I received a number of emails over the past few weeks from parents of youth and high school wrestlers.

Among the things I’ve heard:

“My son is really wrestling well, even better than we thought. We want to continue the momentum into the offseason. What is the best summer wrestling camp for him?”

“When is a good time to start choosing a wrestling camp?”

“What should I focus on, a summer camp or in-season wrestling club or training program?”

I’ve also had a few of these:

“We sent my son to three wrestling camps over the summer and he is not progressing at all. Did we waste our money at these camps? Help!”

“I don’t think the camp my two sons went to last year taught them anything, they aren’t getting better this year.”

“Can you recommend any wrestling camps? Things aren’t going well this year and he needs practice! He loves the sport but is not developing.”

It’s the heart of the wrestling season and a few things are happening:

1. A number of youth or high school wrestlers are starting to excel and rise to – or exceed – their potential. This has coaches, parents and of course, the wrestlers excited. With this success they are starting to enjoy the sport some more, perhaps finding that passion or perhaps realizing, while wrestling is hard work, it’s a sport they really enjoy. Because of this, they are starting to look towards the future to keep the momentum going after the youth or high school season is complete.

2. Other wrestlers are not enjoying as much success. They might not be reaching their goals at youth wrestling tournaments, or perhaps are struggling to win on the high school wrestling team. It happens – nearly every successful wrestler can tell stories about periods where they didn’t win, didn’t feel right, felt like the sport was overwhelming or even that it wasn’t the right sport for them. Parents see this and they want to do whatever they can to provide their child with the best wrestling training options available.

While many of the nation’s best tournaments just concluded – such as The Clash National High School Wrestling Duals and the Powerade Tournament – there are hundreds of thousands of youth and high school wrestlers competing every day in practice and at smaller tournaments and events across the country. Whether it’s a small local tournament, a regional event, or a high school dual meet, it’s definitely the heart of the wrestling season and parents, coaches and wrestlers across the country are starting to focus on the present – and the future.

When I get questions like this, a few things come to mind.

1. If you are having success, keep doing what you are doing. Listen to the coaches who are working with your kid’s every day. Keep the path moving ahead and don’t let them get complacent or take a break. The hardest part of the season – regional, section and state tournaments – is still ahead. Stay focused.

2. If you are not having success, what are the reasons? Is your son or daughter showing improvement but just not winning? That’s okay, youth wrestlers learn at different paces and while they may not be winning, maybe they have improved their technique, or have mastered a go-to move that will eventually be what helps them get over the top. It’s not time to start blaming coaches, or the summer wrestling camp as there is still a lot of time left in the season and as Dan Gable will tell you – or any other successful wrestler – nothing beats hard work and determination.

So my advice to all of those who have asked about what the best wrestling camp is for their son or daughter, or how to pick a wrestling camp, or when a good time to start searching for a wrestling camp is this:

Focus on the present, but keep an eye towards the future. Talk to your club coach, high school coach or youth coach and ask what they think your son or daughter can work on in the wrestling room to get better today, this week, next week, next month. Can they improve their conditioning? Could they move up or down a weight if possible? Do they need more focus? Is there a nagging injury holding them back? Do they need to work just a little bit harder? What can you do now that will help this season be a success?

There is still plenty of time to pick a wrestling camp and as the season winds down, discussion will heat up. At that point, talk to your coach or wrestler about what they feel they need to work on and come up with a plan. Do they need more technique work? Then maybe a technique camp is the best option for them. Do you as a parent want to be more involved? Then maybe a father-son wrestling camp would be a good idea. Has conditioning been an issue? Then maybe an intensive camp that focuses on physical and mental conditioning is the best option.

Watch your wrestler, talk to your coach or coaches and come up with a plan – down the road. For now, focus on the present and making this wrestling season the best it can be. Work hard to improve and those obstacles that are in the way now may be challenges your wrestler overcomes by season’s end.

Good luck the rest of the season!