as I have seen parents in mine. This issue hits me very hard personally becuase I have a little nephew who going to turn 5 right before next season starts and I wanted to start him last year despite the reservations I have always had against kids starting so young. But I know I will be focusing all my coaching on him next year and it scares me that I might push him too hard and not realise it. Unless I feel he could really place wrestling with the 8&U's there is no way im letting him wrestle at state. Whereas the popular opinion amoung 6&U parents is that it would be more fun for their kids to go to state and get waxed than compete in their own division at state.

No Nigel it just gives us a little more insight about you!

Richard:

My guess is that she is talking more about height and muscular structure. I know last year my son was wrestling at the top of the 10 & under age bracket at 120. He only weighed 115 and had some decent height and muscle to him. He faced a couple of 8 year old boys who were coming up an age bracket for the competition. They were shorter and not as lean or muscular. My son pinned them fairly quickly in the first period and I thought it did not help those 8 year olds at all to experience that. I think it is more likely for a young heavy kid to experience these imbalances in height and strength against a boy two years or more older. But I also am not in favor of 6 and under at State for reasons that you and others have stated.

i am a father of a 6 and under wrestler and though it would be great fun to take him to state i would rather just have a 6 and u championship meet like in ottawa. it was a good time. they did it up like at state with less the crowd, less the time, less the hassle. my son took 2nd and the felt like he was world champ!!!these kids are young enough they don't care where they wrestle. they will get to go to state in due time.they have alot to learn still.(a least most of them) let them have fun because it is for the KIDS!!!!