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Figure this would be a good place for people to get answers on questions they had. It seems to be a pretty popular thread on Yappi. This is a Q & A thread, please no bashing of anyone on here. Just post a question/situation below and hopefully some of the refs around the state can chime in.

Regarding the overall cost of participation, if you're not willing to pass the full cost on to parents or parents are unable to bear the cost and refuse to participate at the current expense level, then IMO you have hit a point that requires creative and season long fundraising. You have to go after that cost yourself, rather than hoping the events can come closer to you. It is the price we pay (no pun intended) when we choose to participate in a "minor" sport or a sport that is not popular in our local area, i.e. one that isn't football or basketball, and in some areas baseball. Fewer teams and fewer kids involved overall always means fewer / no local leagues, more travel cost, and more effort for parents. Swimming, tennis, equestrian, archery, fishing, and plenty of other sports have the same complaints, I'd suspect. I don't begrudge the N. KY and Louisville areas for having more clubs & teams around them, and for not having to travel as far to find good competition as a result. Their proximity to IN and OH and their efforts to bring those models over the borders and into their areas have been a very good thing for our sport. I wish the Lexington area was the same way (it is improving, at least on a MS level), but until it is we're stuck with packing our bags. That being said, my 1st son, who does not wrestle, plays MS basketball and baseball. Those season fees (plus tournament team entry fees, equipment costs, etc.) easily exceed the typical amounts we spend on a wrestling season. As does my daughter's year-round swim team, with pool rental fees and a paid coach and most meets 2 days long. During wrestling season we travel at least an hour almost every weekend for events, and we spent 4 years driving 2+ hours to tournaments in Cincinnati all winter long as youth, so I think I'm in at least a somewhat comparable situation. We definitely don't wrestle in the Central KY neighborhood exclusively during the season. When everything is weighed, I still consider MS wrestling a "bargain". Our summer travel baseball team chooses to try to help alleviate the cost pressures with coupon book sales, gift sales, yard sales, mulch sales, car washes, comedy club nights, and darn near everything else you can think of to try to generate a positive team cash flow. The swim team has a license that allows them to work bingo nights, etc. No reason a wrestling team can't do the same thing and fund-raise year round. That being said, it's dedication and elbow grease any way you slice it to be sure. Just like the sport itself.

The 170's just really intrigued me this year and my nephew wrestles 170 so thought it would be fun just to focus most my attention on the 170's. I know quite abit about the 152,s 160's and 182's but I'm relatively weak on the light weights. It's not that I try to be I just found the bigger kids to be very impressive and very strong and honestly I think it goes back to my high school years where I wish I would have but played football and just never wrestled. I've enjoyed watching my nephew grow as an individual and therefore It's become a hobby of mine on keeping in tune on who he's going to wrestle and looking ahead to even next year to where he may end up wrestling. My nephew is no SAM or ATM but he's came such a long way from where he started and he calls me every night and it's nice to be able to talk intelligently with him. The other reason is it's a lot of fun on this board because there's some really good people and it's fun to interact. I coached high school ball for 10 years (girls softball) so this just gives me a chance to enjoy something new and it involves my family.

I like the idea of having tournaments in each region that are open to everyone. We have less than 50 kids in the southern part of the state that are willing to wrestle in a regional. We wrestle in TN just about every saturday because of the distance and the fact that the best toutnaments here are on sundays in KY. Its hard to get the parents to travel on sunday. In TN each of the regions host a tournament that is open to everyone and the turnout is great. The competition is great. Such tournaments could be used as qualifiers for the state. Kids in the south have to pay an entry fee and may not wrestle a match in a regional. Its tough here to get numbers because of travel {this cant be helped}, Football coaches are afraid to share their athletes, and your average parent doesnt realize how hard and demanding this sport is. It is the hardest sport the kids will play. We tell our parents that it is the most demanding sport there is and the its not for everyone. The kids, coaches, and parents that stay in it deserve a lot of credit.

The Martin household will add $ 100.00. Where do I send the check.