Tournament Survival Guide for First Year Wrestling Parents
Many of you experienced your first IKWF wrestling tournament this past weekend, while others will experience it this coming Sunday. The first tournament can often be a very confusing, stressful and chaotic experience for wrestlers, but it usually more so for the parents than the wrestlers. The first thing I will tell you to ease any frustration you may experience is do not hesitate to ask questions. Ask questions of your son's coaches. Ask questions of tournament staff. Ask questions of parents of more experienced wrestlers. Do not stop asking questions until you get answers. Other survival tips I can offer are:
- Sit with other Hononegah parents and get to know them: You will likely be spending a lot of hours in gyms in the coming months. The experience is much more enjoyable for everybody involved when there are people to talk to and when we all cheer on each other.
- Pack a cooler with something healthy for you and your son(s) to eat: It definitely can be enjoyable to sample the fine cuisine at all of the tournaments your son attends, but you will also come to find that it can get rather pricey over the course of the season, especially on long days. Also, concession stand food is not always the best way to fuel a young wrestler’s body. Wrestling requires a lot of energy and junk food can make your son feel sluggish and tired.
- Find out early in the day how the tournament will be run:
- Will there be a bullpen that wrestlers will be required to report to? or
- Will your son be wrestling on the same mat the entire day?
- Where will the brackets be posted?
- How many matches will your son have? (Keep in mind your son may not have as many matches as other wrestlers if he does not have a full bracket)
- How many rounds of wrestling will there be? (Most tournaments will have 3 rounds, but this could vary up or down)
- Will awards be handed out matside after your son’s last match, or will he have to go somewhere else to get his award? (Be aware that the answer to this question sometimes doesn’t come until the final round approaches)
- Learn how to read the different types of brackets that are used in wrestling tournaments. Most tournaments use 4 man round robin brackets, where all wrestlers in a bracket will compete against each other over 3 rounds, where each wrestler has one match per round. The other most common type of bracket is a 4 man straight bracket, where wrestlers are paired in 2 matches the first round. In the second round the winners of the first round matches in a given bracket will wrestle each other, while the losers will also wrestle each other.
- Identify all of the Hononegah coaches that are present at the tournament. As much as we would like for all faces to be familiar to your son, sometimes your son may be coached at a tournament by a coach he has not gotten to know in practice. Please know that in spite of this, these coaches are willing and able to help your son and answer all of your questions.
- Be positive TO your son and be positive FOR your son. Wrestling can be a great experience for you and your son. However, there are some growing pains that parents and wrestlers often have to experience. A little patience and tolerance go a long way toward getting past these experiences.
- Encourage your son to use down time wisely. There is a lot of free time between weigh-ins and when the tournament begins and between your son’s matches.
- Make sure your son participates in formal and informal warm-ups before the tournament begins. He should find a partner close to his own size and drill lightly before the tournament begins. Coaches will encourage this with kids who are out on the mat before the tournament begins.
- Discourage horseplay. Believe it or not, there is more opportunity for injury when kids are running around the gym and the school than when they are drilling on the mat.
- Encourage your son to watch his teammates compete while he is waiting to wrestle. A lot of learning can take place by watching, too.
- Don’t hesitate to bring activities for your son to take advantage of in between matches (books, videos, mp3 players, video games, homework, etc.)
- Help your son keep track of his belongings, especially his headgear. He will need his headgear for every match and every tournament. It is easy to misplace or mix up with someone else.
This by no means prepares you for every bizarre or confusing situation that may occur in your first few tournaments, but hopefully it is a good start. Kids wrestling is definitely different than most other sports your son may have experienced, but it can be very enjoyable and very rewarding once you get past the unknowns.
Please post any comments or questions you may have.
-Coach Vince (vmzalapi@yahoo.com)
