This started as a blog about training together as a family, in part to inspire other women & families to get involved. As female participation in jiu jitsu has increased, as we have grown as athletes and as we learned that families training together aren’t such an anomaly, the blog has evolved. Jen gets personal with posts on ambition, challenges & achievements in BJJ, CrossFit & with nutrition, while Tom's posts are more educational, informative and analytical in regards to training. On occasion you may hear from the kids.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

So your kid is fighting in their first BJJ tournament -What to expect - Part 4, Coaches



by Jen

Coaches
Competition days are a good opportunity to see what coaches are made of. I would suggest to anyone looking for a kid’s bjj school to spend a day observing at a tournament. Not necessarily to see which schools are winning, but to see how the coaches interact with the children. Stay away from the ones who are viciously yelling at the 5 year olds while they are fighting (YES, they exist!). Keep away from the coaches who are yelling at their students after the match. Look for the ones that promote good sportsmanship. Look for the coaches who are lifting their kids’ spirits up – win or lose. Which teams look like a happy and united group? Which teams are supporting each other, smiling and enjoying the day? These are the schools that you want your kids to train at.

31. Remind your child that the coach’s training helped bring them to a win – remember to thank him! Remind them that the training with their teammates has made them the fighter that they are – thank them! In a loss, also thank the coach and your team for the training and support.

32. Tournament days are busy days for coaches, especially when they have several students competing. Let him do his job. Let him give the attention to the other students along with your child.

It may happen that two students will be called to fight at the same time in different rings. Understand that the coach will do his best to support each student, but can only be in one place at one time. When this happens, my coach will ask the table workers to hold off on one match until he finishes coaching the other student. Sometimes the tournament staff agrees, but sometimes they do not. If it is inevitable that two students will fight simultaneously, other adult students or a knowledgeable parent should support one of the students.

Okay, you made it through the first tournament and you and the kids are ready for the next? The two main tournaments in our area are Grappler’s Quest and NAGA. These two usually post their tournament dates one year out. I check them regularly and reserve the dates on our calendar so we can do it all over again.

Good luck! Let me know if this helped you out or if you have any other tips!
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