The problem with officiating your own wrestle-offs as a coach is parents complaints that you are being bias. It is even worse if your son is in one of the wrestle-offs. I had both of these problems when I coached, so I had no problem letting Eastsider know that I would be happy to come out and call his final wrestle-offs. The matches were hard fought and although some of them seemed close, most ended by fall. This was Eastsides final wrestle-off. The varsity squad is taking the weekend off, while the JV is competing at the King of the Hill Tournament. Loosing the wrestle-off meant you were going to The Hill. That takes a little of the edge off.
Calling Wrestle-offs is a unique opportunity to do a little extra communicating that you just can not do in a match. For example, I stopped the match due to stalling by the offensive wrestler in the first period of a match. He asked what he needed to do differently so I explained that he was riding legs preventing an escape or reversal, but he was not making any attempts to score. He understood and made an adjustment. He did not ask me in a rude, or disrespectful way, so I did not have a problem answering. In another wrestle-off the offensive wrestler ended up with a figure 4 around the body. When I stopped the match to call it illegal, I asked him if he knew what he had done, and he did. In a tournament I would have blown quickly past these situations unless questioned by the coach for an explanation. It is nice to be able to take a little extra time, and I think the wrestlers appreciate it also.
No comments:
Post a Comment