rbm

For users of Tournament Plus Wrestling Tournament software, there is a new version being tested now to add a few new features such as beach wrestling and optional 4-pool round robins to set up an 8-person final bracket. Details at www.brownbagdata.com

To all Tournament Plus Wrestling Tournament Software users, some new features and enhancements have been added as the result of requests following last season's tournaments. The latest updates can be seen by going to the Revision History page of the BrownBagData website at http://www.brownbagdata.com/faq.htm. Also, if you are planning on getting a new computer running Windows Vista, contact me for a Vista compatible version at rbm @ brownbagdata.com (take out the spaces)

A new version of Tournament Plus Wrestling Tournament Software has just been released. The program now includes a seeding table that lets you import and seed wrestlers (seed any number of wrestlers and randomly place the remainder) from your registration list. Lots more in the way of enhancements as well such as the ability to print any one bout slip instead of needing to print out a whole round, ability to change wrestlers in the crossover matches, option to print out freestyle type bout slips and the ability to output bracket sheets as *.pdf files so they can be posted on the internet. For more info, go to www.brownbagdata.com

Couldn't agree more with the rest for refs. That's why we try for 50% more refs than mats. It is a LONG day for them and we all know what they put up with. Even if you have to supplement the refs with some college or really good high school wrestlers (younger kids tournaments only), you can get your older refs some time to eat and relax. As far as the kids go, with High School, we follow the NFHS rest rules. For the littler kids, we don't have a set rest period but leave it up to the coach (within reason). Our tournament is usually so large that it doesn't become a concern, but when it does, we just tell the coach to let the ref know that his kid just wrestled "x" minutes ago and need a few more minutes rest. They usually just hold off on that match and give it to them. The NFHS 45 minute rule is just too much for the younger wrestlers. They don't wrestle the full 2-2-2 minute rounds and seem to be ready to go much sooner. This also keeps the day a little shorter for the parents (a big plus) The biggest problems with scheduled breaks is that there is no such thing as "be back in 15 minutes". You delay the tournament by a minimum of a half-hour and lose momentum.

I just posted this on another state forum but it really seems to fit this thread about running tournaments. We run a large youth wrestling tournament in southern Maine. It started as our Jr High invitational (about 200-300 kids). We ran out of room at the school and rented the gymnasium at Univ of NH with the agreement that we would invite kids from outside of Maine (especially NH kids). That was in 1994. After that, we moved to the UNH hockey new arena and then to the Cumberland County Civic Center in Maine. We are up to 1200 kids now and it is unofficially considered to be the New England championships for Kindergarten through grade 8. It is a blast! We run on 14 to 16 half-mats (which really stinks, but we have been trying to keep in on one day), but it's a full double elimination, usually around 100 weight classes (Madison type pairing), 4 divisions (Kindergarten and Grades 1/2 separated but in one division, grades 3/4, grades 5/6 and grades 7/8. It's an individual tournament (individual medals) but has team scoring and team awards for each division. Things that I think are key to our tournament's success Pre-registration with a total number cutoff . Even though that number is 1200, we turn away a several teams each year. Absolutely no additions or substitutions after the cutoff date . The cutoff is two weeks before the tournament but we are always full before that; even teams that had got in cannot add kids or substitute after the cutoff. We know that we will have a good number of no-shows (up to 10-12% so we actually accept about 1300 to 1350 registrations. In the past, teams that didn't get in because they tried to register too late would call around and get their kids in open spots on other teams at the last minute. That could really mess up our planning if all 1350 kids showed up. So, no more substitutions - period. Optional - but highly recommended - weigh-ins the night before for all divisions. We split the tournament with K-4 from 9:00 to about 12:30 (so they can also weigh in from 7-8 the day of the tournament) and grades 5-8 starting at noon (so they can also weigh in from 10-11 that morning). We typically weigh-in 75% or more on the night before. We don't do any weight allowances whether they weigh in the night before of the morning of the tournament. Madison weight, determined the morning of the tournament. Very, very few byes that way and we know in advance how many brackets we will have (that tells us how many medals we need etc.) We don't seed except to keep teammates separated. We ask for seeding info for the Jr High kids only and use that to keep the "best" wrestlers in different sides of the bracket. Split tournament. Like I mentioned above, K-4 from 9-12 or 12:30, 5-8 from 12-whenever (usually finish around 7:30 or 8 if we don't have any problems). As many certified refs as we can get. We try to get 50% more than the number of mats (half-mats) we have. We usually run 16 half-mats at once, so we try to get 24 refs, and as many of them as possible are certified refs - we do use some college wrestlers (mostly former Marshwood wrestlers) if we need to, but only ones that we are very comfortable with. Good refs = fewer arguments and fewer injuries = shorter tournament and more fun for everyone. Separate area for awards, or awards handed out on the mats. We do not stop the tournament to have awards ceremonies. We try to have a separate room (LARGE room) of one end of the hockey rink for awards ceremonies for the younger kids. They love getting on a podium! As soon as a division is done, we send them all to that area for the awards. The last division is the Jr High and by then most people want to go home. We hand out their awards , 1-4, on the mat as soon as they finish their medal match (the refs do it and we try to get them to "make a big deal of it" for parents to get pictures etc.). Team awards for first 3 divisions handed out at their awards ceremonies and Jr High at the end. NO planned breaks! That's one reason why we have so many refs plus a Head Ref who is responsible for making sure they all get breaks (he also handles all referee calls questions or complaints) Our coaches, parents and booster organization. Incredible dedication and support. Our whole thing is run on a tournament program that we developed back in 1994 and have been tweaking it ever since (Tournament Plus). There you go - ideas for running a tournament, a quick history lesson and a plug for the software. Any questions?

Do you folks use computer programs for your tournaments? Most good programs make submitting results really easy and FAST. We do, and at the end of the tournament, we save 2 files that can be emailed to newspapers, web sites or emailed to participating teams and coaches. If you have an internet connection, you can get the results out before you leave the gym. We use Tournament Plus software. As an example, the results files for our last youth tournament are here: Final Brackets: www.marshwoodwrestling.com/results/06_pwbrackets.pdf Final Results: www.marshwoodwrestling.com/results/06_pwresults.pdf

. . . there is a change to Tournament Plus wrestling tournament software that fixes a problem with 2 and 3 person round robin bout slips. The details, and a new file to fix the problem is available at http://www.brownbagdata.com