can fencing learn something from curling?

[seak]

Last week while driving to work I heard an advertisement on the radio for a curling open house held at a curling cneter in laurel. Me and several friends atteneded and had a good time, along with several hundred other people.

We were given an hour of instruction moving from station to station on the ice (in small groups) and at the end we had the chance to throw a rock down the ice. It was a good time and a good introduction to curling all for free (though they asked for a 5 dollar donation) and they introduced a number of people to the sport banking on the olympic boost.

This is not something that was done by the national office, but by a local club.

So is this something people think would be a good idea for fencing? Thoughts?

At UMCP club we already sort of do this with college students after the first look fair and its been a solid way to grow membership, though we spend most of the time on footwork

[RoninX]

Yes and No.

Curling and Fencing suffer from the two different ends of the audience engagement problem. In either one once you understand it and participate in it they are fun and enjoyable, even addictive. However the casual observer of curling's challenge is to get beyond the slow, perhaps, plodding pace to the game to see the strategic elements at work.
Fencing on the other hand primary problem is that it is so hard to see much less understand the action on the strip. Sometimes this is the case even when slowed down on replay. In this case disecting such action in order to see the strategic and tactical elements at work is also a challenge.

While inviting people in for free demonstrations and quickie lessons is wonderful and was our team's primary recruiting method while I was in school (Michigan State) we never found that it attracted casual interest. People either wanted to fence afterwards or didn't.

So yes, this type of activity can certainly grow membership in a club or region but in my opinion it is not the type of activity that will increase the visibility or interest of fencing as a spectator sport.

[pgepps]

I slightly disagree. That curling's problem is "not fast enough" while fencing's is "too fast," dead-on. That's going to be a big problem until they dumb down fencing enough to watch without training. "Sword Dancing," anyone?

*However*, I think doing expos is a great idea. Not only does it encourage recruitment (and ever fencer is another family and circle of friends who are being propagandized--"Hey! Look at that . . . "), but unless you've done follow-up survey work I don't think you can easily gauge how many folks went home not interested in taking up the sport, but less likely to flip past the next time it was on TV, too.

Fencing probably never *will* be a spectator sport (again, unless they dumb it way down). But anything which encourages participation also encourages interest, and widespread *participation* is a healthier goal than mere *spectacle* for a sport (especially, IMHO, a martial sport).

Cheers,
PGE

[JCL]

Fencing probably never *will* be a spectator sport (again, unless they dumb it way down).

Well, there's always epee...

[Tomas N]

Curling gets more interesting after drinking large quantities of beer. Fencing doesn't.

Tomas

[Phrogger]

At least when you make new fencers, you are making new fencing fans. Only good can come from more exposure. Our club used to regularly set up fencing demonstrations, at shopping malls, community centers, etc. It's a good way to boost awareness, if nothing else.

It surprises me how poorly clubs market themselves. A few well-placed brochures here and there, a sticker on your car and a well-designed website would go a long way in improving this. How about a club auto sticker and T-shirts with the club website on it? Then again, the website has to be beginner-friendly, with a clear invitation to new or interested fencers.

[Black Jeebus]

Curling gets more interesting after drinking large quantities of beer. Fencing doesn't.

Tomas

I dunno about that...

[RoninX]

Absolutely, expo type events can certainly increase participation and if fencers are not interesting in the sport of fencing NOW we have a real problem.

It seems to me that there has to be a way to market fencing as a spectator sport - it just hasn't been found. And expos, while great if done well are not it. Look at poker's upsurge once ESPN figured out that it is much more interesting if you can look at every hand BEFORE all the betting occurs. Unfortunately that example comes from the "too slow" side of the equation but still...

[seak]

Curling gets more interesting after drinking large quantities of beer. Fencing doesn't.

Tomas

You know I thought the same thing till I tried curling. Then I realized I could barely stay on my feet sober (and I still fell a few times). Drunk or even buzzed no chance

[KD5MDK]

I think he was referring to watching it. Drunken fencing watching I've never tried.

[Tomas N]

I think he was referring to watching it. Drunken fencing watching I've never tried.

Yes watching, not doing! Go to a bar in northern Minnesota when curling is on, and you'll see.

Tomas

[DJ Apostrophe]

Yes watching, not doing! Go to a bar in northern Minnesota when curling is on, and you'll see.

Tomas

But then I'd have to be in Northern Minnesota... I'll visit the "rock garden" (read: Beer Tent) in April when the World Men's Curling Championships come to town... and I'll let you know how it goes.

-w

[dekko]

Look at poker's upsurge once ESPN figured out that it is much more interesting if you can look at every hand BEFORE all the betting occurs. Unfortunately that example comes from the "too slow" side of the equation but still...

You nailed it. What could be more boring to watch on TV than a table of people playing cards but it is watched in many forms a variation on TV now to the point it is the only 'sport' on TV on ten different networks. No other sport can say that.

What poker did was seriously dumb down what the casual public was watching. They have very well spoken experts talking about what the public is seeing and using their knowledge to help the watching public understand what they are seeing and why. Maybe fencing should consider doing this when using video with annoucers to sell to a network. Now that the WSOP and WPT have had success on the Travel Channel and ESPN now the annoucing is less dumbed down but there are elements of it still in the broadcast. Fencing may be able to do the same thing, start with the announcing being very dumbed down and then as the show and audience progressed over time then more technical and 'less dumbed down'.

I have been of the opinion for some time that Andy Shaw would make the best fencing color announcer due to his personality and knowledge of the sport. If he or someone like him ever did annouce color for a fencing video I have little doubt it would be very successful for selling to any network that watched it.

[OROD]

I think we can definitely learn something from curling... I mean, sometimes I go to a competition and the strips are way too slippery. If they had a couple of guys with brooms go through and sweep all the strips real good before the competition starts, that would help a ton. Maybe we can even have a partnership or sorts. We can invite the local curling club to come "practice" for say, 30 minutes, before we start fencing. We can point them at the strips and tell them we set up some practice lanes for them... or whatever, they'll probably believe it.


.

[Spike327]

Three words people:

Fencing

On

Ice


The first bout I lose, someone's getting a skate in the shin.