Who do you go to when you have a complaint about the "head" official. I had a situation this weekend where I was coaching a match when the offical physically pushed a kid that was cheering, out of the way, he also yelled at him to get off the mat. I understand the rule that no one is to be on the matside, but I think a far more important rule was broken when the official laid his hands on my son. After I asked him to not to put his hands on my son he then kicked me out of the corner and asked for my name. When I went to ask to speak with the head official I found out that he is the head official. Has anyone else ever had this problem? What can be done?

If you have a complaint about an official you may speak to Loren Anthony who is the USAKS officials representative. Also Rick Bowden at KSHSAA.

Rick Bowden at KSHSAA would NOT be an individual to contact.

Mr. Bowden provides NO supervision over officials or their duties at USAW Kansas Kids sanctioned events.

I don't know what the situation was exactly, but I doubt any official would just push a kid out of the way. He was more than likely doing it out of protection for the 2 kids wrestling, as well as the kid in the corner.

Richard,

You are correct Rick does not provide supervision of officials at USAW events. HOWEVER if an official is registered with KSHSAA and is physically assulting people, i am VERY sure that he would want to know about that. In fact KSHSAA has several rules regarding officials notifying them of convictions of crimes. In other words if a legal case is going to come out of a situation that happened at a USAW event, with a KSHSAA registered official, then it does indeed qualify for Mr. Bowden getting involved.

Mr.Chenoweth, your right, you don't know the situation. The boy I was coaching was about to get pinned. All my son did was bend down and yell encouragement to his teammate. Like I said,I know my son was not supposed to be there. But you tell me what tournament you have been to,that no kids were at mat side? I'm not out to get this official fired or press charges. I just want to know what to do if it happens again, and I hope it never happens again.

Holton does not allow kids to sit by the edge of the mat, and in fact ALL tournaments should not allow kids by the edge of the mat. When im officiating I make a habit out of moving kids off the mat because they don't belong there, and its a safety issues for both them and the participants in the match.

That about says it all! About wrestling and society in general.

do you physically move them yourself, or do you just ask them to move? And apparently there are kids at mat side where you officiate, because you say you make it a habit to move kids off the mat.

I cant say that I have actually picked a kid up and moved them off the mat. But usually i get to a point where I get very stern in my warnings for them to move away sometimes to the point where I tell them they will be removed from the tournament if they return.

But yes I always have kids trying to sit at the edge of the mat, and I spend part of my days at kids tournaments moving people away from the edge of the mat. Its very annoying for me to have to, but i do it for safety reasons, and also because it puts the wrestlers at a disadvantage. I have to stop them before they actually reach the edge of the match to prevent them from running into those that are at the edge of the mat.

I agree with you, kids and parents that are not coaches sould not be on the mat. But we are going off on a different subject. When I saw this official push my son and give him the look that he gave him, Man I saw RED, I felt a anger go over me I never felt before. My son is only eight, he's not a grown man to be pushed by a man. I know that I'm not the only parent who feels like this, because I had a few coachs tell me that they would have been kicked out because of being so mad. Now what happened is history.. All I want to know is who else can a coach go to when something like this should ever happen to anyone?

Well as was previously posted,

Tournament Director
Loren Anthony
Mike Juby
Jeff Sheets.

Was the ref bald? Maybe he's mad he don't have hair! I get mad at coaches that lean all the way into the competition area and don't stay behind the lines. I nearly had athletes and myself injured because of extra bodies that had no business being at mat side being there.

The only thing worse is when wrestlers go out of bounds and fiddle fart around getting advice from coaches and not reporting back to the center a.s.a.p.

Thanks Swayz, no I was not the ref, I was not the head ref and actually don't appreciate being brought into this debate, on any measure. I have tried to never get mad at coaches or wrestlers and think I have done a pretty good job of that. I also think that coaching kids helps me understand coaches and knowing how to relate to them. I could go into a lot more detail there but won’t. I have a couple of great guys helping teach me those things, Mike Wilms and Steve Herman have been great in the way they relate to coaches, parents. wrestlers and fans. I have been stern and there is a difference. When a ref looses control of their emotions, they have lost control of the mat they are on.

I did get onto several kids for the reasons Swayz and Nigel mention. The truth is though, that I don't think I had problems with kids on the mats except when there was empty mats next to us. I get control of that situation before the start of the match, and say something to the coaches mat side. They have always complied and thus, no problems. It becomes a safety thing and there are times that when you become more concerned about the people mat side than you are the ones wrestling on the mat, something has to be done.

I actually had a coach or a dad say something to me 2 weeks ago at Valley Center about the fact that the mat the kids were playing on and warming up on was empty and the kids were not bothering anyone. Yet those kids that weren't bothering anyone was running onto the mat where wrestling was taking place, and continuing to endanger the wrestlers on the mat. I finally told everyone to get off the mat while wrestling was happening; this dad or coach proceeds to yell at me. Wrong move, I gave him a quick and stern warning that if he didn't like the fact that I was clearing the mat for the safety of the wrestlers he could leave the tournament. I personally did not have time to decide which kids were appropriate and which kids were not appropriate, the easiest solution was to clear the mat.

Not only do officials have the responsibility to provide a fair playing field within the guidelines of the rules, they have the responsibility to provide a safe playing field. Parents and coaches know the rules, an official should never be put in a position to do something that a parent or coach should do. The guide is simple, 2 coaches to a corner, and those coaches should have a USA Coaches Card.

I think it is a a shame that officials have to deal with children because parents don't. That shouldn't have to be their responsibility.

Yes, it is a shame, but teachers do it, coaches do it, youth workers do it. We're very good a passing the blame today, case in point, our vice president. I just hope as a parent and a coach, to help my son, club kids and parents realize that rules are in place for safety and society in general, not because each person is more important than the whole.

I did not witness the event, and therefore cannot judge the severity of the physical contact. I don't think the question is whether or not the kid was in the wrong, everyone is in agreement as to that. I have coached kids and dealt with kids beyond wrestling, including my own, that could nearly drive you to physical confrontation. But I think that we as coaches, referees, fans and adults must absolutely, never, without any room for question, allow ourselves to get physical with the kids. Sportsfan and Zahm would agree if it happened to their kids even though their kids probably have always sat quietly in the bleachers next to them awaiting their next match. Again I didn't see the incident, but 2Coach did and felt it was serious enough to warrant a post and I think it's wrong for any self righteous people to say an 8 year old had it coming.

2coach
I am sorry this incident happened to your son at our tournament. There should not be any excuse for an adult to push around a young child. But I am a little concerned about the severity of the situation. I think we all have to remember there are always two sides to a story and a situation can be persieved two entirely different ways, depending on who is giving their side. I am also curious as to why this wasn't reported to the head table or tournament director at the time it happened.I was available at the head table most of the day and at any time I had to step away someone else was there to cover for me. If you are coaching matside I would hope you are an experienced coach who would know this is not an acceptable action by anyone, be it a ref or coach. But instead of reporting it you chose to discuss it on an open forum with people who were not there to witness the event.
The head referee who was at the Derby tournament is a very well respected ref and has many many years of experience working with young kids. This is just not in his charactor to abuse a young child. So, I have to ask a few questions:
1. Had he repeatedly asked your son to move from the mat so he would not get hurt? And did your son refuse to move from matside?
2. Regardless of whether your wrestler was getting pinned is not the issue but was this happening on the side of the mat where you and your son were at, AND was the ref needing room to get down on the mat to see the pin, AND was your son preventing him from doing this?
3. Was your son technically "pushed" or was he "moved aside" by the ref. Believe it or not there is a difference.
4. When a person is already upset (your wrestler getting pinned) it is easier to find fault where there is'nt any. I tend to do this myself on occasion.

If , there were in actuality no underlaying reasons for this to of happened and you feel your son was actually pushed or shoved from the matside then I think a formal complaint should be filed to the state board. And please contact me, as tournament director, and I will get you any paperwork you need.

But, again if you are not wanting to get anyone in trouble (as stated earlier) then I am not sure what your reasons are for hashing this out on the forum and not taking this through the proper channels.

Cindy Shavlik
DWC President & Tournament Director
316-788-7986

I've seen the number grow of participants while the number of parental support has dwindled. Many parents think of the weekend as a glorified babysitter service.