Time ago I took part in some amateur fighting events, so called “open ring” events and tournaments. Fighters of all ages and skill where welcomed, needed to pay symbolic fee and pass the doctor before the event.
It looked harsh at times, gyms that held the event, were rarely fancy, yet were always packed, scary people and etc. The matchmaking, the fight-grid, the waiting time for Your turn, - intimidating to say the least. Yet nobody complained. Everyone is tough :)
And when You hear the coaches talk on prizes, they don’t argue a second, on giving every kid who stepped to the ring a prize. And those coaches where strong and mean, so I lost every argument I had against participation trophies. Can’t remember any ever since.
Probably when You have huge selection of fighters(athletes) coming up every year, You don’t need to babysit them. When they are disappointed and leave - You don’t care. And economically is also wiser to weed out the “weak”, but that can be taken too far too easily.
In Latvia, We ran out of people(no prooflink), so some “babysitting” took place in amateur sports. I can imagine it is still tough in Olympic sports like wrestling or hockey etc. Where You can even get a refusal to join a class because of being too old/fat.
So if You happen to be in Latvia or any other people scarce country, fearlessly join local wushu
or kick-boxing gym. The stories You might heard, when newcomers where
first beaten hard on first visit, to check their commitment, are in the past.
And You can get a trophy also.