Where are we going?

"A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go, but ought to be." - Rosalyn Carter

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I've been around far too many shoulder injuries over the past two years. I've seen athletes of mine have their dreams dashed because of torn rotator cuffs, separated a-c joints, etc. So, as I was discussing recovery options with one of my athletes yesterday, I became curious of where we're going with all of this stuff. What I mean is, does someone, somewhere have a method to the madness that is high school wrestling?

This particular athlete that I was talking to does everything right. He works hard, works smart, is a good student and a great kid. He's in great cardiovascular shape and is on a reliable strength training program. Athletes like him shouldn't get hurt, right? Obviously, "freak" accidents happen, but are we wearing our athletes out? Think about it.

I went through rigorous training in high school and college. I beat my body like a slave. A few surgeries later, the neck of a 70 year old, and early signs of arthritis in my fingers and knees (and maybe right hip), I can't fathom how I'd feel if I competed more than I did. However, high school athletes are competing almost twice as much as me. This scares me and I think it's time that leaders step-up to do what's best for these athletes and compete less.

An area high school team hosted an annual "quad" dual meet on Tuesday. This means that athletes wrestled three times that evening. They spent a full day in school, traveled to a different community and competed three times. That's a full day. I'm not surprised that one of my top athletes (great kid who does everything right) suffered an injury. Another one of my athletes only competed once because of a sore back. To me, the sad part of all of this is it's not the fault of these young athletes, it's the adults who make the schedules. High school athletes are not built to endure 60 wrestling matches in a season and shouldn't compete more than they practice.

I've instructed one of my athletes to take some time away from Victory because of his demanding upcoming schedule. After the new year, he'll compete on Saturday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday. He'll have 12+ matches in 14 days. When does he get a chance to recover? Is training or learning skills even important to the individual who made this schedule?

How will an athlete become better at his/her sport if they don't have the opportunity to learn skills and strategy, recover from competition, take a break from the pressure of competing (pressure to win) or spend an evening/weekend with their family? It concerns me.

Obviously, I'm a wrestling coach and concerned most with the development and health of my athletes, but let's look at it from a different perspective, too. Aren't we faced with budget cuts and constantly seeing wrestling on the "chopping block?" More competition means more expenses, right? If we're trying to save our sport, let's compete less. Seems simple.

At a simple dual meet, consider the costs of the official, ticket takers, school officials, building operation cost, traveling costs for the visiting team, etc., etc. If 200 spectators attend the meet(don't we all wish), the admissions costs won't cover the expenses. As wrestling leaders, we can be proactive to help our districts be financially responsible.

I'm also noticing a lack of interest from spectators. To support your local team, you need to use valuable vacation time to travel across the state, not to mention keeping track of the local competitions. Not only are we wearing out the athletes, we're wearing out the parents and fans. Remember, they're not just interested in wrestling (like I might be). This happens all year in other sports, too. Spectators don't even get the opportunity to watch CSI: Miami or college football?

Everyone's worn-out. I wish every coach communicated well with their athletes and treated them all kindly, but that's not the case. I see a lot of negative coaching, yelling and over-correcting because coaches are at their wits end. Imagine a 15 year old kid being yelled at and corrected over 50 times in a year. There are a million reasons retention is a problem in wrestling, but this contributes more than anything, in my opinion. It's all part of the equation with too many competitions. Athletes, coaches and parents are too tired.

I'd love to see a few prominent coaches lead by example to the less-educated coaches and begin steering the ship back on course. Wrestling can do many great things for individuals, but it has the potential to do harm as well. We might be the reason for the demise, too. I always say wrestling people are wrestling's worst enemy, not administrators, budget cuts or hockey/basketball.

We need to be forward thinking and visionaries. Please, no more short-sighted decisions that undermine the development of men (and women). Seriously, what's our plan? What's the method to the madness? Where are we going?