I just recently attended the Gracie Nationals this past weekend and it was a little bit disorganized. To start off, I would like to go over the positive things that did take place.
1. Rose Gracie is a wonderful person and I saw her handle people in a kind and friendly manner in different situations.
2. There were 8 mats with plenty of space all around to view the matches from all sides.
3. Even with only two people in a division, they DID honor the 2 match guarantee that was posted on their website, even though they said that if there was only 2 in a division, there would not be able to honor the 2 match guarantee.
4. They did attempt to keep a positive environment around the tournament area even when some coaches, parents and contestants were less than postive(e.g. profanity, lack of sportsmanship
5. It was next to the Fitness Expo, so during down time(a lot of it before things got started), you could keep yourself busy and get some free stuff.
Now for what they need to fix. If you are reading this and it offends you, ask other coaches, parents, etc., if they agree, then fix it. You shouldn't be getting your feelings hurt by this wannabe blog warrior. If you do get your feelings hurt by me, you got issues. Just fix it. Simple enough?
1. It was Gracie Nationals, right? Nationals, can we agree on that? Yes??? Good. Now where were the scoreboards and time clocks???? 8 mats, nice;,8 tables, good; , ZERO scoreboards/clocks. Yes, ZERO. Nada. You gotta figure for the price of pre-registration for gi and no gi kids, $90 and $120 for after January 14th, they could "rent" some scoreboards/clocks? Maybe like they ones used at IBJFF tournaments? I think the main guy is a family member, Carlos Gracie, Jr.
2. Speakers are nice, but it doesn't help when you are right next to an arm wrestling championships which was MC'd by somebody with a louder voice than the MC of the Gracie Nationals for the past two days. It would have been nice to hear contestants names easily instead of hearing commentary on how Shawne Merriman is doing against Joe Blow at the arm wrestling stand on their stage.
3. The medals, don't you think any medal for a Gracie Nationals/Kid's World that has a relative, Renzo Gracie(who never backed down from ANY challenge), on it deserves to be on something better than a medal that about the size of those old milk cap tops? I understand this is a for profit event, but I'm sure you have enough connections to get a hook up on some decent medals. Key word here, decent, for what the kids are fighting for.
4. Venue. You might have been able to make more money holding this event at a local high school. Better seating, more money for renting clocks/scoreboards, etc.
5. Wristbands. I can't believe there were kids fighting with them on. I thought referees are supposed to look out for the welfare of the competitors? All it takes is on slice across the eyes and...retina damage? LAWSUIT???? Rose, you have better things to do with your time and most importantly, money, than to fight a lawsuit. Also, I saw parents checking in their kids and the people behind the registration desk would ask, on Sunday, where's there wristband from Saturday. What? I'm not having my kid compete with a wristband on to provide an extra handle during the match for the other kid. They aren't newborns. We take them off before the the match for safety reasons.
6. Seating. One side bleachers, otherside, just 2 rows of chairs. Would have been better to hold it at a high school gym.
7. Coaching: If your name was Eddie Bravo or you were wearing a referee shirt, but not refereeing the match in front of you, it was OK to coach matside even though it was made clear many times that it wasn't allowed nor were you supposed to be matside. Even referees who were refereeing a match, didn't have the professionalism to tell their "friends" to stop or get back over the fence.
8. Matches. One of my friend's kid's matches were stopped halfway through the bracket, because the referee was moved to the next mat, but I could clearly see that there were a few guys in red shirts that were shooting the breeze on the other side oblivious to the volunteers who were waiting for direction and didn't have any. It took a kid who was volunteering to go to the other side of the mat and ask the 3 referees if one of them could referee the mat that was stopped halfway through the bracket. The 3 refs looked at each other to see who was going to do it and I thought it was going to come down to paper, rock, scissors, because none of them looked like they wanted to get up.
That's it for now. I realize none of us are perfect, but this wasn't the first time this tournament was being held. Please feel free to give honest insight into how you felt about or what you saw at the tournament. Cuss me out, kick my butt, etc., won't make the tournament any better. Coaches and parents paid good money to go to this tournament, we all expect a decent product. I said decent, not superior, but if you are going to attach your family name to it, I'm sure the Gracie family would want an even they could be proud of.
Please feel free to add any insights to other tournaments that you have been to I'll make sure I pass the link to this site to the organizers so that they can better their tournaments. It will benefit everybody.
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