Tournament Suggestions/Information

This section will be in two halves. One will be about parents for parents, and one will be about wrestlers for parents.

Parent Information about their wrestler:

1) Weigh ins for tournaments are very early in the morning and we must be on time or we will not be allowed to compete. We always meet in the BV parking lot. The times that we meet will vary, so please find that time by checking the parent section under "current team information". We are 100% dependent on parent driver's for all competitions, so please look at the schedule and save some dates that you can drive. We will never have a district bus for an event, it's all parent rides.

2) Tournaments last all day. Do not expect your wrestler home until around dinner time or later if you don't go. Please make sure that they have money for food, or food for the day. Snackbars tend to lack nutrition, so packing food is usually better. Check the "dieting" section on what to pack.

3) After a tournament, wrestlers will either get a ride home, or be brought back to school to get a ride from you. A wrestler will never be left alone at school, a coach will wait for you to arrive. Understand that if your wrestler is at school waiting for you, a coach is waiting also, so please come immediately or meet us there after a cell phone call that we're on our way.

Parent Information for themselves:

1) You will be there all day, bring something to do. Your wrestler will wrestle on average once every 3 hours the first part of the day, then once every hour the last part of the day. So there's lots of dead time inbetween matches. With a laptop, you can have the day off from work and still get a lot done.

2) Bring something you can sit on to be more comfortable. Bleachers are no fun for a full day. Padded bleacher seats are perfect. Some people actually use lawn chairs and find spots in the gym to set up. This may not always work depending on how crowded the gym gets.

3) Camera's and video taping: Of course you can do this, but please make sure to be away from the mat and not interfer with the coach or the match. An ideal place is to find a nearby wall. Put your back against that and click away. You won't block anyones view, and referees will always stop action near a wall to prevent injury, so you won't get in the way. You'll find that it is very hard to take wrestling pictures. You simply can't predict where the action will be and there aren't that many times where you can clearly see a face during a match. Video taping is better, plus the wrestlers can look at their match and critique themselves.

4) About tournaments: If it is a "Dual Team Tournament", that means that the team competes literally as a team. Our team would face another team head to head. When that match is over, we would get some sort of break (short or long), and then we would face another team. This type of tournament is the most "parent/fan friendly" because you can find a seat in the gym and know exactly where they will wrestle. The downside is that you will be there for the day, nobody gets eliminated early. "Individual Tournaments" mean that while the wrestlers arrive as a team, they are wrestling on their own. Your wrestlers weight class will be called (not the team), and then they'll be assigned a mat to wrestle on somewhere in the gym. As soon as your wrestler losses two matches, they are done for the day in most cases - but please make sure before you leave. If you wrestler keeps winning, they'll keep wrestling until they medal.

5) Unlike most sports, in wrestling parents can get very close to the action. Whether it be a dual match or tournament, please don't come sit with the team or visit. We are "in competition", the coaching staff wants all wrestlers to focus on the job at hand or supporting their teammates while they wrestle. Save your comments for when the competition is over. Most of all, please do not yell instructions out to the wrestlers anytime during a match - let the coaches do their job. Even if the coach isn't yelling out any instructions, that is not a time for you to start. The coaches promise not to yell out instructions at your job - smile.