Bringing fencing into a public school system.

[hscoach]

The high schools in NJ pay their coaches. BUT, a club coach will make more giving lessons in his/her club. This is a problem. Some of the most talented coaches in the area cannot afford to coach a high school team. The H.S. coaches are a mixed bag of talent, but all very dedicated to the sport. Some come from outside of the school, some are teachers who fenced in high school or college, and some are teachers who are willing to learn the sport as they coach.
I introduced fencing to the school in an assembly, having a demo of all three weapons. For fun you can have the principal or football coach try to fence. I also explained to the students that fencing needs several different types of athletes or students willing to be an athlete for the first time.

[sabreman]

HSCoach, I fenced at Voorhees ('79) and my brother at North Hunterdon ('75). What is your high school? Good to hear things are going ok for fencing in NJ.

[mike morgan]

The high schools in NJ pay their coaches. BUT, a club coach will make more giving lessons in his/her club. This is a problem. Some of the most talented coaches in the area cannot afford to coach a high school team. The H.S. coaches are a mixed bag of talent, but all very dedicated to the sport. Some come from outside of the school, some are teachers who fenced in high school or college, and some are teachers who are willing to learn the sport as they coach.
I introduced fencing to the school in an assembly, having a demo of all three weapons. For fun you can have the principal or football coach try to fence. I also explained to the students that fencing needs several different types of athletes or students willing to be an athlete for the first time.

HSCOACH--Very innovative and creative!!

[great bowyer]

i think a person at my high school (student) talked with the principal. after doing so, he got other students to sign a petition. after showing evidence intrest among the student body, he made a proposal to the school board. the school board aproved, so now we have a fencing club.

there are several problems that the club is facing now.
1. the interest among the student body has droped.
2. the interest among the club members has droped, thus the membership is very low.
3. the club does not have any structure to it anymore... the founder left and the advisor was unable to show up, so we had to find a new one. we also had to find a new instructor which turned out to be a student, no "real" coach.
4. we were never able to do any fund raising large enough for equipment.
5. the students that have started the club and have run the club or have any fencing experience are going to college this coming year.

so, my recommendations,
1. get a large group of people who are willing to show up for practice each week.
2. get a structure and by laws so that you will not get stuck with out the people needed to run the club several years from now.
3. make sure you get freshmen and teach them well so they will carry the club after you leave.
4. set up schedules where you can go to tournamnets and also host them.
5. make sure your club gets publicized, the anouncement after school saying that fencing club will not meet that day does not cut it.

becuase our club had some of the problems mentioned above, and did not have the base needed to keep it going, i am not sure about what will happen to it next year.

[mike morgan]

i think a person at my high school (student) talked with the principal. after doing so, he got other students to sign a petition. after showing evidence intrest among the student body, he made a proposal to the school board. the school board aproved, so now we have a fencing club.

there are several problems that the club is facing now.
1. the interest among the student body has droped.
2. the interest among the club members has droped, thus the membership is very low.
3. the club does not have any structure to it anymore... the founder left and the advisor was unable to show up, so we had to find a new one. we also had to find a new instructor which turned out to be a student, no "real" coach.
4. we were never able to do any fund raising large enough for equipment.
5. the students that have started the club and have run the club or have any fencing experience are going to college this coming year.

so, my recommendations,
1. get a large group of people who are willing to show up for practice each week.
2. get a structure and by laws so that you will not get stuck with out the people needed to run the club several years from now.
3. make sure you get freshmen and teach them well so they will carry the club after you leave.
4. set up schedules where you can go to tournamnets and also host them.
5. make sure your club gets publicized, the anouncement after school saying that fencing club will not meet that day does not cut it.

becuase our club had some of the problems mentioned above, and did not have the base needed to keep it going, i am not sure about what will happen to it next year.

Thanks Great Bowyer: Your recommendations are very sound. Getting started with most school activities is indeed only part of the process; insuring a club's ongoing activity and longevity is perhaps even more challenging.

[sabreman]

I think having other teams to compete against is very important. It is hard to keep things going without constant outside competition. I remember having 20 meets a year when I fenced in NJ plus all the additional tournaments.

[mike morgan]

You're quite right Sabreman. How fortunate you were to have so many high school competitions! I'm a native Floridian, and began fencing in 1957. We lived in Ft. Lauderdale and literally had to drive up and down our VERY LONG state--before I-95-- from Miami to Tampa to Tallahassee just to be able to compete!!

[hscoach]

The interest in high school fencing is strong when there is competion against other schools. Voorhees High School and many others have over 100 students fencing. My school has 1/5 of the student body on the fencing team.

[mike morgan]

Absolutely remarkable, HSCOACH!!! Well done!!

[DanInMI]

I have no experience in this sort of thing, but given the unreasonably paranoid mindset of most School Boards about "weapons" in school I'm afraid you will have a very difficult time with this project.

Good luck to you!

Fencing foils, epees, and sabres are NOT weapons. They are sporting goods. Weapons are instruments designed to cause harm. Fencing foils and epees and sabres are designed specifically to avoid causing harm to your opponent.

I can envision a demonstration that involves a foil, a baseball bat and a watermellon. Have them attempt to do serious damage to the watermellon with a foil. Then smash the watermellon with the baseball bat. Suggest that if they want to keep thier baseball team that they might not want to start labeling sporting goods as weapons. (Most school boards would not relish the idea of losing thier baseball team.)

Besides, does your high school have Javelin? Javelin is an ACTUAL weapon. It is a spear. It was originally intended to cause actual physical harm, and is very capable of doing so. .

[mike morgan]

Excellent points!!

[j4koch]

Mike:

My daughter fences on a high school club team that has been fairly successful over the nine years it has been in existance. I think the primary reason for the success, both competively and in participation, has been the effort put in by the coaches. The team is officially a club sport, but operates as a varsity program. The head coach has mentioned that being a club allows for more flexibilty and control.

Having a league to compete in provides an outlet for the young fencers competive juices as well.

Here is a link to a webpage outlining the team's history organization:

http://bphsfc.tripod.com/info.htm

Best of luck

JK

[mike morgan]

Thank you, J4KOCH!! I appreciate your input and will check out the website.

Your comments--like so many others--have been a great help to me. I can never "repay" fencing for everything it has given me during the past 47 years. But at least I hope we can help introduce this wonderfully special sport to as many young people as possible!

[Demothenes]

Excellent points!!

No pun intended, eh?

-matt