How do you guys feel about children cutting weight either through their parents having them diet, intense exercise sessions and/or other means for grappling tournaments (wrestling, bjj,)? I personally feel that it takes away from the fun a child may have at such a young age when competing. I try to rationalize why a parent may care so much about their child winning a tournament under the age of 10 as if it would have real bearing as to how their child will perform in later years. I have met some wrestlers who were terrible in their youth and later developed into amazing collegiate wrestlers and the opposite as well.
I once spoke to a wrestling father who had his son (8 years old) lose about 8 lbs to make 44lbs for a tournament.
I saw a post on social media with a parent commenting on fighters missing weight and how unacceptable it was since her child had lose 5 lbs to compete in a novice Naga division. My personal opinion when reading that was that it was shameful considering the parent stated that their child was only 5 years old.
However, going against the prior 2 examplesI also met another father who said he would never allow his son (11 years old) to lose weight either through diet and or any other means for a tournament. He said he only would allow his son to wrestle at the weight he was walking around at. His son is ranked extremely high for his weight and age in the country.
cutting weight is unnatural for anyone never mind a child. Kids cutting weight is one of the saddest things that i've seen parents put their children through. It is emphasized by pathetic coaches who value a youth victory over a childs health and then undertaken by parents who follow some 'expert'.
kids need to learn and develop excellence and NOT focus on winning a single tourney or match. Yep they might be at a disadvantage against other kids who are cutting weight, but this sport isn't done in a vacuum. they have their entire lives to enjoy and train in these sports.
That's awful. 8 lbs for a child that's trying to make the 44 lbs division is a huge amount of weight. 8 lbs to cut isn't much for an adult that's competing at welterweight for example as that's a much smaller percentage of their body weight.
Plus kids are naturally gaining weight and moving through the weight classes as they get older and taller. That's horrible for them to be cutting any significant amount of weight for any particular tournament.
That's awful. 8 lbs for a child that's trying to make the 44 lbs division is a huge amount of weight. 8 lbs to cut isn't much for an adult that's competing at welterweight for example as that's a much smaller percentage of their body weight.
Plus kids are naturally gaining weight and moving through the weight classes as they get older and taller. That's horrible for them to be cutting any significant amount of weight for any particular tournament.
I am in agreement. I was more surprised at how the comment was made so nonchalantly as if this was a regular occurence within the grappling community.
hard no till they're full grown, i lost weight as a coxswain for rowing when i was 18 and that delayed the last bit of my puberty, fuck doing that any younger
It's a sad reality. I have coached competitive kids for almost a decade and don't advocate for any children to ever cut weight. I think it's disgusting what some parents want out of their little kids. Scumbag material for sure. I also live in a really wrestling centric town, and it's crazy what those parents do in comparison to bjj or Judo parents.
It's a sad reality. I have coached competitive kids for almost a decade and don't advocate for any children to ever cut weight. I think it's disgusting what some parents want out of their little kids. Scumbag material for sure. I also live in a really wrestling centric town, and it's crazy what those parents do in comparison to bjj or Judo parents.
I have seen wrestling parents tell their kids after a hard practice that they will have to jump on the treadmill at home and the kids are under 10 years old. How can they expec their kids to continue to love the sport later on in life when there is so much pressure early on?
It's a sad reality. I have coached competitive kids for almost a decade and don't advocate for any children to ever cut weight. I think it's disgusting what some parents want out of their little kids. Scumbag material for sure. I also live in a really wrestling centric town, and it's crazy what those parents do in comparison to bjj or Judo parents.
I have seen wrestling parents tell their kids after a hard practice that they will have to jump on the treadmill at home and the kids are under 10 years old. How can they expec their kids to continue to love the sport later on in life when there is so much pressure early on?
My son wrestled against a kid that was ranked #1 in the country in their age/weight bracket... I saw the dad a few months ago and he already burned out an quit wrestling
nowadays the season never ends and there is a long series of major post season tournaments that lead right into summer wrestling then more tournaments then back to the regular season... must be hell to have to do it all year
I heard Rogan tell a story on his podcast about his friend in high school who was on the wrestling team. His friend's parents and siblings were all over 6ft tall, but the dude was barely 5'7 as full grown adult.
I guess all the weight cutting in hs messed up his growth.
It's a sad reality. I have coached competitive kids for almost a decade and don't advocate for any children to ever cut weight. I think it's disgusting what some parents want out of their little kids. Scumbag material for sure. I also live in a really wrestling centric town, and it's crazy what those parents do in comparison to bjj or Judo parents.
I have seen wrestling parents tell their kids after a hard practice that they will have to jump on the treadmill at home and the kids are under 10 years old. How can they expec their kids to continue to love the sport later on in life when there is so much pressure early on?
My son wrestled against a kid that was ranked #1 in the country in their age/weight bracket... I saw the dad a few months ago and he already burned out an quit wrestling
nowadays the season never ends and there is a long series of major post season tournaments that lead right into summer wrestling then more tournaments then back to the regular season... must be hell to have to do it all year
this is all sports and it is beyond idiotic. all of it driven by some combination of greedy coaches milking parents, parents being gullible and/or parents trying to relive their past glory
It's a sad reality. I have coached competitive kids for almost a decade and don't advocate for any children to ever cut weight. I think it's disgusting what some parents want out of their little kids. Scumbag material for sure. I also live in a really wrestling centric town, and it's crazy what those parents do in comparison to bjj or Judo parents.
I have seen wrestling parents tell their kids after a hard practice that they will have to jump on the treadmill at home and the kids are under 10 years old. How can they expec their kids to continue to love the sport later on in life when there is so much pressure early on?
My son wrestled against a kid that was ranked #1 in the country in their age/weight bracket... I saw the dad a few months ago and he already burned out an quit wrestling
nowadays the season never ends and there is a long series of major post season tournaments that lead right into summer wrestling then more tournaments then back to the regular season... must be hell to have to do it all year
this is all sports and it is beyond idiotic. all of it driven by some combination of greedy coaches milking parents, parents being gullible and/or parents trying to relive their past glory
It's such a short term mentality also... the kids will get repetitive use injuries, mentally burn out while still young and there goes the opportunity to create a lifelong grappler and keep the sports healthy and growing
my kids competed a lot and you see everything from parents lying about a kids age and registering them for a bracket with younger kids (I've seen several times kids in one division when they don't verify age and in another division in tournaments or sports that do verify age) lying about experience/belt level and some regional tournaments don't have weigh ins for kids matches and go off the "honor" system
it also really fucks with the heads of the kids that are competing in their correct brackets getting clobbered by much older more experienced kids and end up packing it in
just a complete all around shit show when parents will do anything to get their kid a gold medal
Wrestling as a kid at 11 I once dropped 8 pounds because my coach told me to. My parents had no clue until I weighed in the day of the comp and when they found out got the coach fired. They had no idea until then about the weight cutting culture in wrestling (this was early 80's). Their support for me wrestling stopped after they learned more about it and how it's a daily part of wrestling as a terenager.
It's a sad reality. I have coached competitive kids for almost a decade and don't advocate for any children to ever cut weight. I think it's disgusting what some parents want out of their little kids. Scumbag material for sure. I also live in a really wrestling centric town, and it's crazy what those parents do in comparison to bjj or Judo parents.
I have seen wrestling parents tell their kids after a hard practice that they will have to jump on the treadmill at home and the kids are under 10 years old. How can they expec their kids to continue to love the sport later on in life when there is so much pressure early on?
My son wrestled against a kid that was ranked #1 in the country in their age/weight bracket... I saw the dad a few months ago and he already burned out an quit wrestling
nowadays the season never ends and there is a long series of major post season tournaments that lead right into summer wrestling then more tournaments then back to the regular season... must be hell to have to do it all year
this is all sports and it is beyond idiotic. all of it driven by some combination of greedy coaches milking parents, parents being gullible and/or parents trying to relive their past glory
It's such a short term mentality also... the kids will get repetitive use injuries, mentally burn out while still young and there goes the opportunity to create a lifelong grappler and keep the sports healthy and growing
my kids competed a lot and you see everything from parents lying about a kids age and registering them for a bracket with younger kids (I've seen several times kids in one division when they don't verify age and in another division in tournaments or sports that do verify age) lying about experience/belt level and some regional tournaments don't have weigh ins for kids matches and go off the "honor" system
it also really fucks with the heads of the kids that are competing in their correct brackets getting clobbered by much older more experienced kids and end up packing it in
just a complete all around shit show when parents will do anything to get their kid a gold medal
My son competed in a Judo tournament recently and the division was 23kg. My son is 50lbs and he lost in the finals against a kid who was above 27kg. The part that pissed me off the most was that there was a 27kg division but the kid was still allowed to compete against kids 10 or more lbs lighter than him.
The other messed up part was that the published the division weight of 23kg and then published the actual weight of the kids competing so it showed how much the kid weighed but nothing was done of it. The kid happened to train at the school that was hosting the tournament. This is like the 4th time that has happened but most of the time I can't tell the size of the kids until they step on the mat since actual weights weren't published next to the weight division.
Wrestling as a kid at 11 I once dropped 8 pounds because my coach told me to. My parents had no clue until I weighed in the day of the comp and when they found out got the coach fired. They had no idea until then about the weight cutting culture in wrestling (this was early 80's). Their support for me wrestling stopped after they learned more about it and how it's a daily part of wrestling as a terenager.
It's a sad reality. I have coached competitive kids for almost a decade and don't advocate for any children to ever cut weight. I think it's disgusting what some parents want out of their little kids. Scumbag material for sure. I also live in a really wrestling centric town, and it's crazy what those parents do in comparison to bjj or Judo parents.
I have seen wrestling parents tell their kids after a hard practice that they will have to jump on the treadmill at home and the kids are under 10 years old. How can they expec their kids to continue to love the sport later on in life when there is so much pressure early on?
My son wrestled against a kid that was ranked #1 in the country in their age/weight bracket... I saw the dad a few months ago and he already burned out an quit wrestling
nowadays the season never ends and there is a long series of major post season tournaments that lead right into summer wrestling then more tournaments then back to the regular season... must be hell to have to do it all year
this is all sports and it is beyond idiotic. all of it driven by some combination of greedy coaches milking parents, parents being gullible and/or parents trying to relive their past glory
It's such a short term mentality also... the kids will get repetitive use injuries, mentally burn out while still young and there goes the opportunity to create a lifelong grappler and keep the sports healthy and growing
my kids competed a lot and you see everything from parents lying about a kids age and registering them for a bracket with younger kids (I've seen several times kids in one division when they don't verify age and in another division in tournaments or sports that do verify age) lying about experience/belt level and some regional tournaments don't have weigh ins for kids matches and go off the "honor" system
it also really fucks with the heads of the kids that are competing in their correct brackets getting clobbered by much older more experienced kids and end up packing it in
just a complete all around shit show when parents will do anything to get their kid a gold medal
My son competed in a Judo tournament recently and the division was 23kg. My son is 50lbs and he lost in the finals against a kid who was above 27kg. The part that pissed me off the most was that there was a 27kg division but the kid was still allowed to compete against kids 10 or more lbs lighter than him.
The other messed up part was that the published the division weight of 23kg and then published the actual weight of the kids competing so it showed how much the kid weighed but nothing was done of it. The kid happened to train at the school that was hosting the tournament. This is like the 4th time that has happened but most of the time I can't tell the size of the kids until they step on the mat since actual weights weren't published next to the weight division.
First of all I hope much respect to your son for training and stepping into the lions den with everything against him and doing his job
it also puts you in a shitty situation as a parent, if you object and try to advocate for your kid now you're labeled psycho sports dad and if you don't you have to watch your son get clobbered by someone that shouldn't be competing in his bracket
No wonder so many kids have a hard time being motivated to compete... why not stay home and play video games instead