I also thought the weekend went pretty well, but there are some growing pains. I agree that the announcer was AWFUL. This is not the first time he has announced, but I hope it will be his last. He had ALL DAY to figure out the pronunciations of names and to practice. I do not understand why he was chosen. He didn't do any of the announcing all weekend, and they brought him in for that? I agree with most of your assessment Devast8tr. Some of the issues are easy fixes, with a little planning, others are limited by the facility itself.
A few of my suggestions:
1. Absolutely NO CHEERLEADERS. They are completely unnecessary, and contributed to the overcrowding problem.
2. Tighten up security and limit floor access. Perhaps different colored wrist bands for those on the pass list, but who do not need to be on the floor ie. administrators etc. The "security" was often looking at their phones and letting anyone walk on in. I saw several little brothers and sisters on the floor that aren't even in high school.
3. Ban the long banners that hang down to the gym floor. I know that everyone wants to recognize their accomplishments, but they were just another obstacle to maneuver in an already crowded arena. Maybe one banner per team in the interior of the arena with a size limit perhaps.
4. Set up a place for teams to camp out in another gym in the building, similar to what Salina did, and have a screen with the bout tracker being broadcast in there. That was quite helpful last year. This might also help to ease the overcrowding problem.
I think the biggest issue was how crowded the arena floor was. Overall, it was a good event, that I hope KSHSAA will continue to tweak and improve.
