Youth wrestling issue.

[CTStall]

Parents are creating major problem at youth events.
My nephew's son participated in large travel team tournament in Wildwood NJ. He is on a team of mostly Lehigh Valley kids and is good. He went 8-0 with 7 Bonus or pin wins. I think the only team loss they had was to Jordan Burrroghs coached team.
My nephew sent me a video of a match showing coaches and parents arguing with ref which was over the top. The parents then returned to standing around mat and after next scramble they rushed the ref again. They should of all been removed and or the team Disqualified. I believe the team was from the area where Knox is from in New Jersey.
I know we have a couple of refs and coaches on this board that are involved with youth wrestling. Please tell me this is not the norm at tournaments.

 

[PaWrestlingFan7]

Parents are creating major problem at youth events.
My nephew's son participated in large travel team tournament in Wildwood NJ. He is on a team of mostly Lehigh Valley kids and is good. He went 8-0 with 7 Bonus or pin wins. I think the only team loss they had was to Jordan Burrroghs coached team.
My nephew sent me a video of a match showing coaches and parents arguing with ref which was over the top. The parents then returned to standing around mat and after next scramble they rushed the ref again. They should of all been removed and or the team Disqualified. I believe the team was from the area where Knox is from in New Jersey.
I know we have a couple of refs and coaches on this board that are involved with youth wrestling. Please tell me this is not the norm at tournaments.

Unfortunately, this has become the norm at a good percentage of youth events (not just wrestling). Parents of the youth these days were not raised with the same discipline the older generation was for the most part, and think their opinion overrides any figure of authority. It extends to school where these precious little monsters can do no wrong and the teachers are at fault for thinking about correcting their child. I've been a wrestling official for over 20 years now, and have seen it turn into a terrible situation for coaches and officials when they dare to speak sternly or try to discipline a child.

 

[Misalorales]

Parents are creating major problem at youth events.
My nephew's son participated in large travel team tournament in Wildwood NJ. He is on a team of mostly Lehigh Valley kids and is good. He went 8-0 with 7 Bonus or pin wins. I think the only team loss they had was to Jordan Burrroghs coached team.
My nephew sent me a video of a match showing coaches and parents arguing with ref which was over the top. The parents then returned to standing around mat and after next scramble they rushed the ref again. They should of all been removed and or the team Disqualified. I believe the team was from the area where Knox is from in New Jersey.
I know we have a couple of refs and coaches on this board that are involved with youth wrestling. Please tell me this is not the norm at tournaments.

Youth wrestling in PA is quite the circus. My eldest, 6, just started this year. Yesterday he went to his 3rd novice tournament ( I figured first year should be less tournaments) and one of the kids he wrestled went 4-0 with 4 pins in a total mat time of like 1:30 or something. That kid had a Keystone State Championships Qualifier singlet on, likely meaning he had already qualified in 8u but went to a 6u novice bracket to waste everyone's time, including his own. The matches he wrestled were completely useless for either kid. Not his fault clearly but his dad is a jack wagon for that. My brother is one of the ones who argue with refs over his sons 8u matches. Absurd. Bunch of guys living vicariously through their sons.

 

[tullfan68]

Youth wrestling in PA is quite the circus. My eldest, 6, just started this year. Yesterday he went to his 3rd novice tournament ( I figured first year should be less tournaments) and one of the kids he wrestled went 4-0 with 4 pins in a total mat time of like 1:30 or something. That kid had a Keystone State Championships Qualifier singlet on, likely meaning he had already qualified in 8u but went to a 6u novice bracket to waste everyone's time, including his own. The matches he wrestled were completely useless for either kid. Not his fault clearly but his dad is a jack wagon for that. My brother is one of the ones who argue with refs over his sons 8u matches. Absurd. Bunch of guys living vicariously through their sons.

your right I took my grandson to a supposed novice first time wrestlers then 2 teams came out with about 30 or 40 kid's full uniforms it was Cathedral Prep and Harborcreek watching these kids wrestle you know they weren't first times what a joke!so unfair to the other kids!

 

[Nitlion1986]

The day youth sports parents become grown-ups is sometime way after junior is done participating.

 

[amattaro]

The day youth sports parents become grown-ups is sometime way after junior is done participating.

If ever.

I took my six year old to three tournaments this year because he wanted to go. Total waste of time. Yelling adults, kids not even really wrestling but just bear hugging each other trying to win, a couple of hours for a few minutes on the mat. It’s non-value-add and no wonder why the top of USA wrestling and guys like Askren advocate no competition for little kids. They aren’t learning a lot and are in a room full of maniac adults.

 

[John Beach]

Coaches are also to blame, officiating at that level is very difficult, coaches and parents act like it is the end of the world when they lose, be humble and act like you’ve been there before, kids follow their parents and coaches in terms of behavior

 

[PSU Mike]

Sorry to break it to you but lack of perspective is widespread in our society.

I’m an advocate of track and field and cross country. There’s a little concern about jostling for position, but times and distances sort things out (less political than say who plays on a baseball team), and training helps across a broad range of sports —and life —later on.

 

[Hlstone]

Youth wrestling is pretty chill here in NEPA. I've had the occasional outburst, but the other parents cool them down.

I was reffing the finals, these 2 kids were scrapping just non stop scoring. At the end of the first, both coaches are yelling at me to check the scoreboard. It was 0-0. I ask the coaches to meet at the table. The kids working the table were on their phones.

I ask the coaches what they thought the score should be, and they both agreed on the score of 16-13.

Start of the 2nd and a pin in like 10 seconds. I was never so happy a match was over.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Youth wrestling is pretty chill here in NEPA. I've had the occasional outburst, but the other parents cool them down.

I was reffing the finals, these 2 kids were scrapping just non stop scoring. At the end of the first, both coaches are yelling at me to check the scoreboard. It was 0-0. I ask the coaches to meet at the table. The kids working the table were on their phones.

I ask the coaches what they thought the score should be, and they both agreed on the score of 16-13.

Start of the 2nd and a pin in like 10 seconds. I was never so happy a match was over.

That's pretty good management skills, @Hlstone. The youth matches where it's non-stop scoring, very little control, etc., where the table screws up, are always a problem. If it's early in the day, I usually can remember everything that happened in the period, and clarify it for the table. But at the end of the day, when a final is taking place, I find that I'm lucky if I can recall the last 30 seconds of what took place. My mind is just mush after so many matches. I've had coaches, and parents, offer me their phone (they are videoing the match), to clarify what took place. Alas, as you probably know, the rules prohibit us from using video. (I think it stems more from the NFHS not wanting to require every school to have a video setup, and the people to work it, and the rules for HS and MS are also the rules for youth, though youth leagues, or youth tournaments, can customize them a bit.)

Youth running the tables is always an issue. The youth league in my region doesn't allow it, which is a good thing. (I did a JV tournament this past Saturday, where the host school's varsity wrestlers were working the tables. They did great on the clock and in checking in the kids, but were terrible at remembering to walk out and count out the end of the period for us. Most of the time, it was due to either being on their phones, or having conversations with other kids, and forgetting their responsibility.)

Getting the coaches to agree to a score, especially with so many points scored in the period, was a great move on your part.

 

[The Pitchfork Rebel]

Parents are creating major problem at youth events.
My nephew's son participated in large travel team tournament in Wildwood NJ. He is on a team of mostly Lehigh Valley kids and is good. He went 8-0 with 7 Bonus or pin wins. I think the only team loss they had was to Jordan Burrroghs coached team.
My nephew sent me a video of a match showing coaches and parents arguing with ref which was over the top. The parents then returned to standing around mat and after next scramble they rushed the ref again. They should of all been removed and or the team Disqualified. I believe the team was from the area where Knox is from in New Jersey.
I know we have a couple of refs and coaches on this board that are involved with youth wrestling. Please tell me this is not the norm at tournaments.

It's the norm EVERYWHERE. I call it entitlement anarchy. I know teachers who get a ration of excrement when kids don't get A++++++++

 

[psumac]

Youth wrestling in PA is quite the circus. My eldest, 6, just started this year. Yesterday he went to his 3rd novice tournament ( I figured first year should be less tournaments) and one of the kids he wrestled went 4-0 with 4 pins in a total mat time of like 1:30 or something. That kid had a Keystone State Championships Qualifier singlet on, likely meaning he had already qualified in 8u but went to a 6u novice bracket to waste everyone's time, including his own. The matches he wrestled were completely useless for either kid. Not his fault clearly but his dad is a jack wagon for that. My brother is one of the ones who argue with refs over his sons 8u matches. Absurd. Bunch of guys living vicariously through their sons.

keystone states has a 6U division, so that singlet was probably from that. almost everywhere i've seen says novice is for 1st and 2nd year wrestlers who have not placed top 3 in an open tournament with more than X (usually 6 or 8) competitors. but yeah, no reason for a state qualifier to be wrestling in 6U novice; those kids can go 8U novice or even open.

 

[HOA242n!]

Sorry to break it to you but lack of perspective is widespread in our society.

I’m an advocate of track and field and cross country. There’s a little concern about jostling for position, but times and distances sort things out (less political than say who plays on a baseball team), and training helps across a broad range of sports —and life —later on.

My (10yr old) son is a sprinter, this sh*t happens in track & field too. We had multiple kids get caught this year with fake birth certificates so they could compete against younger kids. We've also had the cops show up to track meets multiple times for fights between parents and child abuse. This is in Utah and isn't like ultra competitive, travel team type stuff, it's rec league between cities where they don't even keep team/city scores and they give out really cheap medals for placers at the regional meet (this is after the kids qualify by winning district and county - where they get ribbons). Our kids stopped competing in jiu jitsu because BJJ parents are WILD - a lot of fights at tournaments.

There's just a lot of people out there that suck, and when it comes to competition between our kids a lot of dads lose their minds. It's gotten exponentially worse in the social media age. You're not going to avoid it if your kids playing sports is important to you.

 

[Wrestleknownothing]

Sorry to break it to you but lack of perspective is widespread in our society.

I’m an advocate of track and field and cross country. There’s a little concern about jostling for position, but times and distances sort things out (less political than say who plays on a baseball team), and training helps across a broad range of sports —and life —later on.

Swimming. The true sport we were promised.

 

[Misalorales]

keystone states has a 6U division, so that singlet was probably from that. almost everywhere i've seen says novice is for 1st and 2nd year wrestlers who have not placed top 3 in an open tournament with more than X (usually 6 or 8) competitors. but yeah, no reason for a state qualifier to be wrestling in 6U novice; those kids can go 8U novice or even open

Thank you for that, I had been told you had to be 8u.. honestly, I'm not sold that 6u should have State level competitions but that's another debate lol either way, that kid definitely could've found tougher matches haha.

 

[HOA242n!]

Swimming. The true sport we were promised.

Definitely avoids the harassing refs and fights parts. But the travel and $ for competitive swimming can be crazy.

 

[amattaro]

Youth wrestling is pretty chill here in NEPA.

Maybe try going when you aren’t stoned.

 

[AgSurfer]

Saw a post on Facebook with a video showing either a coach or parent taking a swing at the ref in what looked like a youth tournament. The text in the post said this happened in Ohio and there is a new law that imposes a $1500 fine and 40 hours of community service on anyone who assaults a sports official at an event. A second offense is a felony. Hate to see things get to this point, but sometimes a hammer is needed to maintain control.

 

[PSU Mike]

Saw a post on Facebook with a video showing either a coach or parent taking a swing at the ref in what looked like a youth tournament. The text in the post said this happened in Ohio and there is a new law that imposes a $1500 fine and 40 hours of community service on anyone who assaults a sports official at an event. A second offense is a felony. Hate to see things get to this point, but sometimes a hammer is needed to maintain control.

First offense should be a felony.

 

[a_mshaffer]

My (10yr old) son is a sprinter, this sh*t happens in track & field too. We had multiple kids get caught this year with fake birth certificates so they could compete against younger kids. We've also had the cops show up to track meets multiple times for fights between parents and child abuse. This is in Utah and isn't like ultra competitive, travel team type stuff, it's rec league between cities where they don't even keep team/city scores and they give out really cheap medals for placers at the regional meet (this is after the kids qualify by winning district and county - where they get ribbons). Our kids stopped competing in jiu jitsu because BJJ parents are WILD - a lot of fights at tournaments.

There's just a lot of people out there that suck, and when it comes to competition between our kids a lot of dads lose their minds. It's gotten exponentially worse in the social media age. You're not going to avoid it if your kids playing sports is important to you.

the funny thing about this is that track and field - runners - mostly come down to the stopwatch and not others.

 

[Aardvark86]

A funny but true non wrestling story.

some years ago there was a big fella in nova whose son was a pretty good basketball player. The big fella had something of a reputation as a pretty notorious ref baiter.

so one night he was at it and really giving it to the officials when the ref blew his whistle and stopped the game, walked over to him in the stands, and proclaimed for all to hear, something to the effect of:

mr chief justice, you may control the tone of your courtroom, but I’m in control of this court. One more word out of you and you’re out of here.

chief Justice Rehnquist watched quietly for the rest of the game.

 

[a_mshaffer]

running a youth pgm for a few years I learned that I needed to have a parent only mtg (and eventually increased to 2) per season to set expectations. Those expectation were I didn't care about winning, there are kid referee's small wrestling areas, and a bunch of everything. Most of all - the whole exercise is for the kid to have some fun and learn, and the 'matches' are just an extension of practice. Next I told them that pre-puberty success had no correlation to post puberty so gain perspective.

 

[Hlstone]

Maybe try going when you aren’t stoned.

And someone wants tix tomorrow?

 

[WPIALBrwnPSU]

And someone wants tix tomorrow?

Yeah, me! Now get the hell to bed so you don't oversleep past ten!

 

[Nittany24000]

Youth wrestling is pretty chill here in NEPA. I've had the occasional outburst, but the other parents cool them down.

I was reffing the finals, these 2 kids were scrapping just non stop scoring. At the end of the first, both coaches are yelling at me to check the scoreboard. It was 0-0. I ask the coaches to meet at the table. The kids working the table were on their phones.

I ask the coaches what they thought the score should be, and they both agreed on the score of 16-13.

Start of the 2nd and a pin in like 10 seconds. I was never so happy a match was over.

 

[BigFella235]

I’ve seen some egregious behavior from parents at youth tournaments unfortunately. One of the more notable examples came a few years ago at PJW youth states when one of the Angle boys picked a kid up by their neck after the kid lost a match. Honestly, it seems like there are mostly well intentioned parents, but my lord are there some kooks living vicariously through their children. One of our best varsity kids is a shell of himself this year because his parents did nothing but ride him throughout his youth career.

As for officiating issues, there are definitely more than a few coaches/parents who take advocating way too far. I understand you want your kid to win and there are some officials who aren’t especially good, but by acting like a jack wagon you’re teaching the kids the wrong lessons.

 

[CTStall]

From 2005 thru 2007 I ran the youth basketball program for Upper Mt. Bethel which allowed any child living in the Bangor School District to participate. I had 24 travel teams with approximately 10 players on each team and about 4 beginner non travel teams. Every parent had my phone number if they had an issue about their child . I could write a book about the complaints I received. I had too intervene 2 times about the numerous complaints. Once I had to talk to a coach about his over the top actions . Once I talked to a group of parents that were harassing officials and opposing teams.
My typical response to the nonsense complaints I received was as follows.
" It is not a mandate that your child plays basketball."
That normally ended the conversation.

 

[Nitlion1986]

From 2005 thru 2007 I ran the youth basketball ball program for Upper Mt. Bethel which allowed any child living in the Bangor School District to participate. I had 24 travel teams with approximately 10 players on each team and about 4 beginner non travel teams. Every parent had my phone number if they had an issue about their child . I could write a book about the complaints I received. I had too intervene 2 times about the numerous complaints. Once I had to talk to a coach about his over the top actions . Once I talk to a group of parents that were harassing officials and opposing teams.
My typical response to the nonsense complaints I received was as follows.
" It is not a mandate that your child plays basketball."
That normally ended the conversation.

A group of parents attended a school board meeting to complain that the calculus class being taught to advanced students as a college level course was too hard. They were afraid their kids might get a B and it would unfairly harm their GPA.
Parents are just freaking nuts.

 

[HOA242n!]

A group of parents attended a school board meeting to complain that the calculus class being taught to advanced students as a college level course was too hard. They were afraid their kids might get a B and it would unfairly harm their GPA.
Parents are just freaking nuts.

My stepfather and both my sisters are teachers, the stories never end. In particular, my stepfather is a high school English teacher in probably the most affluent area in the state; the level of entitlement from these local business scions is wild. They'll miss months at a time to vacation in Europe or Aruba and expect to get "A's" without showing up or doing any work because of their last name.

My daughter's primary sport is now street hockey. Shockingly, I have yet to see any screaming at refs, crying kids, or fights in the stands.