Future of coaching education...

[grotto]

You mean the way football has such exams?

What? They don't? They just do ad hoc evaluations based on past results, interviews, and word-of-mouth to evaluate coaches. Mmmm.

We don't need a coaches ranking list and exams to sort out the elite coaches. The tests that matter there are the ones that take place in gyms around the country every weekend, in convention centers in second-tier US cities each month, and at world cups throughout the world.

As opposed to who the "best" coaches are. Those tests take place every day in salles, garages, driveways, etc. every day.

-B

ouch ok, touch for oiuyt.

I guess I miss understood the thread. I thought that this was focused on the lack of elite coaches coming up. I was suggesting one way the college could increase the likelyhood of an more elite coaches through creating a system that could train more solid coaches in general, kinda like a coorispondence course with testing seminars in each section.

[Mr Epee]

Ok, here's a perfect example.

Ron Miller - UNC

This is a perfect example of someone with a fencing background who took advantage of the opportunities available through their education in P.E.

He has since become a coach with some excellent results.

UNC didn't hire a fencing coach - they hired a PE instructor with some fencing experience.

[Goldgar]

There is no management of who can hang out a shingle and claim to a 'master' with a salle. Now that has advantages for the rapid growth of the sport - after all the majority of folks who do that are going to be a positive for the sport and help it grow further.

You are only going to drive increased 'profesionalism' (as in certification) if you either have a professional association that pushes it or a clientele that has enough choice that they start to get picky about exactly who is doing the instruction, and why they are qualified to instruct.

Professional training (initial or ongoing) probably won't catch on until the USFA decides that only this or that level/type of qualification entitles one to open a USFA member club.

Not all US fencers are aware that there is such a professional organization here: the US Fencing Coaches' Association, or USFCA (not to be confused with the USFA). Quoting from the USFCA web site (http://www.usfca.org/usfca/): "The USFCA works to develop the quality of instruction in the sport of fencing and to serve the diverse needs of those who teach fencing in the United States." It also provides certification in the form of diplomas recognized by the Academie d'Armes Internationale.

Unfortunately, that certification isn't necessarily a competitive advantage, since most prospective fencers don't even think to ask about certification. And a fencing master's diploma is no guarantee that a coach has whatever qualities it takes to produce high-level international competitors.