Wirlwind weekend.

What a great weekend. I started off with a trip to the Varsity in Athens on my way to watch my home team get beat up by a bunch of Gladiators. The beating was no fun, but the varsity was good. Saturday I was up predawn to go help with the registration table for the GNWA Gorilla Open. I saw great scrambles all day long, and enjoyed two high school wrestlers, and one old man winning there brackets. I was going to try and catch a U19 girls soccer game in Snellville at 4:30, but could not pry myself away from the wrestling. I loved the wrestling, but heard there was a game ending fight that I would have enjoyed. I did manage a 7:00pm U16 game in Winder and enjoyed watching several of my girls win a 2-0 game. By noon on Sunday I was on my way back to the Winder field to watch a U17 game. It was a very physical, but well called game in which my girls won 1-0 off of a corner. I had one more girl getting ready to play in the next game, but I had to head to Meadowcreek for the MAWOA officials responsibilities clinic. The clinic was part of our on going training, and that is what this blog is truly about.
Some of our more experienced officials gave presentations on the pre-match duties. Thanks to some help from the peanut gallery, we talked about everything from the time you got your assignments through the actual first whistle. There are plenty of critical things that occur before wrestling starts that can make a match run much smoother, and officials seem more professional.
Having the tournament/match host know you are coming with a short email, or a quick phone call can really relieve some stress for the coach.
Giving an inspection of the wrestling area, insuring safety is a must. 
Giving clear expectations with coaches and wrestlers before the match leads to less confusion, and fewer table visits.
Checking special equipment, and any doctor notes before the wrestlers hit the mat can resolve unwanted situations.
Building a rapport with the table workers before the first whistle can create a feeling of teamwork with you and those volunteers.
Having your uniform ready, and a draw kit for duals helps build confidence with everyone involved.
Practicing your signaling and using all of the correct signals instills confidence from the crowd, coaches, and wrestlers.
Those were just some of the details we talked about, and as you can tell, as officials we respect the hard work that the wrestlers and coaches have put into the sport, and we want to do our best to be prepared as well.
After we concluded that part of our session, we spent some time on  mechanics. Although there was a plan in hand, this portion of the presentation was very open. We discussed positioning, illegal holds, technical violations, fleeing the mat, stalling, and locked hands. Many other topics came up, and we even walked through some of the situations with demonstrations. We were scheduled to be there from 4-6, and it was suddenly 6:30. I was having a great time, and didn't want to leave. There were a couple of coaches in the room, and they stayed and were asking questions. I really enjoyed the extra time that we spent with the guys asking questions, specially the coaches. When the janitor came up to the wrestling room and said he was setting the alarm, I grabbed my things and headed home.
This weekend we will be at Mountainview for the Hardcore championship. It is part of our training. We will be calling matches for free, and being critiqued by our peers. It is a nice switch to be criticized by your peers. You normally spend all of your time being criticized by coaches and parents.