Are you a Trophy Hunter Novice Wrestling Parent?
If you find yourself reveling in the collection of novice wrestling trophies for your child, it’s time to reconsider your strategy. Many parents unwittingly extend their child’s stay in the novice division, perhaps enticed by the glittering array of accolades. Have you been that parent, witnessing your child’s dominance in every novice tournament but hesitating to take the leap to more challenging competitions?
Let’s delve into the true essence of novice wrestling and explore compelling reasons why transitioning your budding wrestler to the open category sooner rather than later is not just a choice but a crucial step toward unlocking their full potential.
What is the purpose of Novice Wrestling?
The concept of novice wrestling is relatively new. The novice(rookie) division is for introducing children to the sport of wrestling. It allows them to develop the basics, so that when a wrestler is ready, he/she can compete with experienced wrestlers.
The essence of novice wrestling lies in nurturing a solid understanding of the sport’s fundamentals. By engaging in this developmental phase, aspiring wrestlers can hone their skills, grasp essential techniques, and cultivate a passion for the art of grappling. The structured training and exposure offered within the novice division pave the way for a seamless transition to competing with seasoned wrestlers when the time is right.
This progressive approach not only fosters a love for wrestling but also ensures that participants build a strong foundation, setting them on a path towards success as they advance in their wrestling careers. Novice wrestling, therefore, acts as a crucial gateway for young athletes to develop the confidence, discipline, and technical proficiency required to excel in the challenging realm of competitive wrestling.
Novice Wrestling has become Tainted
In recent years, the integrity of novice wrestling has been compromised, as some parents have found ways to exploit the system. A concerning trend has emerged, where wrestlers who have clearly outgrown the novice division continue to participate, distorting the intended developmental purpose. Unfortunately, it is no longer uncommon to witness seasoned competitors occupying spots in novice tournaments that should have been relinquished long ago.
The situation has escalated to the point where instances of purported two-time novice state champions have surfaced, raising questions about the legitimacy and fairness of the competition. This not only undermines the spirit of novice wrestling but also detracts from the genuine growth and learning opportunities it aims to provide for aspiring athletes. Addressing these challenges is essential to restore the credibility and purity of novice wrestling, ensuring that it remains a true developmental stage for newcomers in the sport.
You are Holding your Child Back
If your wrestler is winning every novice tournament they wrestle, it is time to move them to open. If you want your kid to become a better wrestler, he needs to wrestle kids that are better than him.
Your kid will lose some matches, but that is what makes them better. Convince your kid to put on this best wrestling shoes and learn to battle better opponents. If your kid works hard, you will be surprised how fast they will improve.
Beating up on a true novice wrestler doesn’t do your child or his opponent any good. You might be thinking you have a stud wrestler. The reality is that you are limiting your child’s potential in the sport of wrestling.
A Wrestling Trophy is not the Point of Wrestling
If your goal is to collect novice trophies to brag on your child, you are missing the point of wrestling.
When your young wrestler consistently triumphs in novice tournaments, it’s a clear signal that it’s time to elevate their competition by transitioning to the open category. Genuine improvement in wrestling is achieved when facing opponents who pose a challenge and push one’s skills to new heights.
The whole point of wrestling is to teach your child how to be self-reliant, persevere through tough times, shoot for goals, and grow into a confident adult.
While it may be tough to witness your child lose a few matches initially, it’s a vital part of the learning process that ultimately contributes to their overall growth. Encourage your young athlete to lace up their wrestling shoes and embrace the opportunity to grapple with more skilled opponents. Through dedication and hard work, the progress will be rapid and remarkable.
Trust me. If your child sticks with wrestling, he/she will have more trophies and medals than you have room to put them. Eventually, you will only display his most important wrestling accomplishments.
Prolonging participation in novice tournaments, where your child consistently outshines their opponents, may provide a false sense of superiority. However, this approach hampers their true potential and limits their development in the sport. Embrace the challenge of higher competition levels, and watch as your child evolves into a more resilient and skilled wrestler, fully realizing their capabilities in the world of wrestling.
I used to be that Novice Wrestling Parent that I’m Talking About
Ten years ago, my child was a novice wrestler. He started at five years old. He lost almost every match his first year. I kept him in novice his entire second year.
He quickly started dominating his opponents during that second year. He ended up being a novice state champ.
I truly thought my kid was a stud… until I moved him to open his third year. He got his rear handed to him his first year of open wrestling. It was a real eye opener. In hindsight, I wish I have moved him to open earlier. I think he would have developed a lot quicker.
Take Advice from Someone that’s Been Where You are
I look at my son’s accomplishments now and realize that his novice accomplishments were just a building block to get him where he is now.
Take advice from a parent that has been in your shoes. Novice has its place in youth wrestling, but you should move your child to the open as soon as he is ready. In the long run, you will be glad you did.
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Lastly, if you found this article beneficial, your feedback in the comments below is always appreciated. Thanks!
Hey my name is carlos escoboza. I truly enjoyed the article and i agree with you 100% . I was a wrestler myself. My son is a first year wrestler in 7th grade and i already put him in open competition tournament to prepare him for high school wrestling. I understand I’ve been down those roads.
I have seen this issue from both sides of the spectrum, and was somewhat of an activist about this issue in our region. Wade Schalles and I have been corresponding about youth wrestling recently and he said he doesn’t feel you should even take a child to a tournament unless you are certain they will win 40% of their matches.
It’s all well and good to say “It’s not about winning or losing..” or “it’s not about trophies…” but the reality is that getting slaughtered is not fun. And kids will just find something else to do. Some of this goes back to the “parent coach” issue I talked about earlier. Because in many cases the kids with the parent coaches are the ones doing the slaughtering. It’s very easy for a child to get discouraged.
A lot of this has to do with the way we match kids up. And it’s way behind other combat sports. In Boxing kids can’t even fight kids who have more then five matches then them. In sports like Judo or BJJ they have a RANK SYSTEM so you have a guide to determine not just what a kid weighs, or even how long they have been doing it. But the rank system actually is a measure of how competent they are. How much have they actually learned and mastered? In martial arts tournaments kids are paired within a certain number of belt ranks.
In youth wrestling we have the “Novice” system which is generally limited to two years. In those two years you face other kids who have only wrestled for two years. After that is up, they kick you out with everyone else into Open. This is often the time when kids lose interest depending on what age they are.
We have two good kids in our club. Both are 11. They are about the same age. The difference is, one just started (Jandyn), and the other has been wrestling since she was 5. (Jo-Jo) By the time Jandyn is kicked out into Open, nothing is going to prepare her to wrestle someone like Jo-Jo who would at that point been wrestling for over 10 years to Jandyn’s 2.
In contrast, in the Martial arts tournaments Jo-Jo would never be paired with Jandyn in competition anyway, as Jandyn would be a far lower belt rank then Jo-Jo.
The problem with the Novice system as it currently works particularly where I live here in Michigan is there is often a HUGE deficit in ability that you encounter. And the older a child is when they start wrestling, the worse this issue is.
My son was ready for Open at the conclusion of his 2 years. (No small part of this is because we trained a lot over the summer to catch him up) He has since went on to place 1st and 2cd at every open tournament he has been to so far this season. My daughter on the other hand still has critical holes in her game that she is slowly closing. It is all well and good to say that it’s “good” for a child to wrestle people better then they are and this is true to some degree. But I have also seen what happens when that is all a child does. They start to become very gunshy in their offense. Not to mention their confidence becomes very fragile.
The famous MMA fighter Georges St. Pierre said in his book “The way of the fight” that when he trains for a fight he intentionally goes out and finds grapplers that are not as good as he is to practice his offense, AND grapplers that are far superior to him so that he can practice his defense. And that too much of either will create terrible habits. So while it is true wrestling challenging opponents is important to your development, wrestling with opponents you can at least breathe while wrestling is equally important.
I have seen kids who were in Novice far longer then they should of been. And what is odd about it is that many of these kids went on to place at regionals and some of them even went on to place at states. I didn’t understand how this would ever work until I was working with my own daughter on her skills. We go into every match with specific goals in mind. “We are going to work on shooting in this match, and your sit out….” for example. Trying to learn new skills against superior opponents just doesn’t work. So I am fairly certain that is likely what these other kids were doing as well.
Now, all of this said my daughter is still having competitive matches in Novice, so it’s not like she is slaughtering everyone. Yet. And I know it won’t be long before she has to make the move. But I ALSO know that if she goes into Open before she is ready we will be right back where we were before. Which is that she will be afraid to shoot. She will give up on the bottom. Etc, etc.
What wrestling REALLY needs is a rank system. So that each kid can develop at their own pace and continue to compete and have fun without the pressure of having to constantly be keeping up with all of the kids in your weight class. And if we can’t have that, there should be an INTERMEDIATE level between Novice and Open. It is literally asinine to force new wrestler who is say 12 years old to wrestle a kid who has been wrestling since they were 5 and expect that to ever be “fun” to the average kid. ALL of the other major combat sports already have this figured out.
Amen
We had 4 coaches we removed from our team due to lieing.
They have now formed their own team (3 of them) & compete with ours for attention & support from our community.
Recently we took 14 out of 20 kids to a NOVICE
This new team had 4 of our former wrestlers. 3 & 4 yrs experience.
I told the tourney director a week before when registering this would happen & he allowed it because of $.
The “head” coach claims he didn’t know that NOVICE meant there was a limit of experience. Even after attending 1 a month ago & not putting his step son of 4yrs experience in that 1.
When my kids who have wrestled along side him & see this become upset…how do you not allow your kids to think of people as cheaters?