Should the parents bring copies of the original to practice and should each club keep copies on file. Is this needed for coaches also? When the high school kids sign up for kids in the late winter be sure to get this done as soon as possible. Sub district will be just around the corner when they come out of the HS season. Tonight is our first practice/sign ups - how does this new policy affect participation tonight. I guess they just need to sign up and then bring the Birth records next practice. My understanding is that the club director should not send a kid or parent name in until they provide
proof of birth date. All club directors - START another file with this information. Or does the state need copies on file???? I'll bet Kathy does not want another file to start.

The parents must provide an original of a government issued document confirming date of birth in order for the club to verify date of birth. The club has discretion on the manner they choose to handle this process. In years past our club always maintained a copy of the birth certificate in a file with the USAW Waiver. For many of the high school youth returning to their club, a state issued drivers license will suffice. With todays increase in identity theft, I recommend a club only verify the original, and not maintain a copy. There is no need in putting yourself or the club at increased risk of liability should the copies be misplaced.

At sign-up the parent/guardian should provide the documentation. My interpretation of the new rule is NO card will be issued without club verification of date of birth. The club should not submit any wrestler's paperwork without the verification. Without the competitor's card, a participant is not covered by USAW insurance and should not practice.

The state office does not need a copy.

That is correct. Kathy has enough paperwork to track without being encumbered with this additional task/responsibility.

All of this is really quite unnecessary. The problem could have been alleivated with a simple evaluation of existing data. The accountable parties should step up and take responsibility for the root cause of this paperwork nightmare.

If you are at a tournament and there is a question as to someones age how should you go about handling it?

Most national tournaments outline a protest process which mandates that a wrestler provide proof of age. For the most part age is enforced through the "honor system" but there have been a limited number of transgressions.

i promise my kid is only 8. i promise.

Is this a Kansas rule or a USA Wrestling rule?

The Honor System???
I don't think that really answered my question! LOL!
I just wanted to know what kind of steps you could take at the local tournament level and what type of action would be taken towards the wrestler AND a club for entering a kid at the wrong age. I mean with the age verification you would think a club could be held accountable as well. I would have to be 500% sure before I would ever called someone out. BUT, there have been those kids where you think in the back of your mind, THERE IS NO WAY!!! LOL!
I know I kind of make light of this but if someone could give me an actual answer then that would be great!

Click here to verify all kids DOB

Oh Mike!! Mike Juby, where are you?? Ned! Ned Price, where are you???

To the best of my knowledge ... it is a Kansas rule based on USAW procedures.

What caused this to become an issue all of a sudden?

8&unders with beards.

I love the crystal ball idea LOL!

I just wanted to know how to handle it.
I know of some parents that have kids of questionable size or maturity and they carry a copy of the birth certificate with them. I also know that this is not standard practice!

Just looking for an answer!

Appantly a kid who was going to be a senior in high school wrestled as a cadet this summer when he should of been a junior. He was on the cadet dual team and I believe he placed at Fargo. I can't believe someone did not question this because I have never seen a senior be in the cadet age group. What is even more bizarre is that his high school wrestling coach, was on the coaching staff at cadet duals and Fargo. Shouldn't he have known this kid was not a cadet?

The decision by USA Wrestling-Kansas' board of directors was based on the importance of honest and accurate birthdates in our sport. Within our state we have generally operated on the honor system; however, there have been instances in the past when this trust has been violated. By requiring clubs to verify the accuracy of their members dates of birth, the board hopes to maintain a level playing field.

Although the decision to pass this new rule was based on a number of factors, the reason that it came to the forefront this year was due to a Kansas team member who wrestled in a younger age division than his actual age. As soon as USAW-Kansas became aware of the situation, the national office of USA Wrestling was notified and an investigation was begun, both at the national and state level.

The facts of this case were unique and quite unusual. Both the state and national investigations determined that no other USA Wrestling member (coach or athlete) could be shown to have deliberately participated in the age fraud. Specifically, the coaches involved directly with this athlete had consistently acted in a manner which indicated they truly believed the athlete was one year younger than his actual age.

Since the new rule requiring verification of wrestlers' dates of birth is not an unreasonable burden upon the clubs, and since the belief in honest reporting of ages is fundamental to our sport, I believe the advantages clearly outweigh the burdens.

In regards to the procedures utilized by clubs to obtain official verification, and whether they should retain copies for their own records; those matters are being left to the club's best judgement.

I made a suggestion to my club that we comply with the rule by creating a Notarized Statement listing the names of the wrestlers' birth certificates viewed by the Club Officers and then either handing the original documents back to the parent or guardian, or stating on the document that all copies will be destroyed using commercially reasonable security procedures. The signatures of the Club Officers should be Notarized, and the club would need to ensure any documents received by the club were indeed shredded.

I am not an attorney. I do however, work in a bank and am responsible for dealing with consumer protection laws and also regularly with customers who have been victims of various types identity theft. It is a huge problem and some of you may say, "Well, why does this matter with some 6 year-old's birth certificate?" But you would be surprised at the depths at which ID theft can occur. Something as seemingly insignificant as a child's birth certificate can be the first item needed to carry out ID theft.

I also pose a question to USAW-KS--with the relative lack of guidance to individual clubs for complying with this requirement, will USAW-KS liability insurance cover a club that fails to securely handle this information?

My question is ...if a club is responsible for having each wrestlers orig. birth cert. verified, but are not responsible for having a copy on hand...what does this help with? The club rep. is not going to have on hand the birth certificate to verify age if a question or challenge should arise at a tourney. And the only time I carry my childs birth certificate with me is when it is required or suggested as a the larger tourney....Tulsa Nationals and Brute, etc...
Why the hassle??

We are having our parents bring us (meaning our Vice-President
and Secretary) a copy of thier birth cert and we are marking verfied on our club records... On our spread sheet we have added an extra column titled birth cert and we mark that when we have received thier birth cert...As soon as the parents have shown us thier birth cert document we document it and give thier copy right back to them...

Working for us so far...

I appreciate the efforts that many of you are making in working to comply with this new requirement that was dropped on everyone at the last minute. Although I believe it is important that we have a policy that clubs are responsible for verifying the accuracy of their members' dates of birth, I sincerely regret the lack of advance notice. However, your board of directors recognized the importance of sending a clear signal to USA Wrestling that we were serious about avoiding any future age fraud.

Although almost all of our members can be relied upon to be honest about their (or their child's) date of birth, there are exceptions. The best and least intrusive person to verify the accuracy of this information is the club director. Clubs should always recognize the sensitive nature of this information in determining how they are going to collect and, where applicable, retain this information.