Once again, you Derby people did a great job. Really enjoyed my day there. Competition really outstanding, especially the 10 unders.

I disagree. I thought the Derby tournament was poorly ran. First thing in the morning I heard Derby coaches cursing at parents at weigh in. One coach in particular was calling a parent a jerk just because he walked through the wrong door at weigh-ins, and was cussing at him in front of his kid. Coach you know who you are. If these tournaments stress you out so much do not participate in them. The floor was too crowded, and the only crowd control was a guy yelling in a microphone who waited to the end of the first session to try and stop the tournament. The mens restroom had like one working sink, and a line of 30 people waiting to wash their hands. The competition was good, and i thought the refs did a good job. Hey what was that heat set on anyways, I thought I was going to fall out before the day even started. Well you learn from your mistakes.

Disagree that Derby was poorly run. When you 1000 kids entered into a tourney seating is going to be crowded. Why can't parents be more courtious and obey the rules they are the same everywhere you go. find a seat and stay in it. Most coaches that I saw did their best to take a knee so others could watch. As for the heat yes it was hot but they go it cooled down as fast as they could. Parents need to remember the coaches are there to coach your kids, thats what we love, we don't need your help mat side, cheer your kid on from the stands!!!! Great compitision and great tourney Derby. But maybe next year think about a 2 day tourney thought it ran a little long for some of the kids who were up early for weigh ins.

I must first say that I am a Derby Parent and I am very proud of the way the Tournament was ran. Just like everything in life you learn as you go!!! I have no doubt that the things that could be changed for the better will be and the things that worked great will continue to be there. You are right SPEX when you have 1000 kids in a tournament there will be mistakes and to consider the tournament a sucess you have to look at the big picture and that is, did the KIDS had fun. I believe they did. Lets be happy that there was alot of parent's and other family members there to cheer on thier child and their team. We can't be happy with evrything... GREAT JOB DERBY!!!

I agree. I had 7 wrestlers in the afternoon session and I was the only coach. They worked with me to make sure that if matches ran into one another they would wait until I got there and not disqualify the wrestlers.

If you are about to say "where is your other coaches?" We have two coaches with 22 wrestlers and some parent volenteers to help us with the individual groups. We have a third coach that is trying to get on first shift so he can help also. We do our best for the youth wrestlers in our community, even if it means that I am the only coach that goes to the tournament on the weekends.

THANK YOU, DERBY WRESTLING CLUB FOR MAKING US FEEL WELCOME AND HELPING WITH MY TOUGH SCHEDULE ON THE MAT. THAT IS WHAT THE DISTRICT II WRESTLING FAMILY IS ALL ABOUT. GREAT TOURNAMENT AND SEE YOU IN FEB. FOR THE NOVICE TOURNAMENT AND AGAIN NEXT YEAR.

The nail-check/skin-check/weigh-in process went pretty smooth considering the number of entries.

Tables seemed to be run well/smooth. Most of the referees seemed to run a smooth mat.

There was one controversial call on a multiple-overtime match on mat 7 (I think, was the last mat next to the lobby/concessions area) featuring a boy/girl match (couple of good wrestlers, don't remember where they were from). The referee seemed to be a newby and may have made an incorrect point award to the boy. I do have to commend the girl's coaches/supporters though. Even though it was apparently not the right call (I don't know for sure), they kept their cool for the most part and walked away after an initial questioning of the call, etc.

To me, the Derby folks did a good job for the number of participants involved. I just think they need to limit the number of participants. That facility is just not large enough to comfortably handle this kind of event with the numbers involved. Even if the CLUELESS MORONS who camp out at mat-side correctly responded to the late calls for them to move, I'm not sure there was enough space for them (at least all of them anyway). You simply cannot hold an event with that many participants and accompanying coaches/family/etc... and not expect the traffic problems.

The restroom problems have already been mentioned by "Wilma". ONE working sink (of course only COLD water), the floor looked like a mens bathroom at a night-club.

From a competition standpoint, this is a good tournament, but from a parental/spectator perspective, I always dread this particular tournament.

Even T-ShirtMan seemed to be more surly than usual.

Just my opinions, I could be wrong.

A couple of quick comments. First I want to publicly thank all of the Derby and non Derby volunteers that made the tournament a success. A special thanks to the Goddard coach who helped clean the mats and his positive attitude.

I won’t even try to make excuses for any of the areas we fell short, only a promise that we will learn and improve on these. This tournament has become what we had hoped for, great competition & superior sportsmanship. With several teams from OK and TX represented not to mention some of the best in KS attending, it is a true test for the wrestlers, novice or advance. Our challenge for next year is to think creatively on how to better split the tournament to accommodate the numbers. Who knows, the downtown arena may be an option!

Again, thanks to everyone who attended and hope to see you next year. Should you have any comments or recommendations for improvement please send Craig Gash or me a PM.


Take care.
Coach Smith