FCWC1

Coach Smith I question the "Coach" part of your name. Most "coaches" would never call anyone an idiot. But since you obviously don't have your facts straight I would have to consider the source! Fern Creek coaches have a mutual respect for the River City program and coaches. Coach Q invites our kids over for practice together and we share wrestling techniques and practice drills. The Lampe's are personal friends of mine and anyone that knows anything about wrestling will acknowledge the Lampe boys (John, Justin, and Dominic) have all earned their respect in wrestling. Team Kentucky has some of the best coaches in the state guiding some of the best wrestlers. I am anxious to see how well we do this year. We are definitely building a strong wrestling presence that we should all be proud of in the future. Greg Miller

WOW, I visited this site for the first time ever this week to read some feedback on the tournament. Unfortunately I overlooked all the positive and picked up on few negative comments. Some of this is getting out of hand and I may have fell victim to it as well! All the schools wrestled well and for the most part displayed very good sportsmanship. Most of this negative comments must be coming from parents because I don't see coaches acting in this manner. This is an excellent forum to voice opinions and suggestions to improve the sport. Some of these comments are down right childish. Lets use this tool improve on what could be the start of something great.

This was originally posted on another page but should have been over here. Good suggestions on scoring above Kids were split by age and weight. From there it is completely a blind draw. We did try to separate kids that were on the same team and place them in a different bracket from one another in the same weight class. Or if they were in the same bracket we moved them to the top and bottom so the would not face each other until the finals. But there was absolutely no SEEDING that took place. There is not enough history at this level to determine skill on 90% of the kids in the tournament. For the most part it worked pretty good with some good finals matches. There was not a lot of changes at the coaches meeting and some late changes were made because some coaches were not at the meeting. For the most part the coaches did a good job of reviewing their rosters. Team scoring was based on top 4 finishers from each weight class. Unless you had kids from the same team finishing in the top 4. In that case you only got points for the highest scorer. If a kid did not wrestle due to no one in his weight class he was awarded a 1st place medal but did not score team points. NONE of this was our idea so don't shoot the messenger!! I was against team scoring period. The above method was developed to TRY and level the playing field for all teams. We obviously need to make some changes at the next meeting. This was an administrative NIGHTMARE to track and unfortunately was calculated in haste and incorrectly which had an adverse effect on 1st and 2nd. My suggestion: A team can submit 20 wrestlers as scorers (as long as they are not in the same weight class). Only those wrestlers can score points. They can submit 60 kids to the tournament but the other 40 do not score team points (same as middle school duplicates). This would give smaller schools with good wrestler a chance to compete and you get a better idea of which school has the best wrestlers based on talent not numbers. The current system allows kids in 2,3,and 4 man round robins to place 2 - 4 and never win a match! Anyway you try to develop a TEAM scoring concept with an open non-qualifiying tournament it will be difficult to make it fair for everyone. I am just glad I don't have to worry about this type of scoring ever again!! One final comment, someone made the statement that their child was not happy because he felt he was a "Paper Champion". I can't imagine an 8 year old figuring that out by his self. I tend to believe there was a parent that might have put that thought in his head. VERY UNFORTUNATE to ruin something special to 8 year old. He will have enough disappointment in life to come. Let them enjoy the day!

Kids were split by age and weight. From there it is completely a blind draw. We did try to separate kids that were on the same team and place them in a different bracket from one another in the same weight class. Or if they were in the same bracket we moved them to the top and bottom so the would not face each other until the finals. But there was absolutely no SEEDING that took place. There is not enough history at this level to determine skill on 90% of the kids in the tournament. For the most part it worked pretty good with some good finals matches. There was not a lot of changes at the coaches meeting and some late changes were made because some coaches were not at the meeting. For the most part the coaches did a good job of reviewing their rosters. Team scoring was based on top 4 finishers from each weight class. Unless you had kids from the same team finishing in the top 4. In that case you only got points for the highest scorer. If a kid did not wrestle due to no one in his weight class he was awarded a 1st place medal but did not score team points. NONE of this was our idea so don't shoot the messenger!! I was against team scoring period. The above method was developed to TRY and level the playing field for all teams. We obviously need to make some changes at the next meeting. This was an administrative NIGHTMARE to track and unfortunately was calculated in haste and incorrectly which had an adverse effect on 1st and 2nd. My suggestion: A team can submit 20 wrestlers as scorers (as long as they are not in the same weight class). Only those wrestlers can score points. They can submit 60 kids to the tournament but the other 40 do not score team points (same as middle school duplicates). This would give smaller schools with good wrestler a chance to compete and you get a better idea of which school has the best wrestlers based on talent not numbers. The current system allows kids in 2,3,and 4 man round robins to place 2 - 4 and never win a match! Anyway you try to develop a TEAM scoring concept with an open non-qualifiying tournament it will be difficult to make it fair for everyone. I am just glad I don't have to worry about this type of scoring ever again!! One final comment, someone made the statement that their child was not happy because he felt he was a "Paper Champion". I can't imagine an 8 year old figuring that out by his self. I tend to believe there was a parent that might have put that thought in his head. VERY UNFORTUNATE to ruin something special to 8 year old. He will have enough disappointment in life to come. Let them enjoy the day!

Thanks to all FC parents for making this tournament a success! A special thanks to all the teams that provided workers, Larue, South Oldham, Ryle, Johnson Central, River City, and North Hardin (I apologize if I missed anyone). Special thanks to Stan Martin for the support and fielding questions or exceptions during the tournament. I spent countless hours on the phone (which is still on going) reviewing tournament criteria with Stan and I know he has been fielding questions from the other 30+ teams that attended. I appreciate the time you and the other board members have put into the program to get us headed in the right direction. I am sure there are days when it seems you hear nothing but complaints, but when you see the results at the end of year and you are able to pull it all together it makes it worth wild. You have done a great job as president and I only hope your successor has the same passion!

Congratulation SKY on an outstanding tournament!! Your winning percentage was one of the highest of any team in the tournament. We need to take a hard look at how team scoring is determined next year so it is fair for everyone. Obviously you have a great coaching staff as it is reflected on your wrestlers performance.

Dear D. W. I disagree with the fact you think your comment may be a "LITTLE PETTY". I think it is VERY PETTY. If this is the only complaint you have then I consider it a compliment. We had over 130 volunteers from Fern Creek working the tournament plus another 30- 40 workers from Larue, North Hardin, Ryle, Johnson Central, South Oldham, River City, and one coach from Ryle that helped officiate until all officials arrived. It is not about SAVING money. Most of the food provided in the hospitality room is furnished by the parents. We staffed the hospitality room to accommodate the workers and officials. If we would have allowed for coaches (an additional 200 people) we would have needed more workers to staff the room and a larger room. I felt it was more important to concentrate the workforce on the mats and ensure the kids got the attention. If you were not WAITED ON or did not get a FREE COKE or HOT DOG but your kids were treated fairly then that was a good day in my book. I do hope you have the opportunity to host a tournament of this magnitude (which you obviosly have not) so you can provide an elaborate spread for the "COACHES". I just hope you put as much emphasis on the kids because believe it or not, this tournament was not about the coaches. LOL Coach Greg