Monday Nov. 26

Coaches Tip:

Match Scrimmages

A few years ago at Westwood we started having a "match scrimmage" the last week of the preseason with Hasbrouck Heights/Wood Ridge.  While a traditional scrimmage is the best way to get a lot of time on the mat with another team, I prefer to make the last scrimmage of the year  a match scrimmage.

We do it a few days before opening weekend and we really believe that it prepares our wrestlers for the opening weekend.   HH/WR coach Mike Scuilla recently said "I always thought kids got winded during their first match of the season.  ...why not have their first real match during a scrimmage?  It also allows for the us to fit uniforms, teach match etiquette, and implement our warmup routines.  We also get to interact with an official and see the flow of a match without it counting for themselves or the team."

We match our wrestlers up, based not only by weight, but by ability and experience.  We will bump a kid up or down a weight or two to get the right matchup.  If we have two wrestlers who are at the same weight that expect to go far in the counties, we keep them apart from each other.  We have two mats going at the same time, one for varsity and one for JV, and sometimes we have kids wrestle two matches that day.  Coach Scuila and new Westwood coach Paul Castellini will be doing the match scrimmage this year, but hopefully more coaches will jump on board.

Here are some benefits and things to consider:

       Find the right team.  Ideally, it should be a team you won't see on the mat that much.  HHWR fits for us because they are only 15 minutes away, but after the BCCA's, we won't see them unless it is in AC.  Different league, different region, different section...

       

       Find the right coach.  Mike and I have been friends on and off the mat for years, and we trust each other when making matchups.  We both know that a perfect day is a bunch of close matches that give you that battle tested feeling you can't get in a regular wrestling scrimmage.

       

       Do matchups in advance.  We do matchups a few days in advance and give everyone bout numbers.  If someone is hurt, scratch them off or give their match to someone else.  Don't start the day by sitting down to make matchups.  This should be a short day for everyone - prepare in advance.

       

       Keep bout scores, not match scores.  We keep the team scores out of this.

       

       No weigh-ins.  They will weigh in enough all year, and we jump around a lot with the kids to find the right opponent.

       

       Hire two officials.  Get one experienced ref for the varsity level bout and one for the JV level bout.  It may not be something that you normally do, so your AD may shy away from the idea at first.  Just remind them how much money they spend on preseason basketball refs.  They play a number of games at different levels, both boys and girls hoops.  Paying for two refs in the wrestling preseason shouldn't be that big of a deal.

       

       Plus, the officials that have worked for us have really appreciated the opportunity to get on the mat before opening weekend for the same reasons we are doing it.

       

       Get your scorekeepers involved.  This is their first match too, and they will learn from the experience as well.  In the past I have used this as time to teach new people how to keep score without the pressure involved in your first dual match.

       

       Act like it is a match.  Like Scuilla mentioned before - singlets, uniforms, and warm-ups all make it feel like the real deal.  Start doing little things you would do in a real match, like letting a kid up from bottom to score more on your feet.  Go for a major decision with a tilt at the end of the match.  Start to focus on all the little things that help win matches - like knowing where you are on the mat, knowing the score, knowing you have a stall warning against you...they are all things to start paying attention to before you have your first real match.

       

       Sportsmanship/Safety.  Remind officials that while we want it to feel like a real match, it isn't a real match, and we ask them to stop potentially dangerous situations earlier than they would in a regular match.  Also, this is a good time reinforce your sportsmanship expectations with your wrestlers.

Even some of the best wrestlers will admit to having "first match jitters".  Having a match scrimmage under the belt gives you a different level of intensity and competitiveness than you can get out of a traditional practice based scrimmage.  It allows coaches to make decisions and corrections that you might normally be making AFTER the first weekend of wrestling.

-Mike Attanasio