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I am working them for sure. The IHPO does a great job for setting the groundwork, I usually start to put the final touches together around super 32. Then Y2 release the first copy in the preseason Mag with a ton on photos and articles. But I am ready for the season

Rankings will be out in mid to late October as usual. As with most reputable ranking sources we will have ONE set of preseason rankings.

AGREED

This may seem dumb... but, put a decent sound system in the room and let the kids play their music during practice (no matter how bad you think it is). It’s a little thing, but I swear it will keep kids out. Also... have a fellowship talk once a week. Give the kids a good story and / or share something that will inspire them. Let the kids chime in and share feelings. Knowing that others feel the same, and are going through the same things helps to grow a brotherhood. That bond keeps kids around. Anything to make kids actually enjoy being at practice.

The short period between football and wrestling is not easy especially if it's a long grueling football season. I know one coach stated he lost a decent number of kids after their football team won state one year. Wrestlers going into track or baseball get a lot longer layoff between sports which helps them re energize for those seasons. I do agree with the timing of the season hurting, I would like to see it pushed back a couple weeks to let those kids not feel as rushed to jump into football.

Duals are great and I am glad the IHSAA mandated six duals for teams. However there comes a caveat, it's GOOD duals, duals that are rivalries or meaningful go a long way to attracting casual fans. Not nearly as many people will go see Brownsburg vs. Danville or a school they will beat by 60+. The key with duals is make it special, we have said it before DJ's, make it a favorite teacher night, throw out t-shirts, etc. If it's cool to go to, more casual fans including students will show up.

@PhillyFanMD is at it again..... lol! This dude is jacking with you guys. Hes a troll fellas. Save your breath. And 365 training is not for most, but a rare few have to do it. I was visiting my son this weekend parents weekend. The coach gave the kids the weekend off to hang with parents. With that said... we ended up in an empty wrestling room on Saturday and Sunday for work outs. Some kids just love it. Are we sposed to tell those kids not to do what they love to do everyday? Are we sposed to say.. "sorry kiddo I think you may get burnt out. So.. we are playing Xbox today." I do get what your saying, most kids will choose Xbox over practice, if you give them a choice. But... you do have the one percent that want to be great. Gotta let it happen. And.. if a kids doesn't want to put in the work, we have to tell them "being a semi-state qualifier is a great goal.. go get it kid." Just have to set realistic goals, for the amount of work that they are willing to put in. Just my opinion. As a youth and middle school coach, I tell all of my parents at our annual meeting to start the year: "If your kid wants to be a State Champ, we can help him do that! If your kid just wants to get faster and stronger to be a better lineman, we can help him with that too!" Its all about setting expectations and goals. So... to answer your question, here is what to do: Communicate with kids and parents. Come up with goals, and tell them what it takes to reach those goals. Let them know that not reaching this goals is a possibility. And..... If they feel like walking away..... sit down with them and talk honestly on why you think they should stay. The successful coaches that I have been around do this. The unsuccessful coaches set no goals, and tell kids to kick rocks when the think about quitting.

Is a must for what? The training "365 a year" is a big downfall to this whole conversation. We've lost casual wrestlers because a combination of things. But training every day of the year is going to drop retention rates terribly. Youth are getting burnt out from a youth season that starts in November and ends in March. But "if you want to be good you need to do Freestyle and Greco too." So now youth wrestling can be until May. It's no wonder that retention rate of athletes and coaches is so low. This isn't just wrestling, but the youth sports culture is so out of control that parents are pulled 100 different directions. It's easy to stop taking their child to wrestling when they have to travel for wrestling, baseball and basketball, etc... At the high school level, we are asking our kids to train year round because we want them to be the best. But at smaller schools where those athletes do more than 1 sport they don't have time to train year round for 2 or 3 sports. I know coaches that get upset at athletes that aren't there all summer and spring, but if you want to know the truth, those part-time athletes are what is going to keep this sport competitive at semi-state and regional levels. We can't diminish their value because they aren't a state placer or aren't there every off-season practice. More participants will always help increase the competition level.

To the retention point it would seem to me 2 to 5 youth athletes a year could be doable. I can think of a couple things that might help. I've noticed in multiple setting (clubs, camps, rooms, academies, tourneys, duals) that the lesser kids don't get the attention that the more experienced and gifted kids get. Hardly insightful, but I think its important if were talking about a handful of kids. I am not saying they are being ignored and getting no attention. What I am saying is they and their parents need 'way more' encouragement and 'way more' attention than the better more experienced kids. I know that is not natural in any sport, but I can't think of many sports that can be more difficult and "humiliating" for beginners and their parents. I can't tell you how many times I have had to talk first and second year (and sometime later) parents off the cliff during a tourney because some up and coming academy wizard took down, cut, took down, cut, etc, etc. their 11 year old beginner son. Its darn hard for everyone those first couple of years. That in itself does not encourage retention.

We do weeknight events that are similar where a club comes in and we match them up for a few hours and get out of there. The parents love it and so do the kids. The days have long gone of the "badge of honor" being at a tournament from 6am until 9pm. Retention rates are what will help the sport. In all honesty we have to cater to the parents more than the kids as they are the ones driving them to practices and events. If you look at youth soccer and baseball they have games and are out in a couple hours max, but wrestling you can be at a tournament for hours and hours and get a few matches in. The friendlies are great at catering to this and my guess is those clubs have seen a lot more retention of their athletes.

One thing our area as done for a while for the beginner level kids is to have "Rival Nights". This is hosted by the area schools and we do mat side match ups based on age and weight. We include all of Adams County, Wells County, Jay County, New Haven, and Parkway Ohio- along with any other kid that has an USA card. The HS kids officiate and we push though as many matches as possible just to get them match experience. Since we have done this, I feel we have done a better job retaining our beginner kids. Our club numbers have increased significantly over the last 7-8 years. Once those kids have a couple years under their belt, we move them to the duals team, individual events, etc.

Just a correction, it takes a different skill set to be good at the bigger weights than it does smaller weights.