Is the two piece uniform experiment dead?

[peanut]

How would it work to have singlets with buttons for attaching shorts to?

In the old days of NCAA wrestling, at least for a while, athletes competed with with nothing covering their torsos.

 

[MPhillips]

57 minutes ago, CHROMEBIRD said:

Figure skaters and hardcore figure skating fans think their uniforms look totally fine.

 

 

[Idaho]

On 2/7/2025 at 12:52 PM, MPhillips said:

 

Introducing the puffy singlet...from the makers of The Bro. 

[BruceyB]

25 minutes ago, Idaho said:

Introducing the puffy singlet...from the makers of The Bro. 

You're going to be the first wrestling pirate!

[CHROMEBIRD]

4 minutes ago, BruceyB said:

You're going to be the first wrestling pirate!

I think you may have just summoned SHP

[666]

On 2/7/2025 at 11:51 AM, CHROMEBIRD said:

Figure skaters and hardcore figure skating fans think their uniforms look totally fine.

He looks like he's on his way to a gay disco. 

[666]

On 2/7/2025 at 12:04 PM, peanut said:

How would it work to have singlets with buttons for attaching shorts to?

In the old days of NCAA wrestling, at least for a while, athletes competed with with nothing covering their torsos.

 

Buttons pop off. 

Singlets work fine. The guys with little dicks just need to wear cups to hide their shame, as wrestling tradition dicktates!

[Idaho]

19 hours ago, BruceyB said:

You're going to be the first wrestling pirate!

@SetonHallPirate is this you? 

[SetonHallPirate]

11 hours ago, Idaho said:

@SetonHallPirate is this you? 

Definitely not.

[TexRef]

A friend of mine was coaching a D3 program when the NFHS approved the use of the 2 piece uniform. His AD heard about it and quickly alerted the coach that he was not spending more money on uniforms (they just bought 40 new singlets the season prior). The next day about of his incoming recruits called him to tell him that they had "earned" the right to wear a singlet, and if he went with the 2 piece uniform, they would go to a different school.

As @Idahoput it, SINGLETS FOR THE WIN! 

[TexRef]

The "experts" promised that with the 2 piece uniform we would be mainstream! Still waiting....

[1032004]

10 minutes ago, TexRef said:

The "experts" promised that with the 2 piece uniform we would be mainstream! Still waiting....

No they didn’t.  They said it might help participation numbers, particularly at younger ages.  I haven’t really seen anything specific showing one way or the other, but I don’t see how it’s possible to have hurt participation.

12 minutes ago, TexRef said:

A friend of mine was coaching a D3 program when the NFHS approved the use of the 2 piece uniform. His AD heard about it and quickly alerted the coach that he was not spending more money on uniforms (they just bought 40 new singlets the season prior). The next day about of his incoming recruits called him to tell him that they had "earned" the right to wear a singlet, and if he went with the 2 piece uniform, they would go to a different school.

As @Idahoput it, SINGLETS FOR THE WIN! 

College wrestlers were never the target market for the two piece uniform.

[ionel]

Is it true folks said the same thing when giving up the Horse Hairs for the Resilites or is that just a Sparky tale?  

[Idaho]

1 hour ago, 1032004 said:

No they didn’t.  They said it might help participation numbers, particularly at younger ages.  I haven’t really seen anything specific showing one way or the other, but I don’t see how it’s possible to have hurt participation.

No, they said it would help participation at the high school level. Little kids didn't  and don't care about a singlet, a two piece, shorts or a t-shirt. They found declining numbers began in MS and mainly at the high school level and tried the two piece.  The. NFHSSA  created the option in 2017 - 8 years ago.  College wrestling may not have been the target, but they were certainly used to try to mainstream the two piece. I agree that it didn't hurt participation, but it also has not been the factor that has increased participation. When it was introduced participation increased very slightly, then dropped off in 21-22 due to the pandemic.  The biggest jump in HS participation  in both boys and girls happened from 22-23 to 23-24. If you read a lot of the articles on participation increasing,  it is due to girls wrestling (and football), parents wanting their kids active again after the pandemic, the increased focus on promoting the sport (Let's wrestle, Wrestle Like a Girl, etc.), and the increased work of youth and HS coaches to promote the sport. The two-piece singlet didn't hurt participation, but it was not the driving factor in increasing participation either. It really has been a non factor and just provided an option for some kids who want it. 

https://www.vice.com/en/article/good-riddance-to-the-wrestling-singlet/

https://www.statista.com/statistics/268028/participation-in-us-high-school-wrestling/

https://www.themat.com/news/2024/august/20/nfhs-high-school-sports-participation-boys-and-girls-wrestling-make-big-gains-in-2023-24

[1032004]

1 minute ago, Idaho said:

No, they said it would help participation at the high school level. Little kids didn't  and don't care about a singlet, a two piece, shorts or a t-shirt. They found declining numbers began in MS and mainly at the high school level and tried the two piece.  The. NFHSSA  created the option in 2017 - 8 years ago.  College wrestling may not have been the target, but they were certainly used to try to mainstream the two piece. I agree that it didn't hurt participation, but it also has not been the factor that has increased participation. When it was introduced participation increased very slightly, then dropped off in 21-22 due to the pandemic.  The biggest jump in HS participation  in both boys and girls happened from 22-23 to 23-24. If you read a lot of the articles on participation increasing,  it is due to girls wrestling (and football), parents wanting their kids active again after the pandemic, the increased focus on promoting the sport (Let's wrestle, Wrestle Like a Girl, etc.), and the increased work of youth and HS coaches to promote the sport. The two-piece singlet didn't hurt participation, but it was not the driving factor in increasing participation either. It really has been a non factor and just provided an option for some kids who want it. 

https://www.vice.com/en/article/good-riddance-to-the-wrestling-singlet/

https://www.statista.com/statistics/268028/participation-in-us-high-school-wrestling/

https://www.themat.com/news/2024/august/20/nfhs-high-school-sports-participation-boys-and-girls-wrestling-make-big-gains-in-2023-24

I would consider high school “younger ages,” particularly freshmen when you’re trying to get guys to come out for the team 

[666]

8 hours ago, TexRef said:

The "experts" promised that with the 2 piece uniform we would be mainstream! Still waiting....

Wait no more. I have it on good authority that the Hawkeyes will be adopting this two piece design next year, in black and gold, of course. 

 

[TexRef]

9 hours ago, 1032004 said:

No they didn’t.  They said it might help participation numbers, particularly at younger ages.  I haven’t really seen anything specific showing one way or the other, but I don’t see how it’s possible to have hurt participation.

College wrestlers were never the target market for the two piece uniform.

I never said that college wrestlers were the target. 

[1032004]

10 minutes ago, TexRef said:

I never said that college wrestlers were the target. 

Then cool story about a college team not wanting to wear them?

[TexRef]

9 minutes ago, 1032004 said:

Then cool story about a college team not wanting to wear them?

Thanks! 

[Idaho]

On 2/10/2025 at 8:30 AM, 1032004 said:

I would consider high school “younger ages,” particularly freshmen when you’re trying to get guys to come out for the team 

I don't really consider teenagers younger ages, but okay. My experience in coaching wrestling has been that middle school is where it starts to get tough with the singlet issue...that and, "I don't like people touching me all over." Dude, your 6' 220 in 8th grade, you destroy people in football, but you're going to play basketball instead of punish people because of a singlet and not wanting "to be touched." ????

[Bardamu911]

On 2/6/2025 at 9:23 PM, BruceyB said:

a junior high kid who isn't familiar with the sport isn't offput by wearing a singlet in front of his classmates, you are mistaken.

would I be an a$$hole to maintain that life (and wrestling) are going to get a lot harder than having to get over your insecurity about your physique and if kids can't get past that they're probably in for bigger problems when life actually gets difficult?

[BruceyB]

1 hour ago, Bardamu911 said:

would I be an a$$hole to maintain that life (and wrestling) are going to get a lot harder than having to get over your insecurity about your physique and if kids can't get past that they're probably in for bigger problems when life actually gets difficult?

I started wrestling at 12 and only had to wear a singlet in front of other wrestlers, parents, and coaches as a youth wrestler. As an 80 lb wrestler in 8th grade, it was a very different feeling walking out in front of a ton a classmates as a small prepubescent 14 year old. If I hadn't already considered wrestling to be my sport, I don't know that I would have wanted to come out my first year and risk not only wearing a singlet in front of classmates, but potentially getting beat 1 on 1 in front of everyone while doing so. 

But in high school, my mind changed and I thought of wearing the singlet as a right of passage to participate in what I thought to be the toughest sport in high school athletics. I'm sure swimmers and water polo players feel the same way about a speedo. 

I'm not here to argue that a two piece would change the participation numbers by a significant margin among middle school/junior high wrestlers, but it would in no way hurt the sport. I knew plenty of other athletes that contemplated trying wrestling for the first time (I come from a non-traditional wrestling area in the PNW) but they would either joke or say they wouldn't wear a singlet. I don't think it's fair to compare someone's ability to handle difficult things in life to a willingness to put your body on display in front of all your peers as a 12-15 year old. It's a vulnerable time and some students may shy away from the sport due to self-consciousness.

I am pro-singlet for myself, but don't discount how that could be a barrier for some kids to come out and test the waters in a new sport. 

[Jim L]

11 hours ago, Bardamu911 said:

would I be an a$$hole to maintain that life (and wrestling) are going to get a lot harder than having to get over your insecurity about your physique and if kids can't get past that they're probably in for bigger problems when life actually gets difficult?

Yes, seems like an a$$hole attitude to me. Why not make the sport as accessible as possible? Some kids who are insecure and face difficulties will stick with wrestling and grow and some will even have a valuable life changing experience. Most kids will move on and wrslting will not be a big part of their youth.

Everyone will face difficult times in their lives.  I don't see how a kid's lack of confidence at age 11 dooms him for the rest of his life.

[alex1fly]

12 hours ago, Bardamu911 said:

would I be an a$$hole to maintain that life (and wrestling) are going to get a lot harder than having to get over your insecurity about your physique and if kids can't get past that they're probably in for bigger problems when life actually gets difficult?

Pretty bold to think that life is only hard for adults. You have no idea what those kids are going through at home. 
 

Anyways not to soapbox, I just don’t see any downside to offering a second uniform options. 

[jchapman]

I have no experience with swimming and diving, but does anyone know if that sport has had similar discussions regarding the official uniform?