Prior to saying a word on this subject, I will declare I am far from an expert on any level but have been very observant over the years in regard to this topic.
As we spoke about in a prior post, not everyone is afforded the same opportunities as others. It is truly an unfair world, but in that same notion not everyone wants every opportunity either.
If you were to take an anonymous poll of wrestlers that cut weight and compete multiple times per month, 10-12 months a year, I can truly see the majority saying they wouldn't want to do that at all. It is typically parental pressure to "Keep up with the Joneses" so to speak. Parents see these top-level kids going to each and every "National" event and assume this is the route to get their kid to be a top-level kid as well. Which to a degree is very true, but how long will the kid themselves maintain this throughout their years in the sport? Burn out is a real thing. Wrestling is hard! A very small percentage of kids can stay excited all year long to cut weight and compete. The ones that do are just bred differently to be honest. The majority of kids, especially as they reach their teenage years have a million other things on their minds at most times. Does that mean they're not passionate about the sport of wrestling? Not at all, it means they are human just like us. Thinking about relationships and what their friends are doing. Realizing what they're missing out on during their adolescent years. Spencer Lee said it in an interview once "I didn't have a life in high school." Most truly exceptional people are able to laser focus on what they want to accomplish, but again, this is the exception and not the rule.
I do believe that wrestlers should train in the off-season 2-3 times per week and enter in a solid weightlifting program, but I do not believe that wrestlers have to compete all year long in order to be a top tier wrestler. My son has a club coach that has since taken a job at a D1 school tell him that he wrestled the season and then played baseball. After baseball, he would prep for the football season. In between it all he would be in a wrestling room at practices, camps, and clinics, but wasn't completely focused on the sport of wrestling all year long. This same coach was a conference champion in D1 in college and had an exceptional wrestling career.
Parents do not need to be brainwashed into thinking they need to re-mortgage their house to pay for wrestling tournaments and travel in order for their son or daughter to be successful. This past year we went to national middle school duals in November up in Toledo, Ohio. Bryson hadn't wrestled a match since kid's freestyle nationals in July (a trip I put on my credit card and took me nearly 7 months to pay off by the way ha-ha) He practiced during the preseason and got on weight, and we went. He finished 8-2 on the weekend and as the tournament was unfolding, I would look and see the last time some of these kids had competed. Nearly all of them had been competing non-stop all summer. Out of the 10 matches, Bryson won 8 of them and hadn't competed for four months. I am using a personal experience as an example here because I want our brand to be honest and transparent. The brand that is relatable to the masses so to speak.
I have been that parent that ran up credit card bills and overpaid for tournaments and travel. I have been that parent that kept saying "He'll be here, we have to go wrestle that kid!" Full transparency, I have learned a lot over the years and feel I will be a much better "wrestling grandpa" then I was a "wrestling dad" ha-ha.
All I am saying here is that you don't have to do what everyone else is doing to be successful. Talk to your kid and see what they want to do. Don't give them free reign by any means but let them choose when and where they want to compete in the off-season or during their youth career. Don't force them to keep going in the same cycle month after month like they're training for the Olympics. Once the sport becomes a full-time job, it can really kill their passion for it. Don't even acknowledge what the "Joneses" are doing. Set up what you can afford and attend. Talk to your kid about the schedule prior to registering for anything and go to work. Remember, it really is their life and wrestling journey at the end of the day, not yours. Let them live it and enjoy it.
In my humble opinion,
Jesse Drennen
Founder $Bmoney Beastin' Athletics LLC.
info@bmoneybeastinathletics.com
