For the first time since 1994, I didn’t officiate any kids events this year. I love Kansas kids wrestling and everything that it has done for me, but too many of these open tournaments have turned into long, ugly affairs. In the last couple of years I stuck to novice tournaments – a little “return to the roots” moment for me so that I could revisit the positive attributes of kids wrestling as my 6 year old son begins his first foray into this greatest sport. Before I list my complaints, let me first say that there are several well-run enjoyable open tournaments out there. There are lots of good folks doing great work for our kids clubs! With that said, here is what is wrong with officiating kids tournaments:
1 – Way too many people at the mat. Seriously WAY too many. One parent/coach for each little grappler is enough. Tape your matches from the stands – that’s how my mom did it!
2 – Officials should be paid a fair amount that is based on the number of matches worked or hours spent on the mat. I have been severely underpaid several times. To be fair, I’ve left the gym a few times feeling overpaid. The unders outnumber the overs at least 5 to 1, by the way.
3 – There is way too much negativity around the mats. I can handle criticism. I can’t handle someone brow beating an 8 year old.
4 – Make sure there are enough surfaces to handle the number of matches. Make sure the surfaces are safe and big enough to wrestle a meaningful match. Make sure you have 4 officials for every 3 surfaces. 8 hours of any kind of work is a long day. 8 hours of working kids matches is brutal! Officials need breaks at a minimum of every hour or hour and a half.
5 – Don’t keep hiring the officials that you think are doing a bad job! If you can’t find enough good ones, consider using some high school wrestlers to work the 6U & 8U age groups. You might just create the next generation of officials.
I don’t want anyone to think that I quit doing kids tournaments because I’m too good for them anymore. I am not perfect. I make mistakes at each event I work. I try to learn from those mistakes and become a better official. When I have a free date, I go to duals and tournaments and watch how the other officials are working their matches. I have a DVR loaded with Big 10 wrestling so that I can watch Hagerty and Mayabb work the big boy matches. I actually want to be a better official. I felt that the adversity and negativity at some these events was squeezing the enjoyment out of it for me and I know some other officials who feel the same way. I hope that something can come of this discussion and I’m glad that Mr. Ford brought it up. Now…feel free to fire away!
