The Pipeline....

[durdon]

6 years ago when my son was six he started youth wrestling in TN and we have been pretty committed to youth wrestling ever since so I know youth wrestling in TN extremely well.  Saturday was the first time I have been to the TN High School state duals and I found it unbelievably striking how if I had sat down and ranked the youth programs in the state over the past 6 years top to bottom that would have pretty much predicted who made the semifinals, finals and of course your 3 state champions.     

 

It is not a coincidence that the strongest 3 youth programs in the state over the past 6 year and it's really not even been close have been the Red Raiders(Baylor) Higher Calling(Cleveland) and Pigeon Forge kids program. This year Baylor won the D2 State Title, Cleveland won its 2nd straight D1 State Title, and Pigeon Forge won the D3 State Title after making the finals 4 years in a row. Baylor’s Red Raiders kid club has consistently been one of the strongest programs in the state every year since I have been involved in youth wrestling and they have always had the largest youth program in the state every single year.  This year alone they have 60 some advanced youth wrestlers that are competing.  If Baylor was able to admit and keep all of the talent that Sutherland and Patterson are developing in their youth program at that school their High School program would be ranked in the top 20 in the country and the rest of Chattanooga area wouldn’t have any elite kids at all.  Higher Calling(cleveland) has consistently had some of the best elite level wrestlers in the state over the past six years and this year Cleveland had over 90 kids that wrestled for their middle school program because of it. Cleveland brought a bus load of their next generation of middle school and youth kids to spend the weekend watching their High School win the state title, that is how committed that high school is to their pipeline.  Pigeon Forge has because of the work of their Head Coach built a power middle school and youth program over the past 6 years with some of the most dedicated parents in Tn Youth sports.  Nobody in small school division has the pipeline in place that Foreman has built and I predict that Pigeon Forge is on the verge of making a 6 to 8 year run at state titles.  I think that the same can be said for Cleveland as what they have in the pipeline is scary good and deep. 

 

The closest matches in the whole tournament was in D2 and it was because Christian Brothers and Father Ryan were 2 programs that matched up to Baylor and guess what those 2 programs have probably the 4 and 5th best youth programs in the state.  The best programs in D1 also all have solid youth programs.  If you look at the semi’s in D1 it was all the programs with really good youth feeder programs in Ravenwood, Wilson Central, and Soddy.  

 

As I looked at the brackets and how they finished up, it was almost identical to how I would have ranked the youth programs in this state.

 

 It is not a magic formula, if you want build a championship program then you have to build the pipeline first.  And every year from now on winning is going to become more and more dependent on the pipeline schools have in place.   Youth Wrestling much like all kid sports in America has become extremely highly specialized and our youth wrestlers are much more developed today than there were just 5 years ago.  I think that if we took our best seniors today and move them back in time to when they were 7th and 8th grade they wouldn’t be able to compete with the kids that are wrestling on our youth circuit today.  

Gone are the days that if you want to compete in TN high school wrestling you get a good coach, find some athletes in your school and train them hard.  Heck, outside of Father Ryan you can’t just concentrate on the Middle school level anymore and expect to win.  The reality is that there is a 4 to 5 year learning curve for elite level wrestlers and today we are starting to see kids hit high school already at the elite level which has changed the game completely.   

 

All of our winning programs in this state all have a good to great youth program that feeds into their middle schools programs and that is their formula for success.  

 

If any of the programs in this state want to start competing at the State level then they are going to have to start pouring resources(time, money, and guidance) into their youth wrestling and middle school programs.  And, they are going to have to have patience to make that commitment for the long haul like Cleveland and Pigeon Forge have done because it will take 5 to 6 years before they are really going to see that commitment start to pay off.  

 

[Tronado]

Your right about everything you just stated but I'll do you one better. The depth of Chattanooga wrestling is not good and when they wanted to drop the Chattanooga youth wrestling program I stated then that will help a few but for rural places like Soddy, you will kill our depth. I told this to my good friend MIKE SUTHERLAND...., and its happening. Poor folks barely got enough money to put food on the table, they cant run all over the state taking their kids to tournaments...all I heard was growth, I said your crazy. It will kill some programs. Soddy Daisy, Red Bank, Hixson all our schools had youth programs that fed our schools wrestlers. Good ones, Red Bank and Soddy Daisy would regularly send 30 to 40 kids to these tournaments. The depth is gone, what I told Mike then is bearing fruit. It was a great tool for Chattanooga wrestling that produced, but they wanted a state group. I wrestled my kids in Chattanooga tournaments and also ran them to Atlanta for 3 years...ive been poor ever since. I helped my kids where I could , but a lot of parents don't have money to run all over the place and some kids don't have parents that give a flip, Chattanooga wrestling program provided a valuable tool for our high school wrestling programs.

[Nainten]

Good post, Durdon.  As recruiting is the lifeblood of college programs so are feeder programs the lifeblood of high school programs.  No big secret there. 

[reftn]

Your right about everything you just stated but I'll do you one better. The depth of Chattanooga wrestling is not good and when they wanted to drop the Chattanooga youth wrestling program I stated then that will help a few but for rural places like Soddy, you will kill our depth. I told this to my good friend MIKE SUTHERLAND.... , and its happening. Poor folks barely got enough money to put food on the table, they cant run all over the state taking their kids to tournaments...all I heard was growth, I said your crazy. It will kill some programs. Soddy Daisy, Red Bank, Hixson all our schools had youth programs that fed our schools wrestlers. Good ones, Red Bank and Soddy Daisy would regularly send 30 to 40 kids to these tournaments. The depth is gone, what I told Mike then is bearing fruit. It was a great tool for Chattanooga wrestling that produced, but they wanted a state group. I wrestled my kids in Chattanooga tournaments and also ran them to Atlanta for 3 years...ive been poor ever since. I helped my kids where I could , but a lot of parents don't have money to run all over the place and some kids don't have parents that give a flip, Chattanooga wrestling program provided a valuable tool for our high school wrestling programs.

I might exaggerate here, just a little.

 

What you put into your kids at the youth level, onto middle and finishing in high school wrestling will be as equally valuable to them as a college education.  When I hire, if I see someone has a wrestling background (it is a resume builder) they automatically get an interview.  I would prefer that kind of background and work ethic to experience in some cases.  I am not looking for wrestling state champions, just wrestlers.  That kids who wrestled JV behind some studs all his career, but stayed on the practice mat is a special kid.

[reftn]

 

6 years ago when my son was six he started youth wrestling in TN and we have been pretty committed to youth wrestling ever since so I know youth wrestling in TN extremely well.  Saturday was the first time I have been to the TN High School state duals and I found it unbelievably striking how if I had sat down and ranked the youth programs in the state over the past 6 years top to bottom that would have pretty much predicted who made the semifinals, finals and of course your 3 state champions.     

 

It is not a coincidence that the strongest 3 youth programs in the state over the past 6 year and it's really not even been close have been the Red Raiders(Baylor) Higher Calling(Cleveland) and Pigeon Forge kids program. This year Baylor won the D2 State Title, Cleveland won its 2nd straight D1 State Title, and Pigeon Forge won the D3 State Title after making the finals 4 years in a row. Baylor’s Red Raiders kid club has consistently been one of the strongest programs in the state every year since I have been involved in youth wrestling and they have always had the largest youth program in the state every single year.  This year alone they have 60 some advanced youth wrestlers that are competing.  If Baylor was able to admit and keep all of the talent that Sutherland and Patterson are developing in their youth program at that school their High School program would be ranked in the top 20 in the country and the rest of Chattanooga area wouldn’t have any elite kids at all.  Higher Calling(cleveland) has consistently had some of the best elite level wrestlers in the state over the past six years and this year Cleveland had over 90 kids that wrestled for their middle school program because of it. Cleveland brought a bus load of their next generation of middle school and youth kids to spend the weekend watching their High School win the state title, that is how committed that high school is to their pipeline.  Pigeon Forge has because of the work of their Head Coach built a power middle school and youth program over the past 6 years with some of the most dedicated parents in Tn Youth sports.  Nobody in small school division has the pipeline in place that Foreman has built and I predict that Pigeon Forge is on the verge of making a 6 to 8 year run at state titles.  I think that the same can be said for Cleveland as what they have in the pipeline is scary good and deep. 

 

The closest matches in the whole tournament was in D2 and it was because Christian Brothers and Father Ryan were 2 programs that matched up to Baylor and guess what those 2 programs have probably the 4 and 5th best youth programs in the state.  The best programs in D1 also all have solid youth programs.  If you look at the semi’s in D1 it was all the programs with really good youth feeder programs in Ravenwood, Wilson Central, and Soddy.  

 

As I looked at the brackets and how they finished up, it was almost identical to how I would have ranked the youth programs in this state.

 

 It is not a magic formula, if you want build a championship program then you have to build the pipeline first.  And every year from now on winning is going to become more and more dependent on the pipeline schools have in place.   Youth Wrestling much like all kid sports in America has become extremely highly specialized and our youth wrestlers are much more developed today than there were just 5 years ago.  I think that if we took our best seniors today and move them back in time to when they were 7th and 8th grade they wouldn’t be able to compete with the kids that are wrestling on our youth circuit today.  

Gone are the days that if you want to compete in TN high school wrestling you get a good coach, find some athletes in your school and train them hard.  Heck, outside of Father Ryan you can’t just concentrate on the Middle school level anymore and expect to win.  The reality is that there is a 4 to 5 year learning curve for elite level wrestlers and today we are starting to see kids hit high school already at the elite level which has changed the game completely.   

 

All of our winning programs in this state all have a good to great youth program that feeds into their middle schools programs and that is their formula for success.  

 

If any of the programs in this state want to start competing at the State level then they are going to have to start pouring resources(time, money, and guidance) into their youth wrestling and middle school programs.  And, they are going to have to have patience to make that commitment for the long haul like Cleveland and Pigeon Forge have done because it will take 5 to 6 years before they are really going to see that commitment start to pay off.  

 

Those schools you mentioned have created and demonstrated the "business model" for successful, achievable wrestling.

 

Other schools are seeing it and beginning to replicate it, We all know it is a 4-6 year process once begun, but the 1000 mile journey begins with but a single step (an old Chinese guy once said).

 

At the end of the day the residual from building successful wrestling programs is building solid young men.

[cbg]

There are two way's to build a successful feeder program:  1.  Start at the grassroots level and work hard with the young athletes that will join your program.  2.  Recruit athletes to move into your school.  Both methods work equally as well and both have been used in Tennessee. 

[refsblow]

There are two way's to build a successful feeder program:  1.  Start at the grassroots level and work hard with the young athletes that will join your program.  2.  Recruit athletes to move into your school.  Both methods work equally as well and both have been used in Tennessee. 

 

Well cbg if you build a good program using the first step than number 2 will happen all by itself. A good program recruits all on its on cuz other kids at weaker schools want o be a part of a better team and get better and do better. A good sign that your doin something right is kids moving to your school and joining your team.

[Nainten]

If you are a high school wrestling coach, how does recruiting someone to come to your school, (presumably from someone else's feeder program or school), help build a successful feeder program for your school.  I think I am misinterpreting something in your post. 

[refsblow]

cbg should know all about that recruiting being one of those memphis bros.

[oldwrestlingcoach]

I dont even consider the private schools when I look at the quality of wrestling in Tennessee because they can all recruit and do actively recruit across the state and within other states (especially the ones that offer dormitories and housing arrangements). As far as public schools, consider the size of the county and if the county requires zoning. Several of the powerhouses in Tennesse are in counties that allow for open enrollment so the better wrestlers in the county can go to a school where other better wrestlers go and that builds the strong team. If a county only has one or two high schools, a stronger team can be assembled as well.  When a county has many highschools and kids are required to go only to their zoned school, that keeps that from happening. That is what you see in Middle Tennessee. Many of the counties have experienced tremendous growth and do not allow students to go to any school they want due to overcrowding issues. Call it an excuse, whining, or whatever you will, but that is the truth.

[ghouse]

cbg should know all about that recruiting being one of those memphis bros.

 

Wow, not sure exactly what you are alluding to here but you are off base on a lot of levels.  The first and foremost being that cbg is a very staunch supporter of one of the Nashville area private schools.

[Xander Zone]

You are right sir...but Cleveland has always had a Great Kids Club program...it took a long long time to get it where it is today...I know I helped coach them and helped form Higher Calling...and what you guys have done since then is a great great thing....for a while that is why you saw the decline in Bradley...but they are getting back on track...Same goes with Stampede Wrestling(Ocoee & Walker Valley) Pretty soon a lot of programs will rise because of it...and you are also correct in the fact that you have to have patience...but then again it could be something in the water in Bradley Co...you have to have knowledgeable coaches as well on all levels to tap into the elite status...Continue Pushing for Greatness Tennessee...As a whole that is the way "WE" can garner respect on the National Level....