Derby will be having a Novice Championship Tournament on Sunday, March 13th.This is for 1st year wrestlers ONLY. We are going to try a different format for this tournament. Following along the Nebraska tournament format we will be wrestling each age group in 2-hour increments. 6u (8:30-10:30) 8u (10:30-12:30) 10u (12:30-2:30) 12U (2:30-4:30). This seems to work really well in Nebraska, and parents are not sitting in a gym all day, so hopefully it will go over well here.
The tournament should be listed on the Calendar page shortly, we have just sanctioned it.

Thanks
Cindy Shavlik
Derby Wrestling Club

Hey Cindy,

Let me know if you need any officials that weekend? Im free that weekend.

What other information is available. ie; cost, deadlines, location, etc. Sounds like a good opportunity, but need to more.

What i think, Its not nessasraly a wast of time but yet it is. Its like someone being undefeted in junior high or jv and saying to someone that hey my kid was undefeted in junior high, and if you know i mean thats not all that great, but on the other hand its a good experance for the kids and gives the kids them some confadince coming in to open, but its not going to nessasaly do much for them in the long run. i honestly think its a another thing not needed.

I like the Novice idea and think that if and when we start the kids program back up I would liek to take all 1st year kids to a couple of Novice tournaments. let them wait until their second year to move on to opens. All kids are different but winning is important as well so they dont get so down on themselves. After the first year Ithink it is alright to watch them and decide on there involvement as individuals.

The novice idea is perfect for the kids who are new to wrestling and are older starters. This lets them try moves they have learned with people at the same level. At most open tournaments, these kids usually have to wrestle kids with a lot more years of experience and so they usually can't do much except try not to get pinned.

I somewhat disagree with my (son, garret's) earlier post. It could be a good thing. Recognition is always good for the "performer".

The Novice Chmpshp should be the first rung in the ladder of developing wrestlers, recognizing their initial commitment to hard work. Even this small step deserves notice.

Novice wrestlers would be more motivated to progress to the "next level" by being recognized for a good "start".

The only falacy I could see...is that this may be one more pressure that we adults are adding to overload kids...young wrestlers encounter a lot of "stress"...rushing younger kids to deal with "life" is not good for them.