FIRST OF ALL LET ME SAY THAT OVERALL THE FERN CREEK COACHES, PARENTS, AND WRESTLERS DID A GOOD JOB FOR THE MOST PART RUNNING THE TOURNY. I WILL SAY THAT THE POLICE OFFICERS COULD HAVE BEEN A LITTLE MORE RESPECTFUL AND A LITTLE LESS CURT WHEN DEALING WITH EXCITED MOMS AND DADS AND EVEN COACHES. IF I HAVE ONE COMPLAINT, WHICH I DO, IT WOULD BE THAT YOU CANNOT HOST A TOURN. OF THAT SIZE AND NOT HAVE A HOSP. ROOM FOR THE COACHES. NO HOSP. ROOM, NO COOLERS ALLOWED, OH BUT PLEASE HAND OVER THAT CHECK SO YOUR KIDS CAN WRESTLE. THERE WAS ALOT OF MONEY MADE THIS WEEKEND, ESPECIALLY OFF OF THE ENTRY FEES. I KNOW THIS MAY SOUND A LITTLE PETTY, BUT I DON'T THINK I'M BEING UNREASONABLE IN ASKING FOR A LITTLE BIT OF HOSPITALITY.

I agree on the police comment! If it would have been their kid out there they would have been just as excited! I was unaware of no hospitality room for the coaches. That's a first for me! Never heard of not having one for the coaches!

FIRST OF ALL LET ME SAY THAT OVERALL THE FERN CREEK COACHES, PARENTS, AND WRESTLERS DID A GOOD JOB FOR THE MOST PART RUNNING THE TOURNY. I WILL SAY THAT THE POLICE OFFICERS COULD HAVE BEEN A LITTLE MORE RESPECTFUL AND A LITTLE LESS CURT WHEN DEALING WITH EXCITED MOMS AND DADS AND EVEN COACHES. IF I HAVE ONE COMPLAINT, WHICH I DO, IT WOULD BE THAT YOU CANNOT HOST A TOURN. OF THAT SIZE AND NOT HAVE A HOSP. ROOM FOR THE COACHES. NO HOSP. ROOM, NO COOLERS ALLOWED, OH BUT PLEASE HAND OVER THAT CHECK SO YOUR KIDS CAN WRESTLE. THERE WAS ALOT OF MONEY MADE THIS WEEKEND, ESPECIALLY OFF OF THE ENTRY FEES. I KNOW THIS MAY SOUND A LITTLE PETTY, BUT I DON'T THINK I'M BEING UNREASONABLE IN ASKING FOR A LITTLE BIT OF HOSPITALITY.

I agree there should have been a hospitality room for the coaches at State, while we are on the subject though I would like to mention, how hard our team moms work throughout the season and how little respect they are given, even kept out of hospitality rooms or made to feel uncomfortable in them. Alot of the times head coaches delegate most of the work to the Moms other than coaching. They are not given respect on the floor, or from the "good ole boys" club of coaches. Team Mom's know their wrestling guys and work hard all year long. Let's give them a hand!!!!

I agree there should have been a hospitality room for the coaches at State, while we are on the subject though I would like to mention, how hard our team moms work throughout the season and how little respect they are given, even kept out of hospitality rooms or made to feel uncomfortable in them. Alot of the times head coaches delegate most of the work to the Moms other than coaching. They are not given respect on the floor, or from the "good ole boys" club of coaches. Team Mom's know their wrestling guys and work hard all year long. Let's give them a hand!!!!

No doubt on the team moms!!  Behind any good team is a good team mom.  Most coaches can't wipe their own butts without them.  There are 2 that have always stood out in my mind as the best - Lori Osbourne (Ryle) & Barb Wolnitzek (Conner).  These 2 should start up a team mom boot camp.  They don't play around!

No doubt on the team moms!!  Behind any good team is a good team mom.  Most coaches can't wipe their own butts without them.  There are 2 that have always stood out in my mind as the best - Lori Osbourne (Ryle) & Barb Wolnitzek (Conner).  These 2 should start up a team mom boot camp.  They don't play around!

Right on, I know both of them and I would agree they are 2 of the very best.

There was some kind of hospitality room between the 2 gyms. Thats where I found my 6 yr old eating!

Dear D. W.

I disagree with the fact you think your comment may be a "LITTLE PETTY". I think it is VERY PETTY. If this is the only complaint you have then I consider it a compliment. We had over 130 volunteers from Fern Creek working the tournament plus another 30- 40 workers from Larue, North Hardin, Ryle, Johnson Central, South Oldham, River City, and one coach from Ryle that helped officiate until all officials arrived. It is not about SAVING money. Most of the food provided in the hospitality room is furnished by the parents. We staffed the hospitality room to accommodate the workers and officials. If we would have allowed for coaches (an additional 200 people) we would have needed more workers to staff the room and a larger room. I felt it was more important to concentrate the workforce on the mats and ensure the kids got the attention. If you were not WAITED ON or did not get a FREE COKE or HOT DOG but your kids were treated fairly then that was a good day in my book.

I do hope you have the opportunity to host a tournament of this magnitude (which you obviosly have not) so you can provide an elaborate spread for the "COACHES".  I just hope you put as much emphasis on the kids because believe it or not, this tournament was not about the coaches.

LOL

Coach Greg

Dear D. W.

I disagree with the fact you think your comment may be a "LITTLE PETTY". I think it is VERY PETTY. If this is the only complaint you have then I consider it a compliment. We had over 130 volunteers from Fern Creek working the tournament plus another 30- 40 workers from Larue, North Hardin, Ryle, Johnson Central, South Oldham, River City, and one coach from Ryle that helped officiate until all officials arrived. It is not about SAVING money. Most of the food provided in the hospitality room is furnished by the parents. We staffed the hospitality room to accommodate the workers and officials. If we would have allowed for coaches (an additional 200 people) we would have needed more workers to staff the room and a larger room. I felt it was more important to concentrate the workforce on the mats and ensure the kids got the attention. If you were not WAITED ON or did not get a FREE COKE or HOT DOG but your kids were treated fairly then that was a good day in my book.

I do hope you have the opportunity to host a tournament of this magnitude (which you obviosly have not) so you can provide an elaborate spread for the "COACHES".  I just hope you put as much emphasis on the kids because believe it or not, this tournament was not about the coaches.

LOL

Coach Greg

I have to admit the omelet breakfast bar was excellent, I was impressed that all the juices (fresh squeezed) and the gourmet coffee was great.

The prime rib lunch was not bad; especially the horseradish sauce.  Next time they could give more cocktail sauce for those jumbo shrimp  :wink:.  They were the biggest I've ever seen.  :-o

My only request is if we could have had a cold German beer with the lunch :?; but then again that would be a Little petty :evil: I hope all the others that volunteered and officials enjoyed it all. :-D

Thanks Coach Greg for hosting a great event  :-D

It's oh so interesting to hear people complain that never have taken the time to run a tournament of this magnitude. 

Let's see:

650 kids ranging from 38lbs to 240

150 volunteers from all over the state-try coordinating that

200 very anal coaches- I know, I'm one of them

16 Refs that have probably never seen a Youth match much less attempted to referee one

3000 screaming parents-My wife's one of those

But I must agree with has been.  Oh how PRICELESS  a cold german beer would have been.

Awesome job Fern Creek!

Whats even more interesting  is......the best complaint someone has is not getting free food!

L.O.L....now thats funny stuff!

I had a blast and so did our team!

Thanks Fern Creek for taking on a STATE TOURNEY!!

No doubt on the team moms!!  Behind any good team is a good team mom.  Most coaches can't wipe their own butts without them.  There are 2 that have always stood out in my mind as the best - Lori Osbourne (Ryle) & Barb Wolnitzek (Conner).  These 2 should start up a team mom boot camp.  They don't play around!

Oh my-the visual!

Thanks for a great tournament good times great wrestling. Btw the food was good in the hospitality room I put on a striped shirt and snuck in . The german beer was in the red cooler behind the gray cabinet lol.

No doubt on the team moms!!  Behind any good team is a good team mom.  Most coaches can't wipe their own butts without them.  There are 2 that have always stood out in my mind as the best - Lori Osbourne (Ryle) & Barb Wolnitzek (Conner).  These 2 should start up a team mom boot camp.  They don't play around!

Lori Osborne is no doubt the Super Duper Mom of the decade.  I had Lori make me look good for over 4 years while I coached the Raider Youth program.  I must salute Lori and thank her for cleaning my posterior.  Thanks Lori.  I didn't even know you were there. :-D

On tourney i have been to, from regular season to state that didn't have a hospitality room for coaches.  But thats ok, they are the ones guiding and training your kids to be better people one day.  no big deal.

No doubt on the team moms!!  Behind any good team is a good team mom.  Most coaches can't wipe their own butts without them.  There are 2 that have always stood out in my mind as the best - Lori Osbourne (Ryle) & Barb Wolnitzek (Conner).  These 2 should start up a team mom boot camp.  They don't play around!

I have to agree.  Barb is a great team mom.  She loves all of those kids and cheers for each of them.  We are lucky to have her..

I agree with the first post but it could have been said differently.  Great job of organizing the event and the schedule went very smoothly.  I didn't have any negative experiences with the police officers, they were trying to enforce the rules of everyone staying in the stands.  I understand that moms are excited but they can be excited from the stands.  In fact I told one officer that he should be a little more assertive.

There should have been a hospitality room.  Most of these coaches do not get paid and to expecting them to pay for their own food while providing a service to our youth is not right.  After all there was like a $100 team fee, $10 per wrestler, money from admissions and then concessions as well.  I understand that it would have taken a much bigger effort on the parents part but Fern Creek could have ordered the big Subway sandwiches for the coaches to split with all the money they earned.  If it still was a problem then team coolers should have been allowed because this forced us to pay the trumped up charges of the concession stand.

Please do not take this as an attack of the Fern Creek program or the tournament but rather constructive criticism on how to make it better next year.  I'm sure if my club was the host then we would have made some mistakes too.

I have to agree with those thoughts.  Great job on the tourney running smoothly, especially when you take into account the number of matches that were wrestled that day.  I think things went according to plan and were very efficient. 

However, the lack of a hospitality room for coaches was very disappointing.  I don't think it would have taken much to insure that coaches were able to get a drink and a quick bite of anything, a ham sandwich would have been fine.  The lines at the concession were generally so long that coaches wouldn't be able to wait if they had multiple kids wrestling in that time frame. Part of the responsibility of running a tourney, especially one of that magnitude, is to provide the coaches with someplace to grab a beverage without the hassle of waiting in line for 5 or 10 minutes.  I know from talking to some of the fern creek parents that they were a little embarrassed about not being able to provide a hospitality room for the coaches.  With the amount of revenue generated, it should not have been unreasonable to feed  that many people.

Having said that, i still appreciate all the work and effort that went into making that tournament run smoothly.  It was a great day of wrestling and Kentucky wrestlers are definitely on the way up.

It seems to me that every tournament I have been to or coached at has ahad a hospitality room, or at least comped coaches at the concession stand.  This seems stingy.

MOST tournaments don't have around 200 coaches to accommodate.  The problem with setting up a hospitality room for a youth event, in my opinion, is that everyone becomes a coach on that day.  Uncle Larry yells "half" from the corner for one match then thinks he deserves a ham sandwich.  People often take advantage of hospitality rooms and I think thats probably why there is not much of one at the High School State Tournament.  Kids and coaches were in and out of there this weekend.  The first session was over by 10-10:30 and awards were given out by 11:45.  The next session started at around 12 and was over by 4.  I don't think you can take anything away from Greg and Thomas and all of the parents that put a lot of time and energy in to hosting this tournament because you guys didn't get a bottled water and some meatballs.

Good point Coach.

Who complains about hopitality rooms? :-D

I remember two years ago when middle school state's hospitality room was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G

MOST tournaments don't have around 200 coaches to accommodate.  The problem with setting up a hospitality room for a youth event, in my opinion, is that everyone becomes a coach on that day.  Uncle Larry yells "half" from the corner for one match then thinks he deserves a ham sandwich.  People often take advantage of hospitality rooms and I think thats probably why there is not much of one at the High School State Tournament.  Kids and coaches were in and out of there this weekend.  The first session was over by 10-10:30 and awards were given out by 11:45.  The next session started at around 12 and was over by 4.  I don't think you can take anything away from Greg and Thomas and all of the parents that put a lot of time and energy in to hosting this tournament because you guys didn't get a bottled water and some meatballs.

Coach, please don't take this as an insult.  But more of another tip (that you probably don't want).  But to avoid people taking advantage of the hospitality room, give each team a set number of tickets...or distribute wrist bands, etc.  Something that can not be reused.  At m.s. state a few years ago - as Danger pointed out - Central Hardin put on a heck of a spread.  The m.s. association helped pay for subway, and some donuts and other stuff.  We seen coaches sharing their name tags with parents...etc.  That sort of thing is frustrating, but it's a long day and coaches usually can't leave.  A hospitality room is a very nice touch if it can be pulled off.  Even pizza, etc.

I know exactly how you feel about getting online and seeing even 1 small criticism with all the hard work you put into this mammoth event.  So I'm not criticizing, just giving you an idea how to maybe address it in the future.  Like you said, if the only complaint people have about your tourney is not getting water and a hot dog, you did an excellent job.  Great job, I've talked to 2 or 3 people who've said you guys did a great job.

Obviously you dont go to our regular season tournament that we hold every year. We have always provided a hospitality room........not to mention one that was catered by the Hyatt up until this year. This was not just any tournament it was State and larger than any tournament than any other school has held. Granted the Middle School may have provided a bit to eat, but they didnt have 700+ kids in their tournament either.

I started to comment right after DW started this but decided to sit back and read what others had to say. It is ashame that so many people are more worried about having something to eat than the overall picture of how the tournament went.  I for one worked my butt off all day long (several days prior as well) and so did the coaches, and volunteers that we had. We did provide for those teams that provided table workers,out of our own pockets; so apparently those who did not recieve anything are the ones who who had it made. You got to enjoy the day coaching your kids and walking around and socialiizing. I as so busy at times that I didnt get to see all of my sons matches, nor more than hallf of our team. So I should be the one complaining because I am the one that lost out. But that is the sacrifice that we must make in order to make everyone like you happy. We all agreed that we are here for the kids, not to cater to the coaches, and parents. Wake up people and take a look at the overall picture..........

We also could have charged the coaches admission, which we didnt and we kept the price down. I have been to many tournaments this year where the cost was over $7 and not even close to this event. The cost should have been $10.00 per admission..........we even gave the little ones a break. So if it was too much to spend $5.00 for a drink and hotdog  (actually $3.50) then I am sorry that we deprived you.

The money that we raised is not as ellaborate as everyone seems to think either, there are so many unseen bills that must be paid and the little that is gained from any event goes back into the program only to strength it............isn't that what its all about?..........building on the futures for our kids?.......

I am more hurt than angry about all these complaints..........our program is all about kids and helping to mold them into successful human beings.............Wrestling is the most disciplined sport there is and what one learns from it will help them succeed in life............so dont put down the ones that give it their all to make Wrestling a success in Kentucky...............We are proud of our program and coaches and dont like anyone criticizing us just because they didnt get fed..............

now that I got that all off my chest..............I feel better and will not let anyone bring me down...............This weekend was for the kids not the coaches and nothing will change that

Good luck to the future State hosts..........we hope you will do as well as we did :-D

Obviously you dont go to our regular season tournament that we hold every year. We have always provided a hospitality room........not to mention one that was catered by the Hyatt up until this year. This was not just any tournament it was State and larger than any tournament than any other school has held. Granted the Middle School may have provided a bit to eat, but they didnt have 700+ kids in their tournament either.

LCwres08, I hope your response was not towards my post.  I was simply trying to offer my unsolicited advice, not to criticize.  Sorry if you were offended.  Honestly, most of the posts on this thread don't really seem overly critical towards Fern Creek.  I realize it's a bigger event than the m.s. state with 700+ kids.  I still say it could be done if someone thinks it's worthwhile to have some sort of hospitality room.  I'd guess that 95% of the coaches don't even think about a hospitality room until they are there and they are surprised to see one.  It's not that big of a deal really.  Most of these posts end with "great job on a well ran tournament"

btw - i did manage to be at the fern creek m.s. tourney a few times when it was catered by the Hyatt regency, it was sensational.  Now THAT hospitality room was looked forward to!

Obviously you dont go to our regular season tournament that we hold every year. We have always provided a hospitality room........not to mention one that was catered by the Hyatt up until this year. This was not just any tournament it was State and larger than any tournament than any other school has held. Granted the Middle School may have provided a bit to eat, but they didnt have 700+ kids in their tournament either.

I started to comment right after DW started this but decided to sit back and read what others had to say. It is ashame that so many people are more worried about having something to eat than the overall picture of how the tournament went.  I for one worked my butt off all day long (several days prior as well) and so did the coaches, and volunteers that we had. We did provide for those teams that provided table workers,out of our own pockets; so apparently those who did not recieve anything are the ones who who had it made. You got to enjoy the day coaching your kids and walking around and socialiizing. I as so busy at times that I didnt get to see all of my sons matches, nor more than hallf of our team. So I should be the one complaining because I am the one that lost out. But that is the sacrifice that we must make in order to make everyone like you happy. We all agreed that we are here for the kids, not to cater to the coaches, and parents. Wake up people and take a look at the overall picture..........

We also could have charged the coaches admission, which we didnt and we kept the price down. I have been to many tournaments this year where the cost was over $7 and not even close to this event. The cost should have been $10.00 per admission..........we even gave the little ones a break. So if it was too much to spend $5.00 for a drink and hotdog  (actually $3.50) then I am sorry that we deprived you.

The money that we raised is not as ellaborate as everyone seems to think either, there are so many unseen bills that must be paid and the little that is gained from any event goes back into the program only to strength it............isn't that what its all about?..........building on the futures for our kids?.......

I am more hurt than angry about all these complaints..........our program is all about kids and helping to mold them into successful human beings.............Wrestling is the most disciplined sport there is and what one learns from it will help them succeed in life............so dont put down the ones that give it their all to make Wrestling a success in Kentucky...............We are proud of our program and coaches and dont like anyone criticizing us just because they didnt get fed..............

now that I got that all off my chest..............I feel better and will not let anyone bring me down...............This weekend was for the kids not the coaches and nothing will change that

Good luck to the future State hosts..........we hope you will do as well as we did :-D

I look at all this nonsense concerning the Hospitality room as the greatest compliment Fern Creek can receive.  If the next time I host, this is the biggest gripe, I will definitely consider the tournament a GREAT SUCCESS.

I look at all this nonsense concerning the Hospitality room as the greatest compliment Fern Creek can receive.  If the next time I host, this is the biggest gripe, I will definitely consider the tournament a GREAT SUCCESS.

I couldn't agree with you more.  Great job Fern Creek!  People need to spend their time more wisely talking about real issues like how the scoring got so botched.  Or how the brackets get seeded at state.  My son was in a split bracket at state and I asked his coach who decides which kids are on what side and he could not tell me.  Does anyone know how that's decided?  I would think all coaches should know by what criteria are the kids split up. 

I agree with stanmms.  Maybe more focus should be put on scoring and not eating.

IT'S FAIRLY OBVIOUS THAT THIS THREAD HAS STRUCK A NERVE WITH ALOT OF YOU. THERE WERE NO ATTACKS MADE BY ME ON FC, FC MOMS AND DADS, OR ANYONE ELSE FOR THAT MATTER. I STARTED THIS POST BY GIVING YOU GUYS CREDIT AND THEN BY VOICING MY OPINION, YOU ALL DECIDED TO GET ANGRY. YOU HAVE TO TAKE THE NEG. COMMENTS WITH THE GOOD ONES. I AGREE THAT YOU GUYS RAN A GOOD TOURN., AS STATED IN MY FIRST POST. AND FOR THAT MATTER, I GUESS OVERALL NOT HAVING A HOSP. ROOM FOR COACHES ISN'T THAT BIG OF A DEAL. BUT IF I CAN ASK YOU TO SWITCH PLACES WITH ME FOR A MOMENT, I BELIEVE THAT YOU MIGHT SEE THINGS IN A LITTLE DIFFERENT LIGHT. I AGREE, IT IS ALL ABOUT THE KIDS, AT THE TIME IT JUST SEEMED TO BE ALL ABOUT FC. TO ALL THOSE OFFENDED (COACH GREG, FC MOMS AND DADS, ETC.) I APOLOGIZE.

Kids were split by age and weight. From there it is completely a blind draw. We did try to separate kids that were on the same team and place them in a different bracket from one another in the same weight class. Or if they were in the same bracket we moved them to the top and bottom so the would not face each other until the finals. But there was absolutely no SEEDING that took place. There is not enough history at this level to determine skill on 90% of the kids in the tournament. For the most part it worked pretty good with some good finals matches. There was not a lot of changes at the coaches meeting and some late changes were made because some coaches were not at the meeting. For the most part the coaches did a good job of reviewing their rosters.

Team scoring was based on top 4 finishers from each weight class. Unless you had kids from the same team finishing in the top 4. In that case you only got points for the highest scorer. If a kid did not wrestle due to no one in his weight class he was awarded a 1st place medal but did not score team points. NONE of this was our idea so don't shoot the messenger!! I was against team scoring period. The above method was developed to TRY and level the playing field for all teams. We obviously need to make some changes at the next meeting. This was an administrative NIGHTMARE to track and unfortunately was calculated in haste and incorrectly which had an adverse effect on 1st and 2nd.

My suggestion: A team can submit 20 wrestlers as scorers (as long as they are not in the same weight class). Only those wrestlers can score points. They can submit 60 kids to the tournament but the other 40 do not score team points (same as middle school duplicates). This would give smaller schools with good wrestler a chance to compete and you get a better idea of which school has the best wrestlers based on talent not numbers. The current system allows kids in 2,3,and 4 man round robins to place 2 - 4 and never win a match! Anyway you try to develop a TEAM scoring concept with an open non-qualifiying tournament it will be difficult to make it fair for everyone. I am just glad I don't have to worry about this type of scoring ever again!!

One final comment, someone made the statement that their child was not happy because he felt he was a "Paper Champion". I can't imagine an 8 year old figuring that out by his self. I tend to believe there was a parent that might have put that thought in his head. VERY UNFORTUNATE to ruin something special to 8 year old. He will have enough disappointment in life to come. Let them enjoy the day!

Congrats to Fern Creek!

Sounds to me like you hosted the largest wrestling tournament in the state of Kentucky.

Was this also the largest tournament in KY history?

I cant think of a KY tourney in the last 10 yrs with as many wrestlers.

As far as those comments on the security, I say its about time a host arranged security to keep control of rabid parents. Parents if you cant watch from the stands and control yourself you should stay home.

To be perfectly honest, I got caught up in the wrestling and keeping up with kids and didn't even realize there wasn't a fabulous hospitality room (which I anticipated based on the middle school tournament).  I did run out for a break between the sessions and grabbed a bite to eat (on my own dime) and didn't give it a second thought.  I agree something could have been provided, BUT, unless a lot of resources were dedicated to it there is no guarantee that those who are most concerned with it would have made it to the room in time to get anything given the numbers.  As has already been mentioned, at these type of events you have way too many coaches coming out of the woodwork.

By the way, it was a great tournament.  No complaints from me.

The issue about the number of coaches can be solved easily with a system that was already in place.  Only wrestlers and coaches (with a specific # of coaches passes provided in the form of wristbands) are allowed to stand on the gymnasium floor.  This is how the police officers should have handled these issues.  Either the parents stay in the stands or they are removed, plain and simple.  Adults sometimes act like children, even parents on my own team, and they should be escorted out if they cannot understand and abide by the rules.  The coaches are therefore decided before the meet and the amount of food could be estimated.  The # of coaches passes woud want to stay low, at maybe 3 or 4 at the state tourney and at 2 or 3 at regular season tourneys.