Will,

You bring up some very valid points. We tried to make this a positive by rewarding the clubs that stayed rather than penalize the ones that left. There was an amendment to the motion and we voted on it. That amendment lost by 1 vote. I personally feel this was the way to go because it wouldn't have changed the original rules or premise that some people operated on, ie, sign in, get credit and then leave. However, for those who stayed it would have rewarded them with an extra pass.

What I didn't realize until too late is that the discussion that followed that motion was about not allowing clubs to negotiate with their districts to get extra passes. The impression was left with some voting members that if we passed the amendment to give the clubs that stayed an extra pass then we wouldn't be able to get extra passes in the same manner that has been done in the past. I think this influenced the way some people voted. That part of the discussion was not part of the amendment that was made and I didn't realize it until it was too late.

I am with you in that I don't fully appreciate the reason we have to limit passes. I think we should have enough passes so that every wrestler could have 2 coaches on the mat with them while they are wrestling. I don't have any statistics but my instinct is that the ratio for wrestlers to coaches passes would then have be in the neighborhood of 1 coaches pass for every 2 wrestlers. I do understand the concern about crowding at matside with coaches that are not coaching standing around the mats and people in the stands not being able to see. To me this is an enforcement issue that can be dealt with in other ways rather than limiting number of passes.

I also agree that these coaches put in a lot of time during the season helping out and for them to not be able to get down to the mat to coach at state is a tough pill to swallow. I know that we made it so passes can be swapped out but that makes it very hard in practice because you have multiple kids on the mats at the same time.

At National tournaments; Rocky Mountain Nationals, Cliff Keen Kick Off, Tulsa Nationals, etc. they do not limit the number of coaches passes a team can receive. They do pretty stringently enforce not being around the mats unless you are on deck and have a wrestler getting ready to wrestle. This seems to work pretty well.

Another idea is to give a base amount to clubs and then charge for additional passes. I know some are against this but it would help reduce the amount of people around the mat. I have heard that one of the reasons for limiting passes is so that parents (folks who aren't coaches) don't come down to the mat. By charging for extra passes it would at least make people think about whether it is worth the $$$ to be able to be matside.

Bottomline: In my opinion I think as a body we can develop some feasible solutions. We will never make everyone happy but I think the real issue is enforcement of who is let to the mats and when. This should be done by not limiting coaches passes. The state tournament venue allows for a pretty controlled access to the floor. We could make it so you are not allowed on the floor until your wrestler is 2-3 matches away from competing. This would keep both the wrestlers and the coaches off the floor.

Just my thoughts and I am willing to help work any solutions we can develop.

Shawn Budke