SMNW Novice - disappointed in how it was run

Just got back from watching some kids........man this is not a well run tournament.

1. started an hour late
2. Not enough seating
3. 3 or 4 of the tables had issue with PC issues
4. Had matches going on and were rolling up other mats...no respect for the kids wrestling

Will think twice about every coming back....

I am not affiliated with the SMNW Wrestling Club however I always recommend when you post negative comments to leave your name. This happens to be a forum rule.

Board Rules
This is a free forum, created for the purpose of promoting Kansas wrestling, and those who wrestle, through the exchange of thoughts and suggestions, and for the recognition of the accomplishments of those involved in our sport.

There are just two basic rules that are necessary to keep in mind. First, remember that this is a family oriented forum, and is regularly viewed by young wrestlers. Second, "cheap shots" will not be tolerated. If you are going to post a message critical of an individual, group or idea, you must give your true name and/or email address. Be willing to stand behind your comments, or keep them to yourself.

Most likely if it was a novice tournament, it was novice people running it. Give them a break. Do you expect your novice kid to win state his first time? Do you think they want to wait for every kid to finish and not get a jump start at putting things up for respect? No, they want to get home and enjoy their lives with their families. I'd suggest thinking twice before casting stones and ridiculing. Have you ever ran a tournament? Come on...


Spell check...

I don't disagree completely but novice parents in the stands are novice and are forming a opinion of the sport. Hopefully that doesn't run some of them off.

Amen Brother Moison...Amen!!!!

Give them a second chance, every one wants to do a better job the next year no matter what.

First of all, on behalf of the Cougar Kids Wrestling Club I'd like to thank all the wrestlers, parents and workers that attended our tournament today. Our tournament is not perfect, but we aim to give novice wrestlers as many matches as possible, be home at a reasonable time and have a positive wrestling experience. Our tournament is one of the longest-running novice tournaments in the KC metro area due in large part to clubs that like how our tournament is run and want to come back.
I will address the complaints.
Yes, our tournament started about 45 minutes late, due in large part to re-bracketing because parents and wrestlers were trying to check in after 8:30. Again, our goal is to promote wrestling and shutting a few wrestlers out of a day of wrestling because of inexperience is not the right thing. They'll learn for the next tournament.
If you've been to Shawnee Mission Northwest, there is plenty of seating, most choose to not use it and stand by mats. We understand, it's part of a novice tournament.
We did have some computer glitches, no doubt about that. We prefer the technology, though. It makes for a faster-running tournament but with technology comes some problems, no doubt. We apologize for that.
Yes, we did roll up a few mats before the final matches were done. In hindsight we should have waited until those few matches were finished. We apologize if that made people feel as if we didn't care, but that wasn't the case.
Again, thanks to all that attended and we will learn from our mistakes and make next season's version of the Cougar Novice even better.

Jerry Schmidt
Cougar Kids Club

I am a "novice parent" and I thought your tournament was ran well. There was a bathroom issue but I've encountered that several times since as well. People need to keep in mind that tournaments are ran by volunteers. This was my 6 year olds 3rd tournament and I appreciated the round robin approach, many novice tournaments don't do this. You can practice as much as you want but you really learn it and put it in action on the mat. Novice kids need more mat time for learning purposes and to build stamina and confidence. Kudos to the Cougar team, coaches and parents. There is always room for improvement in every situation. With that being said we have since attended several tournaments and I think your tournament needs the least improvements. I wonder if the parent complaining has been to any where their child was placed 2 weight brackets up and refused to correct it, they were the only 1st year wrestler in their bracket, drew a hard bracket while they ran 3 round robins for the same weight, ran out of medals and ran out of food before lunchtime! All of this has personally happened to us and none of these occurred at SM. We will be returning!

Peanut1234
Yes it is frustrating when a tournament starts late, and seating is hard to find. But since this was a novice tournament, from my experience with novice tournaments most of the parents are not in the stands anyway, they are on the edge of the mat. As far as rolling up the mats before the tournament was over, many tournaments do this, as the workers are not wanting to stay all night either. As long as this does not pose a danger toward the wrestlers still on the mat I see no problem with rolling up other mats. I was not at this tournament so I can not give my opinion on how it was run, but I do know it takes a lot of work behind the scenes that most people who have never put on a tournament knows about, and these select few seem to criticize tournaments and how they are run. Remember this was a novice tournament, it is for the kids to learn wrestling in a tournament format. And as said earlier if you are going to criticize a club or person please sign your name, so others can call you for suggestions on running tournaments.

Lance Geyer

Ever notice that posters with 100 or less post are soooo smart. They are brand new, but have all the anwers, are the most critical, don't post their names, and can solve all the problems that wrestling has in their first year. Those of you with less than 100 posts and do not fit into this category, please do not be offended just because of the 100 or less comment.

My name is Jamy Dunbar and I approve this message!!!! Haha.

Lol Aaron Haskins I only have 92 post trying to brake 100