INTRODUCTION
Competition can be one of the most beneficial experiences a child can have. It provides an opportunity for kids to become accustomed to a stressful environment, learn to handle big emotions, and improve their skills.
This guide covers how parents can help their child have a great experience on competition day, no matter the result.
Let’s dive into the guide now…
NIGHT BEFORE TOURNAMENT
ACTION LIST
- Ask your child to complete their pre-competition workbook questions (work with younger children if needed)
- Plan an activity your child likes
- Eat a good-size meal
- Pack for the tournament (see Packing List)
- Get to bed early
PACKING LIST
- What to bring
- Gi/No Gi Kit
- Spare Gi/No Gi Kit (always bring a spare!)
- Some kind of ID for your child
- Healthy snacks/sandwiches/picnic food
- “Fast sugar”
- Water
- Things to do: books, iPad, music, handheld games, etc. Mindless entertainment is best.
A GUIDE TO TOURNAMENT SNACKING
There is usually food at tournaments, but it’s never safe to rely on the presence of decent food at the venue. Venue food is like airport food: overpriced and often kind of sad and wilty. Bring something you know your child will eat.
Kids aren’t likely to want to eat a lot before their matches, but they’re usually ravenous afterwards– you don’t want to have to wait to find food and have a child-monster in the car.
If your child has multiple matches, you’re going to need some snacks that help them perform as well. You need snacks that are:
- Physically light in the stomach
- Calorie dense
- Easily digested (fast carbohydrates)
Gummy sweets, Rice Krispy Treats, dried fruit, bananas, honey, and even simple carbs like plain bread rolls all serve this purpose. It is essential that you have these kinds of “fast sugar” snacks available to your child– it’s really hot and noisy in tournament venues, and kids burn a lot of calories competing. Try to have some fast carbs (20-60 grams depending on child’s preference) 30-40 minutes before the first match.
Water is always the best thing to drink during an event. Try to stay clear of sports drinks, juice, and so on for children unless it’s extremely hot or your child has been recommended these drinks by a medical professional.
GUIDING YOUR CHILD
We’re working now with transforming our nerves into excitement and decatastrophising anxiety, as it’s very likely that the night before the tournament your child will be experiencing a lot of emotions. We want to focus more heavily on the excitement than the nervousness, but we’re also going to deconstruct anxiety logically using a method of decatastrophising.
If your child is entering an anxiety spiral, it’s important to put an immediate stop to circular thinking. Here are the questions you should ask your child to help them work through their anxiety or nerves about a particular outcome.
- What are you worried about? Describe it in the worst, most horrible detail you can.
- How likely is it that your worry will come true? Has this ever happened before? Has anything like it ever happened before?
- If your worry does come true, what’s the worst that could happen?
- If your worry does come true, what’s most likely to happen?
- If your worry comes true, what are the chances you’ll be okay…
- Tomorrow?
- In a week?
- In a month?
- In a year?
Below is a guide by mental performance coach Sam Antonen that covers how to reframe what if statements
RESOURCE: Replacing What If Statements
TOURNAMENT DAY: MORNING/TRAVEL/ARRIVAL
ACTION LIST
- Eat a good-size meal
- If time, play a game or do something to make your child laugh/relax
- Double-check equipment and packed items (buying new things at tournaments is like daylight robbery– you don’t want to have to buy a new belt/gi)
- Arrive at least 2-3 hours before your predicted start time (unless your child is one of the first matches– then plan to arrive for doors opening).
TOURNAMENT DAY: VENUE
ACTION LIST
- Weigh in
- Check in
- Check brackets
- Listen for your bracket to be called to the bullpen
- FILM ALL MATCHES START TO FINISH
TOURNAMENT DAY NOTES
TRAVEL
Always arrive early. Never assume that matches will be on time. They can and will be early at some events.
WEIGH IN/CHECK IN
Weigh in and check in are not the same thing at most tournaments. Most tournaments will have two separate lines for weigh in and check in. For children, many tournaments require a birth certificate or passport (photo is fine in most cases but always check the tournament information).
WALK THE FLOOR
Once you’re at the venue, do a few laps to get a sense of the place. Brackets should be posted somewhere, including mat numbers and approximate call times; most reputable tournaments use screens instead of paper brackets now. Do not rely on Smoothcomp to be available in the venue. Listen for the call for your child’s bracket to come over the loudspeaker, and get them starting their pre-competition warm-up routine approximately 30 minutes prior to their projected match-start time.
FILM YOUR MATCHES
Although it is only a children’s tournament, having matches on camera is valuable in the off-chance something unusual occurs. If a referee makes an error, it’s important to have visual evidence of that error to bring to tournament coordinators. Referees are human and they do make mistakes; further education is only possible in the sport if evidence exists of the error. You’ll also want to look back on those matches as your child grows and improves– showing them their past selves is incredibly useful when they are upset over a difficult match.
POST-TOURNAMENT
ACTION LIST
- Get a treat
- Have a dance party on the ride home
- Do your “Finish/Flushing Routine”
- Schedule your child’s next class
- Have a debrief with your child’s preferred coach
GUIDING YOUR CHILD
Flushing/finishing after the tournament is a great way to wash off the drama and excitement of the day.
FINISHING
In the “Finishing” part of our routine, we are going to rate our “controllables” for the day– the things we know we can control. Our rating system does not allow 7’s because then your child will choose all 7’s, and we want an accurate representation of how they really feel they performed. Here are the finishing questions you should ask your athlete:
- On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being the worst and 10 being the best, how do you think your BODY LANGUAGE was today? (No 7’s!)
Body Language: _______________
- On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being the worst and 10 being the best, how do you think your EFFORT was today? (No 7’s!)
Effort: _______________
- On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being the worst and 10 being the best, how do you think your FOCUS was today? (No 7’s!)
Focus: _______________
FLUSHING
Encourage your child to close the door on the day by reflecting on how they feel, writing it on a piece of toilet roll, and flushing it away. The physical action of throwing away the emotion allows them closure on the event. This should be done regardless of the outcome– we don’t want children resting on past laurels any more than we want them morose over a single tournament loss.
COACH DEBRIEF
All children have a preferred coach, and that’s okay. After your child’s tournament, it’s always worth having a chat between you, the coach, and your child; if you have any concerns or comments, the coach can filter and reframe them for you. It’s worth finding time for this, especially when athletes are early in their competitive career!
FINAL THOUGHTS
As mentioned at the start of this guide, competition can be one of the most rewarding and beneficial aspects of training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu when done right.
Hopefully, by reading this guide you should have a better understanding of what happens on how to help your child have an awesome experience every time they step on the competition mats.
If you have any further questions send us an email at team@escapologybjj.com