Mr and Mrs Tyler Baines

[gameface 253]

I personally would like to thank Tyler, his wife and the River City team for the great weekend of wrestling at Broadbent Arena. The endless time that you've spent preparing for this weekend and the hours and effort over the last 3 days gave us our biggest weekend tournament. After spending almost 30 hours there myself working and coaching, I watched them pulled in 4 directions non stop all 3 days  to make this weekend a success. Thanks to all the teams that had their volunteers show up and for all the parents and wrestlers that were patient through our 1st ran Track wrestling youth tournament. We're moving in the right direction. With growth comes growing pains. With proper leadership and a strong wrestling community we can make this even better FOR THE KIDS in 2018. 

[Braves coach 82]

Tyler and Trump = Great choices for president. 

[Mbrown 21]

There is so much that goes into planning the event dating back to last season.  Broadbent is a good venue for the wrestling tournaments.  Whenever there is a venue change there will always be small issues or glitches that can be tweaked for the next year.  I am sure everyone will sound off about those things and tweak for next year.  THANKS for all the hard work, you probably don't receive much positive feedback, but thanks again.

[MLee 68]

9 hours ago, gameface said:

I personally would like to thank Tyler, his wife and the River City team for the great weekend of wrestling at Broadbent Arena. The endless time that you've spent preparing for this weekend and the hours and effort over the last 3 days gave us our biggest weekend tournament. After spending almost 30 hours there myself working and coaching, I watched them pulled in 4 directions non stop all 3 days  to make this weekend a success. Thanks to all the teams that had their volunteers show up and for all the parents and wrestlers that were patient through our 1st ran Track wrestling youth tournament. We're moving in the right direction. With growth comes growing pains. With proper leadership and a strong wrestling community we can make this even better FOR THE KIDS in 2018. 

I didn't stay for the youth this year, but that was the best MS State Tournament I've been to yet. Great job to the KSWA team and the volunteers.  Tyler and the River City crew did a fantastic job and they deserve our gratitude!  

Thank you too Darren Thomas!  I hope this state appreciates all the effort you've put into making wrestling better.    

[Ranger123 43]

Agree 100%. Tyler and team ran a great weekend of wrestling. Definitely one of the best MS tournaments we have seen. And while it was only 2 days of wrestling I can tell you it takes months and months of work and planning. More than any of those that complain want to put in. 

Im sure the board welcomes constructive feedback with proposed solutions. 

[justaref 37]

I would also like to thank Tyler (and his River City crew) for being the best tournament director(s) in the state (my opinion, of course) and willing to take on the risk of having over 800 youth kids on the same floor at one time. Some technical glitches, some other issues, but overall a great day of wrestling for the little ones. 

Some potential areas for growth (though things may be done the way they are due to a well defined reason):

• Staging the kids more efficiently (see how other states big youth tournaments/national youth tournaments stage kids).
• Require that teams come with a certain number of representation (coaches, competent wrestling parents?) based on how many kids they have. I know it is hard to have many people willing to put in the time, but it's excruciating to wait on coaches all day and hunt them down. It should be like a ratio of 1 coach to every 4 wrestlers on that day specifically, even if the person doesn't coach the entirety of the year, something should be done to improve this aspect specifically for youth state. If you have a full roster++ and there is 24 surfaces you can't possibly have 3 coaches and think that it's going to work out well. Teams should have enough coaches to assign either individual wrestlers or mats to them. 
• Include an introductory statement (before anthem) to all in attendance about sportsmanship and keeping it fun. All of us in wrestling love aggression on the mat, but it needs to stay within reason and between the kids. Parents need to be much more mindful that it's a youth tournament and that it's not going to be perfect. We all understand how emotional this sport can be and if a statement at the beginning helps at least 1 person stay cool then it is worth it. 
• Establish a hand signaling system with the referees. It's so big in there, but with proper vision and clearing of the floor, and if we were on the same page beforehand, coaches could be signaled from a 'pooling area', trainers, technical issues (have someone watching from head table for signals), etc. Alternatively a walkie-talkie per mat, etc. Something for adequate communication/paging. 

I'm sure there are other things that could be touched on, discussed, etc. I still thought the tournament was an overall success and want to phrase Tyler and crew once again. 

[Alf 43]

Much thanks to Tyler and his whole crew. They did an awesome job! This weekend was an awesome celebration of our sport. Any who says otherwise or has negative comments are clueless as to the amount of effort and sweat that goes into a massive event like this. For it to run as smooth as it did was amazing. Thanks again!

[justaref 37]

9 minutes ago, Alf said:

Much thanks to Tyler and his whole crew. They did an awesome job! This weekend was an awesome celebration of our sport. Any who says otherwise or has negative comments are clueless as to the amount of effort and sweat that goes into a massive event like this. For it to run as smooth as it did was amazing. Thanks again!

Criticism on something this big and major should always be welcomed honestly. Negative comments and degradation are definitely not called for, as it was a great day, but you always want to be improving on your processes, especially with something as big as this. 

[Tapout 12]

Great Job Tyler!!

I'm know you're taking plenty of heat from a few that are dissatisfied but just know that you did a great job and have taken us to a higher level.

I'm glad you're getting the recognition you deserve for the outstanding job you've done!

Hoping next year it's the same venue and you get a chance to make it even greater than this one!

And remember.... the only thing missing was the fog for face off's! Hahaha

[Ranger123 43]

1 hour ago, justaref said:

I would also like to thank Tyler (and his River City crew) for being the best tournament director(s) in the state (my opinion, of course) and willing to take on the risk of having over 800 youth kids on the same floor at one time. Some technical glitches, some other issues, but overall a great day of wrestling for the little ones. 

Some potential areas for growth (though things may be done the way they are due to a well defined reason):

• Staging the kids more efficiently (see how other states big youth tournaments/national youth tournaments stage kids).
• Require that teams come with a certain number of representation (coaches, competent wrestling parents?) based on how many kids they have. I know it is hard to have many people willing to put in the time, but it's excruciating to wait on coaches all day and hunt them down. It should be like a ratio of 1 coach to every 4 wrestlers on that day specifically, even if the person doesn't coach the entirety of the year, something should be done to improve this aspect specifically for youth state. If you have a full roster++ and there is 24 surfaces you can't possibly have 3 coaches and think that it's going to work out well. Teams should have enough coaches to assign either individual wrestlers or mats to them. 
• Include an introductory statement (before anthem) to all in attendance about sportsmanship and keeping it fun. All of us in wrestling love aggression on the mat, but it needs to stay within reason and between the kids. Parents need to be much more mindful that it's a youth tournament and that it's not going to be perfect. We all understand how emotional this sport can be and if a statement at the beginning helps at least 1 person stay cool then it is worth it. 
• Establish a hand signaling system with the referees. It's so big in there, but with proper vision and clearing of the floor, and if we were on the same page beforehand, coaches could be signaled from a 'pooling area', trainers, technical issues (have someone watching from head table for signals), etc. Alternatively a walkie-talkie per mat, etc. Something for adequate communication/paging. 

I'm sure there are other things that could be touched on, discussed, etc. I still thought the tournament was an overall success and want to phrase Tyler and crew once again. 

Good suggestions. I'm sure some of these will be considered going forward. 

FYI related to one suggestion, there were walkie talkies at each table so there was communication. I even texted Tyler given the technical issues we had on mat 15 in the morning (I volunteered there for about 3 hours). Anyone who has run a tournament has to know issues will come up; they always do. And with an event of this size there will be multiple issues. Some are easy to fix, some not so easy. Internet was a problem on some mats. They tried a couple things to address it with limited success while I was there. No biggie. We got paper brackets and rolled on. Coaches and parents need to realize this is almost always out of the control of the folks at the table. Yelling at them will get you nowhere. The best approach is to relax and be patient or ask if you can help in some way. 

[gameface 253]

1 hour ago, Tapout said:

Great Job Tyler!!

I'm know you're taking plenty of heat from a few that are dissatisfied but just know that you did a great job and have taken us to a higher level.

I'm glad you're getting the recognition you deserve for the outstanding job you've done!

Hoping next year it's the same venue and you get a chance to make it even greater than this one!

And remember.... the only thing missing was the fog for face off's! Hahaha

YES THE FOG MACHINES!! We took the fog machines to the All Star Event 2 years ago and set off all the fire alarms. We had 2 kids running them and they hammered it!! It was a lot of fun but me Dutch and Ranger got into a little trouble with the fire dept!! . I bet we could do it at the 2 tunnels with some color lighting at the mouth of the tunnel! That would be awesome for next year. I like the coach to wrestler ratio for Youth. All day the tables were radioing me for coaches and I kept announcing. But with clubs where they can't get any parents to step up, it's hard and I feel for them. Glad clubs like Holmes, Taylor Mill and Cov Cath have a good core or 2 coaches that try and build a solid youth program with none of their own children wrestling in it at times!

[Jrodc 20]

I think part of the problem getting people to help out is they want to watch their kid wrestle. Well I help out at the table my kid wrestles at. If more parents would do this we would have enough people at the table you can rotate and every one could see want they need to see. I know Sunday I ran a table by my self could not get help. Had kids that were wrestling running on the mat when time ran out and to find the kids that were in the hole

[justaref 37]

27 minutes ago, Ranger123 said:

Good suggestions. I'm sure some of these will be considered going forward. 

FYI related to one suggestion, there were walkie talkies at each table so there was communication. I even texted Tyler given the technical issues we had on mat 15 in the morning (I volunteered there for about 3 hours). Anyone who has run a tournament has to know issues will come up; they always do. And with an event of this size there will be multiple issues. Some are easy to fix, some not so easy. Internet was a problem on some mats. They tried a couple things to address it with limited success while I was there. No biggie. We got paper brackets and rolled on. Coaches and parents need to realize this is almost always out of the control of the folks at the table. Yelling at them will get you nowhere. The best approach is to relax and be patient or ask if you can help in some way. 

The mat I was on all day did not have a walkie talkie that I knew about, nor did the tables next to them. We often had to have coaches running to find someone to talk over the intercom for us to find coaches, etc. I believe Track has a way to page the head table to alert on missing kids though. 

Yeah, I was on mat 8 all day. We had our share of issues as well, but we overcame. Track didn't run properly on the computer on my mat for a while so we switched to a phone, then back to a computer later. A kid in the second session got marked the loser of a match he won, which was a bummer. Table claimed they marked him as the winner for sure, no telling what happened. Drawing a blank as to other issues right now, still super tired from this weekend haha. 

[justaref 37]

41 minutes ago, gameface said:

YES THE FOG MACHINES!! We took the fog machines to the All Star Event 2 years ago and set off all the fire alarms. We had 2 kids running them and they hammered it!! It was a lot of fun but me Dutch and Ranger got into a little trouble with the fire dept!! . I bet we could do it at the 2 tunnels with some color lighting at the mouth of the tunnel! That would be awesome for next year. I like the coach to wrestler ratio for Youth. All day the tables were radioing me for coaches and I kept announcing. But with clubs where they can't get any parents to step up, it's hard and I feel for them. Glad clubs like Holmes, Taylor Mill and Cov Cath have a good core or 2 coaches that try and build a solid youth program with none of their own children wrestling in it at times!

I am very glad there are great coaches in the state willing to dedicate their time to the youth programs without their own children being involved. It's extremely commendable, but there still has to be further representation, as it is disheartening to the wrestlers to have to wait so long as well. I know because a few literally told me they hated always having to wait. Grab a couple of the local high school kids and throw a t-shirt on them, boom you got yourself a fully qualified youth coach. 

[carrir 14]

23 minutes ago, Jrodc said:

I think part of the problem getting people to help out is they want to watch their kid wrestle. Well I help out at the table my kid wrestles at. If more parents would do this we would have enough people at the table you can rotate and every one could see want they need to see. I know Sunday I ran a table by my self could not get help. Had kids that were wrestling running on the mat when time ran out and to find the kids that were in the hole

 I completely understand wanting to just watch your wrestler but the importance for each family to help out is what makes or breaks an event. My family kept score on Saturday with no wrestler involved. My son wrestled Sunday morning and they had the mat he was on covered so we kept score for the afternoon session. Obviously, living in Louisville made it easier for us to do this but you get my drift. If afternoon wrestling families could help in the morning and vice versa it would work better. However, if you volunteer to keep score finish the job. Don't just walk off after your child has lost. It's rude to walk off a table that your club is getting paid for you to do a job. 

[Jrodc 20]

Not sure what makes you think I left my table , I did go to the bathroom once but man you gotta go you gotta go. I was trying to say is if we had more volunteers no one would miss there kid wrestling

[heavy83 15]

The one glitch I noticed was the weigh ins delaying the brackets being made. No fault to anyone was just trying to keep wrestling growing A suggestion to maybe alleviate said glitch is to go back to remote weigh in done by certified officials on weigh in sheets signed by all coaches from teams at weghin skin check can be done at hotel Friday and Saturday

 

 

[CoachC 115]

Nothing but praise!!! Wonderful Job!!!

[RollTide 0]

Tyler and his wife did a great job and so did the (River City Team). I also would like to thank Darren Thomas with Raider Wrestling and  (the crew he always has with him)  for his help too. Also  thank you to Adam.

A lot of people helped out to make this day go by smooth and fast. I believe this is by far one of the fastest middle school state tournament.

[gameface 253]

1 hour ago, RollTide said:

Tyler and his wife did a great job and so did the (River City Team). I also would like to thank Darren Thomas with Raider Wrestling and  (the crew he always has with him)  for his help too. Also  thank you to Adam.

A lot of people helped out to make this day go by smooth and fast. I believe this is by far one of the fastest middle school state tournament.

Thank you Roll Tide. My "crew" family and I enjoy doing it and helping Kentucky Wrestling grow and be the best experience it can be. Although Paige and Marisa's hands are still cramped filling out all the brackets!! We will be there again next year!

[pioneer_pride 1]

The last m.s. state tourney I attended was at the horse park a few years ago.  What a difference a few years make!  Great venue, excellent refs, competition level was great, all around grand slam!!  Great job Tyler and Mrs Baines and all involved. 

[rjs4470 103]

1 hour ago, pioneer_pride said:

The last m.s. state tourney I attended was at the horse park a few years ago.  What a difference a few years make!  Great venue, excellent refs, competition level was great, all around grand slam!!  Great job Tyler and Mrs Baines and all involved. 

When was MS state at the Horsepark??  I know youth was at the Horsepark prior to moving last year, but MS was at Montgomery County at least the 4 or 5 years prior to moving last year.

[twenhofelcoach 61]

2 minutes ago, rjs4470 said:

When was MS state at the Horsepark??  I know youth was at the Horsepark prior to moving last year, but MS was at Montgomery County at least the 4 or 5 years prior to moving last year.

He was referring to youth state not middle school state.

[Tapout 12]

On 2/6/2017 at 11:37 AM, gameface said:

YES THE FOG MACHINES!! We took the fog machines to the All Star Event 2 years ago and set off all the fire alarms. We had 2 kids running them and they hammered it!! It was a lot of fun but me Dutch and Ranger got into a little trouble with the fire dept!! . I bet we could do it at the 2 tunnels with some color lighting at the mouth of the tunnel! That would be awesome for next year. I like the coach to wrestler ratio for Youth. All day the tables were radioing me for coaches and I kept announcing. But with clubs where they can't get any parents to step up, it's hard and I feel for them. Glad clubs like Holmes, Taylor Mill and Cov Cath have a good core or 2 coaches that try and build a solid youth program with none of their own children wrestling in it at times!

[rjs4470 103]

1 hour ago, twenhofelcoach said:

He was referring to youth state not middle school state.

I was just curious...being not from KY, my experience with KY wrestling only goes back 6 years, and I wasn't sure if MS state had, at some point in time, been held at the Horsepark.