I'm thinking about promoting amatuer MMA events for kids can you critique my ideas?

1st off every kid will have to supply a birth certificate. I'm sick of going to these tournaments and parents lying about the kids age.





The event I think will be split into 3 rounds. Keep in mind this will be for kids to youth from 7 to 16.





First round takedowns and pins only.





Second will be some kind of boxing with a few kicks allowed. Kicks and punches must be to the mid section only. No knees and no leg kicks, no head kicks or punches. I'm also thinking about adding some type of Sumo points in this round.





Third grappling with submissions.





Each round is 1 minute.


Older kids 12 and up the rounds are two minutes.





All the young kids 11 and under get medals. Medals for best match, best fighter, best sportsmanship.





Tshirts to all participants.





Medal to the top three in each divison.





Event recorded and DVDs sold?





No guaranteed matches if not pre registered.





Does this sound good? What should I add or take off?





Should I open this up to adults?

I'm thinking about promoting amatuer MMA events for kids can you critique my ideas?
I like this idea a lot, I wish something like this was around when I was a kid. It emphasizes the point of being well rounded while still focusing on one part of the game at a time.





I agree with one of the other answers, you should keep it small and grow responsibly. You want to be able to iron out the problems while their still manageable.





Someone else noted that full submission matches might be two dangerous, and it is true that joint locks could damage growth plates causing stunted growth in those limbs. However, youth submission matches are nothing new, like the BJJ Mundials has a youth tourny. Try to follow their guidlines, they might have extra safety precautions for the youngins, i.e. no ankle locks, knee bars, or straight arm bars. It would suck to leave out the arm bar, one of the most fundamental submissions, but if it drastically mitigates injury risk then I suppose it's okay.
Reply:It's pretty weird but i guess it'd get them some early exposure to MMA-like competition.





Medals:


Best Match


Best Fighter


Most Improved Fighter


Sportsmanship Award
Reply:I would be cautious about submission, joint locks, chokes for kids under 13. Maybe for the 14-16 year olds. Other than that sounds fun. I didn't see, is there a uniform required, or is it no gi. Maybe you could have seperate gi and no gi divisions
Reply:if your going to do it have it be seperated into age groups 6-12 and 13-16... 6-12 strictly grappling and then at 13 you can make it complete MMA... and i agree about people lieing about ages and ability levels
Reply:Just a coupe thoughts.





Make sure you have good Insurance and Medical Units and Ambulance available. YOU NEVER KNOW.





How will you screen the judges to ensure they are qualified and do not allow the fighters to hurt themselves? Fighters will go and go unless a Judge intervenes.





Be very specific as to what is a point and not a point.





How many rings will you have and will they be real rings or just matts? How will you record these events if in more than one ring? Idea sounds good, but sounds like you will need a descent amount of Capital to start it.





The more you open it too the larger it is and harder to manage. IF this is your first one, than I recommend you keep it simple and small and grow each year. If you try and go large right away and do not have the capital it will be a bust for you. IF you take it small and manage the investment than you can break even and have a great event that next year or the year after will start promoting itself.





Marketing of it is important too, I think checking to ensure age is good but what about skill level? Parent consent and Sensei consent?





Just curious. Your idea sounds ok, just a lot of work ahead for you if you do it. best wishes with it.
Reply:This kind of sparring is not appropriate for children. Its questionable for teens even. You are open to alot of liability and there is genuine risk of injury with children because 1) their bones are not as strong, and 2) children do not have the capacity to know how safe to be when doing joint locks, especially in a competitive environment.





This is a bad idea because it involves children - if you were doing this for 18 year olds and up, that would be different.





The first kid that gets a broken arm from an arm bar will sue you and the other kid's parents and that will end your sports promotion career and it may leave you broke yourself.