Ideal Age?

[Head and Arm]

I have always wondered what is the ideal age to start a child in wrestling. My oldest son started wrestling in 2nd grade. He became very good but by the time he got into high school he burned out and stopped trying his hardest and lost his love for the sport. His senior year he completley gave it up. I was afraid of this happening to my youngest son, so I had him start in 6th grade. What is the ideal age to start having a kid wrestle?

[d_seago]

I don't think there is an ideal age. It varies a lot from kid to kid and their experiences with the sport. If they percieve their experiences as overall being good then they will enjoy the sport more and continue. But just to throw some information out there, I don't believe Spenser Mango started wrestling until the 9th grade, and he is an Olympian.

If you try to find positives for the kids, they will end up enjoying the sport more.

Dan

[stats]

My borther started when he was 10. He now has switched to basketball. He doesn't like the thought of it being an individual loss. He obviously likes to sit the bench at basketball. Most of our wrestlers don't quit because they are burnt out they quit because of other situations. I've tried persuading him to get back with it but he wont. I don't think there is an ideal age because we had kids in our little league who now wrestle as college students, I believe it's your love for the sport. I've been around it since i was 11 and i still love it, but then again I also take stats.