We sacrificed Cadet Duals to keep the price the same for Fargo. I personally thought this was a big mistake and I tried to get the cost advertised as $550 per kid if we could get 24 wrestlers to commit but it just didn't happen. I think it is time that the entire Fargo Budget is itemized and detailed so that everyone can see how much we spend on gear each year. Yea, kids go for $500 which is cheap compared to most states but how much do we spend on: coaches, coach gear, wrestler's gear, it is $75 per style entry fee, dorms, food, transportation, prep camp, etc. Gear should have been sacrificed and we should have been taking cadets to Florida. A pair of shorts, tshirt and singlets is all that these kids need. Do coaches really need anything beyond a tshirt?? I don't think so. I would rather see us paying our coaches. Heck we are even expected to furnish gear for our officials. That is the stupidest thing I have heard since I started helping with summer wrestling.
Coaching... No offense is meant but I am sure some will be taken. Three of the last four opponents Ryne wrestled were coached by: Zach Roberson, Max Askren, and John Mesenbrink (Ben Askren & Max Askren's HS coach as well as Ben's personal coach). The best kids are the kids who work the hardest and they should have the best coaching. Don't even give me any crap about "it doesn't matter who is in your corner". It does! That 15 minutes before you step on the mat is the most important time to have a coach especially when you reach rounds 5 and beyond. There is no way an AA contender should be looking for his coach when he walks onto the mat and it isn't acceptable for a match to start without a coach being in their corner. Fargo is about the big things (practice and preparation) and the little things (proper prematch warmup, mental preparation and visualization, coaches getting their wrestler ready for the critical matches, air conditioned rooms for a good night's rest, proper weight control and nutrition.) If you aren't going to train and take this tournament seriously you don't deserve the same attention and coaching experience as those who do, bottom line.
The AC situation...
Kids were actually called out by this statement "We have had wrestlers place here before when the dorms were hot." My kids were going to stay in my hotel room but were basically shamed into staying in the dorms because it is "team policy". That is crap! I paid $500 for Junior Duals, $675 for Southern Plains Camp, $150 for Southern Plains, $50 for Central Plains, $1175 for Fargo all to USA Wrestling (this doesn't count any personal expenses and the $150 I had to pay for admission at Fargo) to be told that my kids shouldn't stay in an air conditioned hotel room when it was 85 and 75 percent humidity. Honsetly, can anyone make sense out of that?? There is NO WAY your body can tolerate sleepless nights, workouts, tournament matches and perform at its peak. This rule has to change!
Further, if a coach tells a wrestler he is going to be his coach then he better dang well be there! There is nothing more disappointing to me than being lied to. Both to the parent and the wrestler...
We have to spread our coaching pretty thin because of the numbers we take to Fargo. That all sounds good until you consider that many of the wrestlers from Kansas roll off the couch and the only preperation they get is the McPherson Camp. Lots of kids go just to get the cool gear. I personally do not buy in to all of this gear. Do we really need to give a kid a gear bag every year? Ryne has five of them now... It is overkill and a waste. I think it is terrible when I see our kids that go 0-2 out on the sidewalk selling their gear! How many of their parents realize that they might be putting $200 back into their pocket from the $500 they spent to send their kid to Fargo. It shouldn't be about quantity but about quality.
I would like to see us set the price to go to Fargo at $600 and then let our wrestlers earn their way onto the team. $50 discount if you go to Southern Plains Camp. $25 if you wrestle in any USA regional tournament, $50 if you place. $50 if you compete on the Junior or Cadet Dual team. $50 off if you place in the top 3 at USA Folkstyle Nationals. $10 off for every regional training center practice you attend. If we want our kids to go to FS/GR state then reward the winners with a discount to Nationals instead of a jacket (at least give them the option) We also need to have more clinics and less tournaments or have the clinics on Friday evening, tournaments on Saturday and finish with a clinic session on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. We have to have more drilling and more basics being pushed. Our gut defense was atrocious this year!
1) Better coaching plan
2) More drilling and mat time between HS State and Fargo
3) Better preparation camp plan
4) More communication from leadership
5) Better housing for the team
6) Focus on winning not just taking 100 kids to Fargo
7) Budget to send dual teams not just buy cool gear