COACH'S HOSPITALITY ROOM AT ELEM. STATE

[stanmms 4]

Obviously you dont go to our regular season tournament that we hold every year. We have always provided a hospitality room........not to mention one that was catered by the Hyatt up until this year. This was not just any tournament it was State and larger than any tournament than any other school has held. Granted the Middle School may have provided a bit to eat, but they didnt have 700+ kids in their tournament either.

I started to comment right after DW started this but decided to sit back and read what others had to say. It is ashame that so many people are more worried about having something to eat than the overall picture of how the tournament went.  I for one worked my butt off all day long (several days prior as well) and so did the coaches, and volunteers that we had. We did provide for those teams that provided table workers,out of our own pockets; so apparently those who did not recieve anything are the ones who who had it made. You got to enjoy the day coaching your kids and walking around and socialiizing. I as so busy at times that I didnt get to see all of my sons matches, nor more than hallf of our team. So I should be the one complaining because I am the one that lost out. But that is the sacrifice that we must make in order to make everyone like you happy. We all agreed that we are here for the kids, not to cater to the coaches, and parents. Wake up people and take a look at the overall picture..........

We also could have charged the coaches admission, which we didnt and we kept the price down. I have been to many tournaments this year where the cost was over $7 and not even close to this event. The cost should have been $10.00 per admission..........we even gave the little ones a break. So if it was too much to spend $5.00 for a drink and hotdog  (actually $3.50) then I am sorry that we deprived you.

The money that we raised is not as ellaborate as everyone seems to think either, there are so many unseen bills that must be paid and the little that is gained from any event goes back into the program only to strength it............isn't that what its all about?..........building on the futures for our kids?.......

I am more hurt than angry about all these complaints..........our program is all about kids and helping to mold them into successful human beings.............Wrestling is the most disciplined sport there is and what one learns from it will help them succeed in life............so dont put down the ones that give it their all to make Wrestling a success in Kentucky...............We are proud of our program and coaches and dont like anyone criticizing us just because they didnt get fed..............

now that I got that all off my chest..............I feel better and will not let anyone bring me down...............This weekend was for the kids not the coaches and nothing will change that

Good luck to the future State hosts..........we hope you will do as well as we did :-D

[stanmms 4]

I look at all this nonsense concerning the Hospitality room as the greatest compliment Fern Creek can receive.  If the next time I host, this is the biggest gripe, I will definitely consider the tournament a GREAT SUCCESS.

[sweetaspie 0]

I look at all this nonsense concerning the Hospitality room as the greatest compliment Fern Creek can receive.  If the next time I host, this is the biggest gripe, I will definitely consider the tournament a GREAT SUCCESS.

I couldn't agree with you more.  Great job Fern Creek!  People need to spend their time more wisely talking about real issues like how the scoring got so botched.  Or how the brackets get seeded at state.  My son was in a split bracket at state and I asked his coach who decides which kids are on what side and he could not tell me.  Does anyone know how that's decided?  I would think all coaches should know by what criteria are the kids split up. 

[Mike Honcho 1]

I agree with stanmms.  Maybe more focus should be put on scoring and not eating.

[EMS Coach Cardwell 17]

IT'S FAIRLY OBVIOUS THAT THIS THREAD HAS STRUCK A NERVE WITH ALOT OF YOU. THERE WERE NO ATTACKS MADE BY ME ON FC, FC MOMS AND DADS, OR ANYONE ELSE FOR THAT MATTER. I STARTED THIS POST BY GIVING YOU GUYS CREDIT AND THEN BY VOICING MY OPINION, YOU ALL DECIDED TO GET ANGRY. YOU HAVE TO TAKE THE NEG. COMMENTS WITH THE GOOD ONES. I AGREE THAT YOU GUYS RAN A GOOD TOURN., AS STATED IN MY FIRST POST. AND FOR THAT MATTER, I GUESS OVERALL NOT HAVING A HOSP. ROOM FOR COACHES ISN'T THAT BIG OF A DEAL. BUT IF I CAN ASK YOU TO SWITCH PLACES WITH ME FOR A MOMENT, I BELIEVE THAT YOU MIGHT SEE THINGS IN A LITTLE DIFFERENT LIGHT. I AGREE, IT IS ALL ABOUT THE KIDS, AT THE TIME IT JUST SEEMED TO BE ALL ABOUT FC. TO ALL THOSE OFFENDED (COACH GREG, FC MOMS AND DADS, ETC.) I APOLOGIZE.

[FCWC1 0]

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!

[eville dad 17]

Congrats to Fern Creek!

Sounds to me like you hosted the largest wrestling tournament in the state of Kentucky.

Was this also the largest tournament in KY history?

I cant think of a KY tourney in the last 10 yrs with as many wrestlers.

As far as those comments on the security, I say its about time a host arranged security to keep control of rabid parents. Parents if you cant watch from the stands and control yourself you should stay home.

[Ranger123 43]

To be perfectly honest, I got caught up in the wrestling and keeping up with kids and didn't even realize there wasn't a fabulous hospitality room (which I anticipated based on the middle school tournament).  I did run out for a break between the sessions and grabbed a bite to eat (on my own dime) and didn't give it a second thought.  I agree something could have been provided, BUT, unless a lot of resources were dedicated to it there is no guarantee that those who are most concerned with it would have made it to the room in time to get anything given the numbers.  As has already been mentioned, at these type of events you have way too many coaches coming out of the woodwork.

By the way, it was a great tournament.  No complaints from me.

[Zeus 117]

The issue about the number of coaches can be solved easily with a system that was already in place.  Only wrestlers and coaches (with a specific # of coaches passes provided in the form of wristbands) are allowed to stand on the gymnasium floor.  This is how the police officers should have handled these issues.  Either the parents stay in the stands or they are removed, plain and simple.  Adults sometimes act like children, even parents on my own team, and they should be escorted out if they cannot understand and abide by the rules.  The coaches are therefore decided before the meet and the amount of food could be estimated.  The # of coaches passes woud want to stay low, at maybe 3 or 4 at the state tourney and at 2 or 3 at regular season tourneys.