Jump to content

Rotate sectional sites


takemtothemat

Recommended Posts

Regional maybe a little more enticing to some schools that have the facilities.  Compared to sectionals it has less set up (monitoring entry info and the seed meeting) and usually there is access to more workers (wrestlers who are done for the season and their parents).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Although rotation does sound fair to the schools involved, I’d prefer a reasonable centralized site for the schools involved. The less travel time per school the better.  New Albany and Bedford North Lawrence have to travel over an hour to their sectional at Southridge, while there are sites hosting within minutes of their schools...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Frankly, I was surprised that Warren Central struggled yesterday. While they had plenty of personnel on site, it wasn't well run:

- extending delay in the middle of wrestlebacks -- I'm guessing the computer system went down

- seemingly random moves to different mats & a lousy PA system making it difficult to hear who's up -- I saw several kids who had no idea that there match was up NOW. Watched one kid who was still in ALL of his warmup gear, had to find his headgear & then told to spit out his gum on the scorers table. 

- either I should get my hearing checked or they had NO SOUND at the end of periods & relied completely on kids to tap the refs (naturally, those kids can lose focus during such a long day) 

- poor use of mats at the end of early rounds -- they would shut down 1 of the mats with 2 or 3 more matches remaining at the other mats 

- no security to keep random fans off the main floor or to keep fans from standing at the balcony rails

- timing & scoring equipment plugged into outlets that easily got knocked out by wrestlers, managers etc who tripped over the cords

- no programs available until just before the 9am start 

I expected better from one of the biggest schools in the state & a top wrestling program.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, slice60 said:

Frankly, I was surprised that Warren Central struggled yesterday. While they had plenty of personnel on site, it wasn't well run:

- extending delay in the middle of wrestlebacks -- I'm guessing the computer system went down

- seemingly random moves to different mats & a lousy PA system making it difficult to hear who's up -- I saw several kids who had no idea that there match was up NOW. Watched one kid who was still in ALL of his warmup gear, had to find his headgear & then told to spit out his gum on the scorers table. 

- either I should get my hearing checked or they had NO SOUND at the end of periods & relied completely on kids to tap the refs (naturally, those kids can lose focus during such a long day) 

- poor use of mats at the end of early rounds -- they would shut down 1 of the mats with 2 or 3 more matches remaining at the other mats 

- no security to keep random fans off the main floor or to keep fans from standing at the balcony rails

- timing & scoring equipment plugged into outlets that easily got knocked out by wrestlers, managers etc who tripped over the cords

- no programs available until just before the 9am start 

I expected better from one of the biggest schools in the state & a top wrestling program.

I have to disagree.  There was a scheduled break at one point (you have to feed the help) and 10 min Track delay, but other than that the tournament ran smoothly and we were done by 3pm. Pat Culp runs a great tournament.  No computers or score clocks ever lost power.  And there are balcony areas where spectators are allowed to stand and watch. Not saying people didn't creep into the other areas, but from my observation is was not excessive.  Also, the doors to the floor were locked and coaches, wrestlers, team managers, press and admins had to be let in each time. Then we opened it up at podium time because everyone deserves their picture.

Now the important stuff...The ref's, coaches, table workers were treated great! I may be biased but our hospitality room rocked!  Breakfast - egg souffle, breakfast potatoes and biscuits and gravy.  Lunch -  pulled pork, spaghetti, chili, chicken noodles, mac & cheese, cake, cookies, chips, fruit...no one left hungry! 

Edited by djpierson9
correction
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is a response from someone who was actually working the tables on Saturday. 

 

Also, I have to say with Trackwrestling and utilizing First Available Mat systems, it really isn't that hard to figure out when you are up.  Every kid and every coach has access to a cell phone. They can login to Track and see exactly when they are up with just the tap of a couple of menus.  ISWA wrestlers and coaches use this all the time for tournaments that are considerably bigger and have longer wait times. 

 

- extending delay in the middle of wrestlebacks -- I'm guessing the computer system went down

(we got shut down by technology because one of the tournament worker’s computer had a Malware that came up and we disconnected that computer and they let us back on.  Yes, that took a little time.  We were also ready to do paper bought sheets)

- seemingly random moves to different mats & a lousy PA system making it difficult to hear who's up -- I saw several kids who had no idea that there match was up NOW. Watched one kid who was still in ALL of his warmup gear, had to find his headgear & then told to spit out his gum on the scorers table. 

(PA system was good, announcer was good.  We wrestled first available mat, so kids had to know their bout number and all bout numbers were on the clocks.  If a kid didn’t know where he was suppose to wrestle, it was HIS or his COACH’S fault for not paying attention.  Bout numbers were on the programs.)

- either I should get my hearing checked or they had NO SOUND at the end of periods & relied completely on kids to tap the refs (naturally, those kids can lose focus during such a long day) 

( The clocks used did not have horns so towel tappers were used.  The table I was at, my kid did a FANTASTIC job.  That is done at A LOT of matches and tournaments.)

- poor use of mats at the end of early rounds -- they would shut down 1 of the mats with 2 or 3 more matches remaining at the other mats 

(trackwrestling assigns matches 3 deep on a mat.  Once that mat has their matches done, especially if there were a few falls, then that mat was done.  That gave workers a break, which no breaks were scheduled.)

- no security to keep random fans off the main floor or to keep fans from standing at the balcony rails

(Announcements were made throughout the day about people standing in front of bleachers in front of fans.  I agree that a lot of the security didn’t do a lot, but announcements were made.  Can’t help it that there were a few RUDE fans that didn’t care about anyone else but themselves.)

- timing & scoring equipment plugged into outlets that easily got knocked out by wrestlers, managers etc who tripped over the cords

(TWO cords got unplugged the whole day.  Didn’t seem like that much of a problem.  Yes, it could have been avoided, but the people setting up the mats were doing it for the first time BY THEMSELVES.  They put some plugs in different places than what was done previously.)

- no programs available until just before the 9am start 

(Programs were printed after weigh-ins were over, which is becoming more and more common so wonderful fans like yourself can have up-to-date brackets without having to make changes and asking questions about why is the bracket different than what is being wrestled.)

Now, if you have any more questions, or want improvements, volunteer yourself and see what REALLY goes on behind the scenes of the tournament.

 

Thank You!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I worked tournaments as a scoreboard/clock operator a LONG time ago back when scorers kept track on cards & everyone gathered around the brackets when they were posted in the lobby. Yes, I am that old. The AD who ran those tourneys handled the PA & announced real-time results as matches ended.

I acknowledge that my original post was too harsh & somewhat nit-picky. But I will stick to my guns on a couple topics. 

1) PA system upstairs on the Mats 3-4 side was poor. As their sons were set to wrestle, I heard lots of families say "Where's he going to wrestle? I don't know" & then scramble to get a good view if it was on 3 or 4 because those mats were difficult to see from that side.

2) Since programs weren't ready around 8:30, I used my own printouts which did not have match #'s. So that's on me for being too lazy to go back down for a program. But I wouldn't expect a kid who should be warming up hard to follow along in a program or check his phone. That's what the PA is for. My best example of seeing a wrestler totally surprised that his Quarterfinals match was set to begin on Mat 2 was the 220-pounder for FC. It seemed like everyone wrestling at the time was around 170 but then it jumped up to his match at 220. 

I will acknowledge a couple items:

- Keeping mat assignment structure is tough for Sectional with so many forfeits & quick pins. It's easier to stick to assignments at higher levels.

- I did hear the PA guy direct everyone except coaches & managers with cameras to move away from the mats. Would have helped if someone on the floor enforced that as it kind of led to at least 1 cord pull. 

- Agree that the towel kids did great though there was a near-screwup in a close championship match. Stoppage & restart at 0:03 so the kid sat down. Ref started action but he & asst forgot there was only 3 seconds left & towel boy wasn't there. Wrestler on bottom kept going & got loose several seconds after the clock hit 0:00. Fortunately, the refs realized what happened & waved off an escape. 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am that OLD too.  I have worked and ran SEVERAL tournaments in my time, including BEFORE Trackwrestling.  I was the clock keeper on Mat 1.  The bout numbers were printed on the brackets, and with the advent of Trackwrestling, coaches know where kids are to be 3 matches ahead of time.  If they choose not to keep track of those, then I am sorry.  The announcer did NOT keep up on announcing the results of matches, but did a good job of announcing who was on deck and who was in the whole.  I wasn't paying attention ALL the time, but heard him several times.  I agree that someone from Warren's administration or security should have been upstairs clearing the railing.  I will give you that.  We didn't print programs because of what I said earlier in red.  We wanted the fans to have the CORRECT brackets, and those DID have bout numbers.  On that championship match that you mentioned about the kid, the REFEREE told him to sit down because HE had it.  That is on the referee!!!

 

Thank you for your input, and a lot of it went to heart to improve in the future!!!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.