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Post by Jason Waldron on Oct 26, 2008 18:24:57 GMT -5
I have been training my son Mike who is 8 years old he is in the 3rd grade and he is 5'0 tall 140lbs he has been wanting to pull some tourneys with kids classes but I have noticed alot of tourneys have weight classes for kids, and that means he could be pulling 16-17 year old boys and that is crazy, good example I was in North Carolina in 05 my cousin who was 16 at the time and 6'2 205lbs had a 11 year old in his junior class how unfair is this, Ive noticed some tourneys have kids classes by age which seems more fair. Just wondering what everybody else thought about this.......
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Post by Josh Handeland on Oct 26, 2008 18:35:48 GMT -5
That's a big kid you've got, Jason! You make a good point, however, one could also argue that if it went strickly by age you're son would probably be pulling kids 50 lbs. lighter than he is. I'm not sure what to think but the best way to run it would be by age and weight, if there are enough kids, but that's not always the case, so idk.
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Post by philbauer on Oct 26, 2008 19:08:54 GMT -5
Thats tough....I feel that kids classes should be run by age groups.
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Post by Jeramie Towle on Oct 26, 2008 19:14:42 GMT -5
I agree Phil, kids classes should be run by age group and not weight. If one child is "above average" it isnt fair to him/her to be put in a class of more mature kids.
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Post by jonathanvazquez on Oct 26, 2008 19:18:52 GMT -5
but its fair to the other kids to have a monster in theirs? my youngest has been pullin for about a year and he is about 4'7" 72 lbs. the other kid would be DOUBLE his weight. there are weight classes in mens why not kids?
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Post by Rick Laton on Oct 26, 2008 20:41:01 GMT -5
That's a big kid you've got, Jason! You make a good point, however, one could also argue that if it went strickly by age you're son would probably be pulling kids 50 lbs. lighter than he is. I'm not sure what to think but the best way to run it would be by age and weight, if there are enough kids, but that's not always the case, so idk.
Exactly. We have adjusted ours a little over the years. There is NO WAY to get everyone even without having 100 kids or more. We place them in a line by weight, we then look at them and look at a list of them that has their ages on it. If a child is older and very small, we may move them up to the next "Division" or "Weight Class". If the child is young and very large, we may move them down one "Division" or Weight Class". We also only put 3-5 in each class so if you do get beat by this one person, you still have a chance to pull 2-3 others and win some matches.
You would complain the same way if your 8 year old (My 8 year old weighs 61 lbs) got beat by an 8 year old that weighs 140 lbs. As tournament directors, we can't win either way. We could just put them in a class all by themselves, call them the winner and give them a trophy. Oh wait, they all get trophies anyway!!
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Post by Josh Handeland on Oct 26, 2008 21:17:13 GMT -5
Rick, that seems like a very good way of running kids classes!
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Post by Jason Waldron on Oct 26, 2008 22:00:48 GMT -5
I understand where ur coming from Rick, but I would rather have my son pull someone alot bigger then him that is around his age then to pull someone 2 times his age because a big 8 year old is still just that 8 years old he is not super human, it would make more sense if you had weight classes for 12 and under and then teens.
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Post by Jared Vale on Oct 27, 2008 0:37:11 GMT -5
I love the question!!! I think Rick is right on. We are lucky to have them involved, so we should make it as fair as possible I'd like to add that - I think that all of the parents should get together to discuss the skill levels of their kids before the tournament starts. Some contestants may be kids of arm wrestlers and some may just be kids of someone at the state fair... How old is a "kid"  12,13,18... A lot of important considerations. I have a little experience.... I have 8 year old twins. A boy and a girl. My daughter is 3 inches taller and 20 pounds heavier. Seeing how their skills, I wouldn't enter them in the same class ---YET. Just my thoughts, Jared |
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Post by Tim Lewis on Oct 27, 2008 3:04:32 GMT -5
Jason,
There are a lot of such tournaments unfortuntaely they are just not on the eastern side of the country. I didn't see it until moving out here.
IMO, New Mexico, Denver, CO, Idaho States, and Heartland Armwrestling (mostly Iowa and Nebraska) have some of the best tournaments with different age groups like that in the country and get a pretty good number of entries.
My suggestion would be to talk to some of the promoters in your area and see they would consider it a local event. In terms of time, it usually only takes an extra hour to run the kids portion even if there are a good number of entries.
In terms of age vs. weight. Age is the way to go.
If you have an exceptionally bigger kid for his age or someone that everyone knows is "better" than the TD will "encourage" that guy to pull up in the older guys class.
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Post by Jason Waldron on Oct 27, 2008 3:26:17 GMT -5
Well put Tim, I agree 100%......
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12,13,18... A lot of important considerations. 
