Should coaches hold out "less experienced" wrestlers?

[Alumni]

 I have seen where coaches are not letting varsity wrestlers participate in tournaments because they feel they don't have much of a chance.
Itseems to me that with the large tournament formats and the fact that there are no elimination tournaments that really no matter how inexperienced your wrestler is he is eventually going to wrestle someone around his own caliber.
I don't think it does the wrestlers any good whatsoever to be told you are not competent enough to participate in a tournament even though you have earned a varsity spot. I would guess you may be stunting these athletes growth by trashing their confidence.
I have not seen a tournament yet where the 12 or 16 kids in a bracket were all studs and there wasn't a significant drop off in talent after the top few. I think getting these kids in these tournaments and winning  or at least wrestling competitive matches on the backside of a bracket does not only give kids the extremely necessary mat time they need it makes them feel like they are part of the team.
I would think one of the fastest ways to ruin a wrestling program is to tell your young wrestlers they aren't good enough to be part of the team but you want them around to be practice dummies for your good kids.

Guess what? These inexperienced kids are your future.

Honestly if these coaches have been coaching these kids for 2 1/2 months and they still feel they can't compete in some of these less than stellar tournaments maybe these coaches should look themselves in the mirror and find a different sport to coach.

[MNbadger]

So how does this fit with JH inclusion?  One of the big fears is of a coach putting a kid out there that isn't ready.  Now we are questioning them if they DON'T put a kid out there that isn't ready.........

[bigoil]

You may be right but if there is a coach that can stick around, I will bet they would get a lot more out of a practice. I watched a tourney earlier in the year of a friends kid, I think I was told 10 practices for a newbie at 182, undersized by 12#. The friend was not a wrestler so I was able to give some advice but what he needed was A LOT more practice.

[Quack]

So a kid that can't win a match at a JV tourney should be thrown in to a varsity tourney to wrestle because that will raise his spirits?

[Alumni]

I didn't say these kids were bad and I didn't say anything about them not being able to win a jv match. I said they were inexperienced. Said kids have accrued about 6 jv matches all year. In our area there are very few jv matches. If all the kids you deemed not qualified to wrestle on varsity were made to wrestle jv we would be looking at a lot more 4-5 match duals. That's not the answer in our area. The backside of a lot of varsity tournaments are just like a glorified jv tournament so let them get some mat time.

[Ghetto]

Every kid and every situation is different. I am not going to send a kid out there to get his teeth knocked in. Because those kids ARE the future, and if they quit because they get smashed repeatedly, then they never come back and you lose them. With numbers being what they are, I need every kid to stick around.

[imnofish]

I think most coaches know the readiness levels of their wrestlers and are well-qualified to responsibly put those kids in the best situations for potential growth.  I also think it's apparently a lot easier to make these calls from the stands, but that illusion tends to fade in the light of reality.  That's why the coaches get paid to do their jobs and we pay to watch them do it.

[Alumni]

Let me ask you this then. With conference and regionals left there are no more jv opportunities left. There is however about 7 varsity matches left. Taking into consideration our conference and regional situations these kids would have  1-3 matches against superior opponents and 4-5 matches against equal or inferior opponents. Would you end their season and not let them participate or would you let them be part of a team that has a chance to win both tournaments?

[idol-alum]

This is why you send kids to a JV tournament in Dec. and Jan. instead of a varsity tournament, so they can hopefully get a win or two and get some team points.  A kid will learn more and get more confidence going 3-1 or 2-2 in a JV tournament then going 1-3 in a varsity and getting pinned twice in the first period.   

[Say-Say]

I don't think it does the wrestlers any good whatsoever to be told you are not competent enough to participate in a tournament even though you have earned a varsity spot.

The highlighted part is key.  Some of the kids haven't really "earned" a spot in a varsity line-up. Some are even first year wrestlers, but with spots to fill, they get put in the mix. I agree that coaches (should) know their wrestlers and be able to assess what tournaments they are ready for, though.

[Quack]

We actually have a JV tourney on Feb 10th. But to tell the truth. There are some kids that I still wouldn't put into the Conference or Regional tourney. I still want these kids back next year and I don't want them getting a bad taste from getting hurt or beat up right at the end of the year. I do want them to come along and cheer the rest of the team along and see where they need to be for next year.

We have a kid that has filled in a couple times on varsity. Last weekend he spent a total of 57 seconds in 3 matches on the mat at a JV tourney. Never won a match, would you put this kid into a Varsity spot to fill a hole at Conference or Regionals?

[DocWrestling]

I do think more varsity tournaments should guarantee at least 3 matches.  Match up the kids that went 0-2 and get them another match or 2 with the others that went 0-2.

Varsity is not an "earned" spot at all times.  Many "varsity" kids would have a .500 record going to just JV tournaments.

Having more tournaments that have both varsity and JV divisions would help to keep the team together rather than having to decide whether to send a wrestler to the varsity tournament or the JV tournament

[RollTide]

We have a very small team made up of kids that range from state qualifiers to freshmen that are essentially beginners.  For our team I really like the scramble format that nearly guarantees you a match or two against equal competition. 

I absolutely think there are times that you don't throw an inexperienced wrestler to the wolves.  I believe we have to trust the judgement of the coaches who should be in tune with the mindset of the wrestler.  Every kid is different, and needs to be handled differently. 

[DrWhargoul]

Are kids' egos really that fragile now that they're going to quit if they lose a few matches?  Is this a newer thing?  I don't recall the line ups from my years being shuffled around to the degree that seems to happen today.  I'm also not a coach.  We also had full varsity and JV lineups and then some.  So is this just something that has come along with lower turnout, too?

[whatever]

Are kids' egos really that fragile now that they're going to quit if they lose a few matches?  Is this a newer thing?  I don't recall the line ups from my years being shuffled around to the degree that seems to happen today.  I'm also not a coach.  We also had full varsity and JV lineups and then some.  So is this just something that has come along with lower turnout, too?

Yes, back in my day, we had full varsity and JV line-ups....and the JV kids were all state qualifier-caliber kids but were behind state place-winners! ...and another 20 kids chomping at the bit  who would give their right arm to be able to wrestle varsity....and a full gymnasium ....and took 3 spectator buses to AWAY duals!  LOL ...(funny part is 3 of those previous statements are true)

You people are forgetting one thing (besides the fact that things are ALWAYS changing) and that is in this age of specialization, club sports, wrestling schools, year-round training, etc. - in the larger schools especially, the 3 sport athlete is a dying species and going the way of the dinosaurs.