Sharp Shooters / Early Bird Tournament

[nooga]

Anyone heading to Murf for the tourament?

[Cox]

This was a very competitive middle school tournament. Many big names lost; king, freemon, and others. However in my opinion, all of this was overshadowed by the refs.

 

In an attempt to save money the sharpshooters went with "in training" refs or blue shirts, instead of the normal refs (who charge a fees as opposed to the blue shirt guys who do not.)

 

I understood that this was a preseason tuneup tournament so I was not too upset initially with having to explain which guy was on top to a ref who had forgotten during the walk back to the middle, or getting an apology from the same ref after he noticed he called a pin when the boys entire torso was out of bound. I also had the tell another ref that maybe they should stop standing next to me and check to see if the guy in the center was on his back and pinned (which he was).

 

I was also almost thrown out because I challenged that one boy chose top and did nothing but ride for the entire second period and therefore it was impossible for him to have earned a take down, to which the blue shirt responded he chose neutral and refused to check with score keeper. His word was the only and final say I was informed.

 

 

All of this while frustrating, I can live with it. What I can not live with as a coach, a fan, and a brother is the amount of illegal holds allowed to slip by. More than one time, I witnessed a full nelson go for 10 plus seconds driving a kid to his back several times. Not to mention the straight head throws that about took off a boys head that was missed.

 

I get that this is a fundraiser and it saves lots of money not having to pay the trained refs to handle the tournament. I also know that what I am saying will probably do little to change anything so I guess all this will do is serve as a warning.

 

If you plan to send your middle schoolers to this tournament be aware of the increased injury risk that comes with unqualified referees.

[Freestyle4life]

Well thanks for the information, but what high school teams are going or who is going individually?

[rasslinlite]

Why would anybody go to this tourny ? You knew they were more concerned about making money than the safety of the kids. This is not the first time this has come up. They are usa or aau certified. All that boils down to is the went to 1(one) meeting which I am guess the put on themselves.

[Freestyle4life]

Well I could care less about their motive, I already know they are cheap, but people might go for experience and a headstart on the season

[tnko]

This was a very competitive middle school tournament. Many big names lost; king, freemon, and others. However in my opinion, all of this was overshadowed by the refs.

 

In an attempt to save money the sharpshooters went with "in training" refs or blue shirts, instead of the normal refs (who charge a fees as opposed to the blue shirt guys who do not.)

 

I understood that this was a preseason tuneup tournament so I was not too upset initially with having to explain which guy was on top to a ref who had forgotten during the walk back to the middle, or getting an apology from the same ref after he noticed he called a pin when the boys entire torso was out of bound. I also had the tell another ref that maybe they should stop standing next to me and check to see if the guy in the center was on his back and pinned (which he was).

 

I was also almost thrown out because I challenged that one boy chose top and did nothing but ride for the entire second period and therefore it was impossible for him to have earned a take down, to which the blue shirt responded he chose neutral and refused to check with score keeper. His word was the only and final say I was informed.

 

 

All of this while frustrating, I can live with it. What I can not live with as a coach, a fan, and a brother is the amount of illegal holds allowed to slip by. More than one time, I witnessed a full nelson go for 10 plus seconds driving a kid to his back several times. Not to mention the straight head throws that about took off a boys head that was missed.

 

I get that this is a fundraiser and it saves lots of money not having to pay the trained refs to handle the tournament. I also know that what I am saying will probably do little to change anything so I guess all this will do is serve as a warning.

 

If you plan to send your middle schoolers to this tournament be aware of the increased injury risk that comes with unqualified referees.

 

 

 

There are always going to be mistakes with refs..... whether its TSSAA or AAU. If the TSSAA doesnt make them, then why are you coaches always questioning many of their calls? Most of the refs were first timers except for at least 1 on each mat with a couple of years experience to help the new guys, and all the coaches were told that in the coaches meeting. (I guess you werent in there, probably because your not a real coach right?) The more experienced refs were asked to give the newer refs a large portion of mat time to get experience which is exactly what the early bird tournament is for also with older wrestlers shaking off the cobwebs and the new wrestlers getting their feet wet.

 

I believe the crowd was also informed of the same info before the tournament started. The head referee at the tournament who is a recent Hall of Fame inductee from Chattanooga was center mats all day supervising giving advise and answering any questions from refs and coaches (as I know you know). He told me that all in all the day had many positives and that most of the new refs had great potential. So I'm gonna take the opinion of a National Hall of Famer with 35 years experience with hundreds of state and national championship finals experience over an irrate opinionated kid (yes if your probably under 23, thats how I see you) who as a COACH that day also needs to sharpen his skills a little too because if I remember correctly, your actions with the referee, whether you were right or wrong would have been justified to penalize you and have you removed if you had kept up.

 

Your school has a great coach....... let him do the coaching and you watch your brothers from the stands......... or maybe come and put on one of those "BLUE SHIRTS" and try if for yourself. /flower.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":flower:" border="0" alt="flower.gif" />

 

What gets me is that you come on here and berate men that volunteered their time to give back to the sport they care about. They should be applauded not belittled.

[tnko]

Well I could care less about their motive, I already know they are cheap, but people might go for experience and a headstart on the season

 

The schools that attended were

BLACKMAN

EAGLEVILLE

RIVERDALE

WARREN CO

INDEPENDENCE

ROSSVIEW

FORREST

WILSON CENTRAL

 

The TSSAA reffed all high school matches.

 

and I dont believe its cheap but frugal /rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":rolleyes:" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" />

[nununu]

This tournament is, like mentioned, to shake off the cobwebs and get some guys mat time. It is also a time for new refs to get a feel for the matches. If this is anything like the Antioch preseason, we host a referee clinic, so you are not going to get the best around, but you do have experienced refs w/ the new guys who are learning. These preseason tournaments do not count against the kids records, so what is the big deal. The schools hosting do use it as a fundraiser, but as mentioned before, it is about the kids getting mat time, not the coaches at mid season form.

[hoosierdad]

This tournament is, like mentioned, to shake off the cobwebs and get some guys mat time. It is also a time for new refs to get a feel for the matches. If this is anything like the Antioch preseason, we host a referee clinic, so you are not going to get the best around, but you do have experienced refs w/ the new guys who are learning. These preseason tournaments do not count against the kids records, so what is the big deal. The schools hosting do use it as a fundraiser, but as mentioned before, it is about the kids getting mat time, not the coaches at mid season form.

 

 

nununu,

 

I believe you might be confused. There were no TSSAA Ref's calling the Early Bird Blackman Middle School tournament. The Anticch preseason tournament is used as part of the TSSAA officials training. I believe the Ref's in Middle Tennessee participate in training sessions prior to the start of the year and they use the High School Preseason tournaments as part of the training. There is a big difference in this case. What type of Ref clinic do you hold or are you referring to the tournament?

 

The earlier post was about the safety of the kids and how this person had to assist with basics, i.e. who is on top, there was no takedown, etc. I believe most Ref's would go to the table and review the scoring sheet provided by the soring table. I can't believe a Ref would tell a coach "XYZ happened and not check the scoring book". At least not down here.

[mat73557]

I was there at the Middle school bouts and saw one coach/parent upset after a match. Looked like he was close to getting thrown out to me as well. However, the match was not so close that 2 points would have mattered.

 

I thought the Jr. refs did a great job seeing as how they were not paid and are giving back to all of our kids. Was it perfect? Of course not.

 

JMHO

[cbg]

The Blackman "Early Bird" middle school tournament is the same every year. They are trying to make money and they use young officials that make a ton of mistakes but are trying to learn the craft of being a wrestling official. Why would anyone even attend the tournament if they are going to worry about the officials? You should know what you are getting into before you even send in your registration.