NATJWA Parent Instructions/ Season Overview
Welcome to (or welcome back!) to the North Allegheny Tiger Junior Wrestling Association (NATJWA). The NATJWA is a wrestling program for students in Grades K-6th. The goal of our program is to teach wrestling fundamentals, improve physical conditioning, and good sportsmanship. Each wrestler competes against other wrestlers of like age, weight, and skill level. Our program participates in the North Hills Wrestling League, thereby providing wrestlers the opportunity to compete individually and as a team.
Season Schedule
The month of November is designated to teach wrestling to our first year and advanced wrestlers in separate practice sessions. Beginning in December and during the first two months of the new year, our schedule is split between practice sessions, match nights with other league teams, and tournaments. This information can be found on the Team Snap app after you have completed your registration.
Our season will conclude for most wrestlers with our North Hills League Tournament which usually takes place in mid February. Wrestlers can extend their season by participating in the Keystone State Tournament, PA Junior Wrestling State Tournament, the Mid-Atlantic Wrestling Association tournaments (MAWA), and/or Freestyle wrestling. We will have wrestling practices available for our NA wrestlers all the way through April. Our practice schedule information is listed below.
Practice begins the first week of November.
First/Second year (Novice) wrestlers
It is especially important to get the fundamentals of wrestling early on, therefore we will have practices 3 days per week. Just like anything else, the more you put into practicing, the better results your wrestler will have. All practice sessions for novice wrestlers in November will be at the North Allegheny Intermediate (NAI) Wrestling Room (to the right of the main gym).
Open wrestlers (3rd year or higher)
Advanced wrestlers will practice at the North Allegheny Senior High School (NASH) wrestling room Tuesday and Thursday from 6:30-8:00PM and Monday’s at NAI from 6:30-8 PM.
Girls Only Program
All girls in the program will have their own group practices at Franklin Elementary School on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday’s from 6:30-8.
Practice Rules
- Wear appropriate clothing. No jewelry, chains, watches, or jeans. We recommend gym shorts, t-shirts, head gear, and wrestling shoes. Avoid over-sized t-shirts and sweatshirts. The wrestling singlets are for the dual meets or tournaments ONLY! Do not wear them for practice. Parents with wrestlers kindergarten and under must stay at practice.
Equipment
NATJWA provides your wrestler with a singlet and a long-sleeved T-shirt with our organization logo on it. These comprise our uniform and are to be worn at our Dual Meets and Tournaments. Wrestling shoes are required to be worn on the mat and should not be worn on the street. Head gear is highly recommended when wrestling live and required at many tournaments. Many wrestlers also wear one or two knee pads. Wrestlers carry their gear in a mesh gym bag or backpack and put them on right before practice.
Personal Hygiene
It is extremely important that wrestlers receive a bath or shower after every practice, dual meet, or tournament. We recommend that an antibacterial soap be used. Cuts should be treated with an antibacterial cream. Fingernails must be trimmed.
Coaching
NATJWA is fortunate to have many experienced coaches in our program who continue to educate themselves in the latest wrestling techniques and training. The head coach for our program is Rob Truesdell.
League Schedules
We compete in the North Hills Wrestling League (https://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?url=nhwl) with youth teams from the following school districts: Fox Chapel, Hampton, Shaler, Mars, North Hills, Avonworth and Northside. We will have match nights throughout the season with these teams. Home match nights are held at NAI’s main gym, lower gym and/ or practice room. The date and location of away match nights depend on the availability of gyms at the other schools. These all will be posted in the Team Snap app.
Match Nights and Coordinator(s)
The wrestling team has a match night coordinator who sets up two to three matches for your wrestler at the North Hills League match nights. The coordinator makes every attempt to match wrestlers of like age, weight, and skill level. This requires A LOT of preparation, as over 90 wrestlers need to be matched up. IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT THAT YOU NOTIFY THE MATCH COORDINATOR IF YOUR WRESTLER IS OR IS NOT GOING TO MAKE IT TO A MATCH NIGHT You will be given instructions on how to notify the coordinator as we approach the meets during the season.
In addition, there is set-up work required for all home events which includes rolling and taping mats, setting up and working scoring tables, working concession, and rolling up and returning mats to the practice room. We assign parents to help at our events. If your family is assigned to have a parent help at an event, the assigned parent must stay until the end of the event.
Tournaments
In addition to our league match nights, weekend wrestling tournaments are held by wrestling organizations throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. Our coaching staff recommends tournaments for all wrestlers, especially those being run by fellow North Hills Wrestling League schools. There are specific tournaments for all levels of wrestlers—first year, novice (for first and second year), and open (advanced wrestlers). Participation in tournaments is an integral part of our program. During the course of the season, we will identify tournaments we recommend our wrestlers to attend and where our coaches will be present.
NATJWA’s Tournaments
Tournaments hosted by NATJWA are the fundraisers for our program. WE NEED ASSISTANCE FROM ALL OF OUR PARENTS TO MAKE THESE TOURNAMENTS A SUCCESS! All monies generated from our tournaments benefit our wrestling program and our kids. Please plan on donating your time for these upcoming events:
NA Young Guns Open and NoviceTournament—December 17th, 2023
NA First Year and Supernovice Tournament—January 14th 2024
Other Events
NATJWA Year-end Banquet— Recognition and awards are given for all wrestlers. This is an event you don’t want to miss! This will be held April 7th, 2024 at Blueberry Hill Park Activity Center.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding our program or association, please feel free to contact us. With your help and active participation, we look forward to another successful wrestling season!