Youth State Tournament in Sioux Falls
Quote from jobro04 on March 22, 2022, 9:58 amFirst off I want to say good luck to all the wrestlers competing this weekend. Now let’s talk about the tournament itself. For all the people who attended last time it was in Sioux Falls I’m sure you remember there was some things that could have been improved upon. Like the hour plus long waits at concession stands. Also the fact they ran out of stuff at the concession stands. Also why do we not get separate sessions like the high school tournament? I asked Sioux Empire Wrestling about these things. I first asked these questions on one of their posts on Facebook 3 different times. Instead of answering my questions they just deleted my comments. I then sent them a message on messenger and asked why my comments were being deleted and then asked my questions again hoping I would get an answer. I was told that they only allow positive comments on their posts. Then I was told I shouldn’t be asking questions because they are volunteers. They also told me I was the only person who has questions like this. That seems very unlikely. So I have received no answers and have been blocked from their Facebook page and messenger. They have had 4 years to figure it out so let’s all hope they get it right this time. Now let’s talk about the venue. They sure don’t make it very family friendly. No separate sessions are going to make for an extremely long day on Saturday. Also for families with young children they don’t allow diaper bags. You get one clear plastic bag for each ticket purchased. So basically you will have to purchase a ticket for your baby to be able to bring in items for them. Big youth tournaments have turned into a money grab. I have talked to many people who have said they would rather drive all the way across the state to Rapid City again because of how well the tournament was run and how the venue treated athletes and families. Anyone else have thoughts on this?
First off I want to say good luck to all the wrestlers competing this weekend. Now let’s talk about the tournament itself. For all the people who attended last time it was in Sioux Falls I’m sure you remember there was some things that could have been improved upon. Like the hour plus long waits at concession stands. Also the fact they ran out of stuff at the concession stands. Also why do we not get separate sessions like the high school tournament? I asked Sioux Empire Wrestling about these things. I first asked these questions on one of their posts on Facebook 3 different times. Instead of answering my questions they just deleted my comments. I then sent them a message on messenger and asked why my comments were being deleted and then asked my questions again hoping I would get an answer. I was told that they only allow positive comments on their posts. Then I was told I shouldn’t be asking questions because they are volunteers. They also told me I was the only person who has questions like this. That seems very unlikely. So I have received no answers and have been blocked from their Facebook page and messenger. They have had 4 years to figure it out so let’s all hope they get it right this time. Now let’s talk about the venue. They sure don’t make it very family friendly. No separate sessions are going to make for an extremely long day on Saturday. Also for families with young children they don’t allow diaper bags. You get one clear plastic bag for each ticket purchased. So basically you will have to purchase a ticket for your baby to be able to bring in items for them. Big youth tournaments have turned into a money grab. I have talked to many people who have said they would rather drive all the way across the state to Rapid City again because of how well the tournament was run and how the venue treated athletes and families. Anyone else have thoughts on this?
Quote from Mustangs on March 22, 2022, 4:11 pmI expect a completely different tournament this time. 1) it is the Denny. 2) last time the facility was dealing with 2 large events at the same time -- NCAA regional hockey tournament and the Wrestling tournament.
I expect a completely different tournament this time. 1) it is the Denny. 2) last time the facility was dealing with 2 large events at the same time -- NCAA regional hockey tournament and the Wrestling tournament.
Quote from Wendy Knittel on March 28, 2022, 9:06 amThis was the worse experience ever!! There was huge lines everywhere!! This was not for kids!! The workers were rude and down right mean to the kids just asking questions! Fastest way to kill a wrestling program is to have a venue that doesn't care about children!!
Registration tables lines were on top of each other and ran into the weigh in lines so no one knew what line was what! It is such a big venue why not spread it out so there was room for lines? Lines and money seemed to be the theme! Not kids and wrestling!
Since we stood in lines forever you could sit and take in all the chaos we watched a mom stand and try to point to where her 5 year old son should go when there was a sea of wrestlers and a big burly guy yell at her you don't have a band you can't be here! Really like she was going to sneak out into the mat to "coach". You could tell the little boy was overwhelmed and scared. That is not the type of experience that is going to keep wrestlers and parents!! Also when you are paying $6 for a pop and $22 for a burger after standing in line for 30+ minutes you would think the bathrooms could be clean and have toilet paper and paper towels in them!!
The nicest people there were the employees directing traffic in the cold! They were smiling and nice when you asked them questions! I am a proud wrestling mom and have been attending these types of events for 18+ years and I have never seen such a horrible venue and overall [spoiler title=""][/spoiler]experience!!
This was the worse experience ever!! There was huge lines everywhere!! This was not for kids!! The workers were rude and down right mean to the kids just asking questions! Fastest way to kill a wrestling program is to have a venue that doesn't care about children!!
Registration tables lines were on top of each other and ran into the weigh in lines so no one knew what line was what! It is such a big venue why not spread it out so there was room for lines? Lines and money seemed to be the theme! Not kids and wrestling!
Since we stood in lines forever you could sit and take in all the chaos we watched a mom stand and try to point to where her 5 year old son should go when there was a sea of wrestlers and a big burly guy yell at her you don't have a band you can't be here! Really like she was going to sneak out into the mat to "coach". You could tell the little boy was overwhelmed and scared. That is not the type of experience that is going to keep wrestlers and parents!! Also when you are paying $6 for a pop and $22 for a burger after standing in line for 30+ minutes you would think the bathrooms could be clean and have toilet paper and paper towels in them!!
The nicest people there were the employees directing traffic in the cold! They were smiling and nice when you asked them questions! I am a proud wrestling mom and have been attending these types of events for 18+ years and I have never seen such a horrible venue and overall
Quote from SDGopher on March 28, 2022, 9:23 amQuote from Wendy Knittel on March 28, 2022, 9:06 amThis was the worse experience ever!! There was huge lines everywhere!! This was not for kids!! The workers were rude and down right mean to the kids just asking questions! Fastest way to kill a wrestling program is to have a venue that doesn't care about children!!
Registration tables lines were on top of each other and ran into the weigh in lines so no one knew what line was what! It is such a big venue why not spread it out so there was room for lines? Lines and money seemed to be the theme! Not kids and wrestling!
Since we stood in lines forever you could sit and take in all the chaos we watched a mom stand and try to point to where her 5 year old son should go when there was a sea of wrestlers and a big burly guy yell at her you don't have a band you can't be here! Really like she was going to sneak out into the mat to "coach". You could tell the little boy was overwhelmed and scared. That is not the type of experience that is going to keep wrestlers and parents!! Also when you are paying $6 for a pop and $22 for a burger after standing in line for 30+ minutes you would think the bathrooms could be clean and have toilet paper and paper towels in them!!
The nicest people there were the employees directing traffic in the cold! They were smiling and nice when you asked them questions! I am a proud wrestling mom and have been attending these types of events for 18+ years and I have never seen such a horrible venue and overall [spoiler title=""][/spoiler]experience!!
I have to disagree.
There are lots of people there, expect a line. Have you ever been to a concert? There will be lines. Deal with it or plan ahead.
Registrations and weigh-ins went smoothly for us. Registered, coaches band, weigh-in, and tickets for the family in under an hour. The lines were steadily moving the entire time and gave me a chance to chat with other parents.
I love how strict they were with the coaching bands. Made navigating much smoother. Nothing is worse than at districts and regions when you have tons of parents sitting mat-side disrupting the view of others.
I noticed there were plenty of volunteer opportunities available. Did you help out? Or just want to come on here and complain without a solution.
Quote from Wendy Knittel on March 28, 2022, 9:06 amThis was the worse experience ever!! There was huge lines everywhere!! This was not for kids!! The workers were rude and down right mean to the kids just asking questions! Fastest way to kill a wrestling program is to have a venue that doesn't care about children!!
Registration tables lines were on top of each other and ran into the weigh in lines so no one knew what line was what! It is such a big venue why not spread it out so there was room for lines? Lines and money seemed to be the theme! Not kids and wrestling!
Since we stood in lines forever you could sit and take in all the chaos we watched a mom stand and try to point to where her 5 year old son should go when there was a sea of wrestlers and a big burly guy yell at her you don't have a band you can't be here! Really like she was going to sneak out into the mat to "coach". You could tell the little boy was overwhelmed and scared. That is not the type of experience that is going to keep wrestlers and parents!! Also when you are paying $6 for a pop and $22 for a burger after standing in line for 30+ minutes you would think the bathrooms could be clean and have toilet paper and paper towels in them!!
The nicest people there were the employees directing traffic in the cold! They were smiling and nice when you asked them questions! I am a proud wrestling mom and have been attending these types of events for 18+ years and I have never seen such a horrible venue and overall
experience!!Spoiler
I have to disagree.
There are lots of people there, expect a line. Have you ever been to a concert? There will be lines. Deal with it or plan ahead.
Registrations and weigh-ins went smoothly for us. Registered, coaches band, weigh-in, and tickets for the family in under an hour. The lines were steadily moving the entire time and gave me a chance to chat with other parents.
I love how strict they were with the coaching bands. Made navigating much smoother. Nothing is worse than at districts and regions when you have tons of parents sitting mat-side disrupting the view of others.
I noticed there were plenty of volunteer opportunities available. Did you help out? Or just want to come on here and complain without a solution.
Quote from pick6 on March 28, 2022, 12:06 pmOverall SF you did a great job this weekend. If you have never ran a tournament you have not clue what all it entails. Registration and getting tickets was easy to do ( the wait time is always going to be a issue when your talking about over 1,000 wrestlers). Getting in to the Denny in the morning was fine they got people in the building at a timely manner. Seating was even better then the HS try. And as a coach I appreciated them being strict getting to the mats. At the state tournament not having the large mass of people on the floor getting in the way of the wrestlers was nice. The best thing that I think was helpful was each mat was wrestled in a circle. I know they were smaller but for the tots- novice that was the right amount of area to wrestle in. And how quickly they got through the placings on Sunday was awesome!! Overall a much better tournament then the last time it was in SF.
Overall SF you did a great job this weekend. If you have never ran a tournament you have not clue what all it entails. Registration and getting tickets was easy to do ( the wait time is always going to be a issue when your talking about over 1,000 wrestlers). Getting in to the Denny in the morning was fine they got people in the building at a timely manner. Seating was even better then the HS try. And as a coach I appreciated them being strict getting to the mats. At the state tournament not having the large mass of people on the floor getting in the way of the wrestlers was nice. The best thing that I think was helpful was each mat was wrestled in a circle. I know they were smaller but for the tots- novice that was the right amount of area to wrestle in. And how quickly they got through the placings on Sunday was awesome!! Overall a much better tournament then the last time it was in SF.
Quote from BUCK on March 31, 2022, 5:13 pmMost of the workers, in green shirts, were helpful. Some of them would even laugh and make statements like, "We're sorry, this is such a shit show." However, there was a big handful that were rude and condescending. Many coaches were frustrated. Sioux Empire Wrestling had no problem handing out hundreds of green bands at $60 a pop. But once you had that coaches band on, green shirts were constantly approaching and telling coaches to "move it a long", or " You need to get out of here if your wrestler isn't on deck." That's just not realistic. One came up and put both his hands on me and said, "You can't just stand here, get moving." We have clubs with 30 kids qualified. Some of these kids are only 4 years old. Their parents are spread out across the arena. It takes a handful of coaches to ensure the kids well-being. Rules state each kid gets two coaches. Other than a handful of green shirts pissing off all the coaches I had a pretty good time. Hell 90% of us coaches are volunteers.
Most of the workers, in green shirts, were helpful. Some of them would even laugh and make statements like, "We're sorry, this is such a shit show." However, there was a big handful that were rude and condescending. Many coaches were frustrated. Sioux Empire Wrestling had no problem handing out hundreds of green bands at $60 a pop. But once you had that coaches band on, green shirts were constantly approaching and telling coaches to "move it a long", or " You need to get out of here if your wrestler isn't on deck." That's just not realistic. One came up and put both his hands on me and said, "You can't just stand here, get moving." We have clubs with 30 kids qualified. Some of these kids are only 4 years old. Their parents are spread out across the arena. It takes a handful of coaches to ensure the kids well-being. Rules state each kid gets two coaches. Other than a handful of green shirts pissing off all the coaches I had a pretty good time. Hell 90% of us coaches are volunteers.
Quote from BUCK on March 31, 2022, 5:23 pmQuote from SDGopher on March 28, 2022, 9:23 amQuote from Wendy Knittel on March 28, 2022, 9:06 amThis was the worse experience ever!! There was huge lines everywhere!! This was not for kids!! The workers were rude and down right mean to the kids just asking questions! Fastest way to kill a wrestling program is to have a venue that doesn't care about children!!
Registration tables lines were on top of each other and ran into the weigh in lines so no one knew what line was what! It is such a big venue why not spread it out so there was room for lines? Lines and money seemed to be the theme! Not kids and wrestling!
Since we stood in lines forever you could sit and take in all the chaos we watched a mom stand and try to point to where her 5 year old son should go when there was a sea of wrestlers and a big burly guy yell at her you don't have a band you can't be here! Really like she was going to sneak out into the mat to "coach". You could tell the little boy was overwhelmed and scared. That is not the type of experience that is going to keep wrestlers and parents!! Also when you are paying $6 for a pop and $22 for a burger after standing in line for 30+ minutes you would think the bathrooms could be clean and have toilet paper and paper towels in them!!
The nicest people there were the employees directing traffic in the cold! They were smiling and nice when you asked them questions! I am a proud wrestling mom and have been attending these types of events for 18+ years and I have never seen such a horrible venue and overall [spoiler title=""][/spoiler]experience!!
I have to disagree.
There are lots of people there, expect a line. Have you ever been to a concert? There will be lines. Deal with it or plan ahead.
Registrations and weigh-ins went smoothly for us. Registered, coaches band, weigh-in, and tickets for the family in under an hour. The lines were steadily moving the entire time and gave me a chance to chat with other parents.
I love how strict they were with the coaching bands. Made navigating much smoother. Nothing is worse than at districts and regions when you have tons of parents sitting mat-side disrupting the view of others.
I noticed there were plenty of volunteer opportunities available. Did you help out? Or just want to come on here and complain without a solution.
You're comparing it to Regions/Districts (Small gyms where the bleachers are at mat-level.) So yes, at district/regions people at mat-side could disrupt the view of others. This event was in an arena. Spectators were, up above, looking down. Coaches weren't disrupting anyone's view, they're simply trying to help kids get to the match and perform their best. Also as far as "volunteer opportunities available"; Us coaches are volunteers, in fact we're a step up because we pay the $60 band to volunteer. The lady has the right to complain when she's a customer.
Quote from SDGopher on March 28, 2022, 9:23 amQuote from Wendy Knittel on March 28, 2022, 9:06 amThis was the worse experience ever!! There was huge lines everywhere!! This was not for kids!! The workers were rude and down right mean to the kids just asking questions! Fastest way to kill a wrestling program is to have a venue that doesn't care about children!!
Registration tables lines were on top of each other and ran into the weigh in lines so no one knew what line was what! It is such a big venue why not spread it out so there was room for lines? Lines and money seemed to be the theme! Not kids and wrestling!
Since we stood in lines forever you could sit and take in all the chaos we watched a mom stand and try to point to where her 5 year old son should go when there was a sea of wrestlers and a big burly guy yell at her you don't have a band you can't be here! Really like she was going to sneak out into the mat to "coach". You could tell the little boy was overwhelmed and scared. That is not the type of experience that is going to keep wrestlers and parents!! Also when you are paying $6 for a pop and $22 for a burger after standing in line for 30+ minutes you would think the bathrooms could be clean and have toilet paper and paper towels in them!!
The nicest people there were the employees directing traffic in the cold! They were smiling and nice when you asked them questions! I am a proud wrestling mom and have been attending these types of events for 18+ years and I have never seen such a horrible venue and overall
experience!!SpoilerI have to disagree.
There are lots of people there, expect a line. Have you ever been to a concert? There will be lines. Deal with it or plan ahead.
Registrations and weigh-ins went smoothly for us. Registered, coaches band, weigh-in, and tickets for the family in under an hour. The lines were steadily moving the entire time and gave me a chance to chat with other parents.
I love how strict they were with the coaching bands. Made navigating much smoother. Nothing is worse than at districts and regions when you have tons of parents sitting mat-side disrupting the view of others.
I noticed there were plenty of volunteer opportunities available. Did you help out? Or just want to come on here and complain without a solution.
You're comparing it to Regions/Districts (Small gyms where the bleachers are at mat-level.) So yes, at district/regions people at mat-side could disrupt the view of others. This event was in an arena. Spectators were, up above, looking down. Coaches weren't disrupting anyone's view, they're simply trying to help kids get to the match and perform their best. Also as far as "volunteer opportunities available"; Us coaches are volunteers, in fact we're a step up because we pay the $60 band to volunteer. The lady has the right to complain when she's a customer.
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