Renee,

I understand the frustration and empathisize with your example and what happened to your son. What happened in that bracket is the risk with running "pools" vise brackets. Having said that, the majority of the 4 man pools didn't have that issue and it allowed the kids to get more matches.

Will,

I will not disagree with your analysis of the number of kids competing at the different tournaments. I think both tournaments are great opportunities and wonderful experiences for the kids. Hopefully in the future they can work out the schedules so they do not conflict and therefore kids can attend both.

I do have to disagree with your believe parents cannot put on a supportive post for the Brute tournament. From your perspective I understand where you are coming from. You did however forget to add what people got for their money....

Coaches received very nice jackets.

Kids that make the finals get custom made singlets.

Coaches got very nice collared shirts for every kid they had make the finals.

Champions get a nice pullover jacket (grades 1-8) or a nice watch (grades 9-12).

As mentioned earlier, the additional stuff to attend for the kids, parents, and coaches was outstanding.

I am not trying to justify the cost or argue with you. The intent is to let people know what they got for their $$$$. Some will argue that this stuff isn't important or worth the cost....ok, got it; for some it is. Bottomline: The parent, coach, or kids can make that decision for themselves. All I am trying to do is give additional info so people can make an informed decision.

Here are some of the other improvements I noticed this year.....

1. The location and organization of the tournament was much better than the past 3 years. Last year weigh ins was a huge cluster, this year it was well organized. It took me less than 5 minutes to sign in my son, weigh him in and get my coaches band.

2. They assigned brackets to tables (no pit area) for the majority of the wrestling. This allowed the tournament to move very quickly and efficiently. On Fri and Sat wrestling was supposed to start at 0800 hrs....matches were starting at 0800 hrs both days. Sunday there was a delay because it seemed there was a debate about how to do the finals. They did it one way for the 1-8 graders (not very efficient). They changed it for the high schoolers and it ran very smooth.

If you attended Brute last year, and you didn't attend this year it is very hard to compare. The difference was night and day. You can tell that they are a learning organization and trying to do the right thing for the kids and all involved.

Bottomline: I think both are great events. In a perfect world they would not be at the same time. That way kids can attend both events.