Re: 1 per weight at districts?
So many of these discussions still go back and forth in the world of wrestling. I agree that the purest way that is "true" to the sport of wrestling would be to have one per weight per team at districts or regionals. However, the sport of wrestling is always in jeopardy of being cut at the college and high school level and then clubs would be the only thing available. Girls wrestling has actually helped guys wrestling at the high-school and college level recently. This generation of kids is softer on average than in the past. But here is the problem if we just hold on to the "make wrestling as pure as it should be mentality": it may disappear from high school and colleges. What could keep it going is numbers. School districts are not interested in keeping sports going that do not have numbers out. Probably the toughest teams are ones that have a lean and mean group of 10-15 in the room, one tough kid at each weight and some of those teams take only 5 to state and still trophy. That may be a great looking team to the old-school wrestling mindset. The room is nearly empty because most kids today can't hack how hard the coach makes practice, but the ones who do hang are tough sons of bitches. School districts in 2021 are not interested in that concept. They want to see numbers, they want to see as many kids as possible competing. Will that make high school wrestling watered down if we focus on that? Yes. Could wrestling die in schools if we focus on being "pure" and tough? Yes. So the wrestling world has to decide what it wants. Wrestling to move completely to club, or a more watered-down version that stays in schools but it gets more kids into the sport than club would. The watered-down version can still have some tough kids come out of it and it can still make some of our lazy kids of this generation be a little tougher. Will practices be hardcore like the old days? Maybe not as much. Will it get kids off the couch? Yes.I can see the point on both sides. I love watching hardcore wrestlers that have perfected their craft. But I personally choose to embrace a bit more softness added to the sport, two per weight at districts etc if that helps more kids compete. We are in a crisis in this country of creating "soft" kids. But if we only stick to old school thinking in the wrestling world it may only exist in clubs where the majority of kids will have a hard time accessing it and they will never get exposed to an amazing sport that even in a watered down practice can still create more character than if they were sitting on the couch. Many kids will walk in the wrestling room after school when it is in the same building. Most will not drive across the county to go to practices and tournaments in club, and most can't afford to. So which way do we want it? A little softer but it still exists in the school system? The kids who want it tougher can do still do school and club like they currently do, or do we just want it to be club and make sure it stays hardcore?
|