Rasing priority of fencing in students minds.

[Phaeton]

To a degree, you really can't change things. People come and fence for their own reasons, and I think that rec fencing is completley okay. While I'm a competative fencer, I fully understand why somone would want to relax when they come and fence. Motivation and inspiration while helped along by outside forces in the end have to come from oneself and one has to decide what they want out of fencing and what they are going to put in.

You can decide to go about instituting drills, and a more rigid structure, but if people don't want to do it, then they won't. There's no obligation.

This isn't saying nothing can be done.

A rigid structure, outlining what needs to be done, focused drills, and making a more focused setting help. Have a discussion with your coach, and perhaps the club on training modes and how things are going to be changed. Your coach (should hopefully) provide a layout of what you want (he's going to have to approve of it in the end I assume) and if he doesn't there's still a general idea of organized drills, mock tournaments, and theme directed bouting.

[Durando]

Originally Posted by achilleus

All that said, structure and entertainment are key....
....Instead of free fencing after the lesson, have the coach dictate theme bouts where the students work on what they learned.

Yes, yes, and yes.

A sense of progression, or even progress, however illusory is gratifying to club members and will get them hooked. Structured bouting is a very efficient way of teaching and learning. I realize that in two of the American clubs I've belonged to far too much was left to the initiative of the better fencers--I think this is because nobody wanted the club to become "too competetive." My current club is a good balance between recreation and competition and this comes from two MdAs who are good keeping at physical training eclectic, interesting, and worthwhile from a competitive standpoint. The good thing about structured bouting, incidentally, is that it allows the fencers to decide whether or not they will do it. So the MdAs don't come off as being authoritarian and the fencers feel they have some initiative.

Another thing that we did back at UTFC ('86-'90) which was successful was to have team members "adopt" a beginner. Part of being on the team meant conducting exchange drills with a particular beginner for a few minutes every week. Everyone knew each other. We owned our own successes. We learned to be gratified by the progress of our clubmates. Beginners were given a good deal of attention and they were aware of the fact. The MdA was seen more as an enabler than the conduit through which all success must necessarily come. (The latter notion is the big difference between fencing in France and in the States. The cult of the super special MdA who doles out his super special secrets to the select few must die.)

Briefly, think about how to use your MdA's or coach's time most efficiently: how can he or she have a positive influence on the structure of the club without overmanaging it. How can you diffuse the ethic that you want without giving speeches or making overt demands?

[Chafunkta]

You need to get more people in your club to compete. Also, you need to get those that compete to win. Offer awards and praise for those who do well and let it be known that tournaments can be a blast.

The people that put fencing on a backburner can't be changed by what you tell them to do. DFP is right, you have to lead by example by creating an overall more competitive club.

[jdoiv]

achilles' suggestions. Also, Durando's idea of adopt a begginer.
I think changing up the practices a little will definately help. Do some team events during the fencing time. Take 6 people and break them into two teams and run a team bout to 45. It's loads of fun and gets people thinking more about being a competitive team than just fencing. This might get the competitive juices flowing in some people that were previously just showing up to fence. Winning team gets a free drink and then everyone go out for that drink after practice. Sounds like a blast to me. Competitive and social, the best of both worlds.

[seak]

Speaking from personal experience Maryland was mainly a small, social club that did USFA events when I started there. However, we decided we wanted to be more competitive. As we became more competitive the club grew and people started to put a lot more time and energy into fencing.

What you should IMHO do is start looking to go to collegiate events (college kids like fencing collegiate meets and the dual meet format is a lot of fun), either The Big One (New England area) or the Temple Open (philly) are great collegiate meets that you can enter with only a few fencers. Next try to schedule some of the other colleges in the area for dual meets.

Good luck

[sabregrrrl]

Every time I travel or visit family I make it a point to visit a local salle for practice. The clubs that are strongest are the ones that begin practice on time and do all kinds of footwork and partner drills. In my experience, the ones that just get together and bout are the ones that have the fewest participants. So, even though we may gripe about all the warm-ups and drills at my club, it actually makes everyone more focused and determined to do well.

[Wafath]

College clubs have an advantage/disadvantage in this area: they can re-invent themselves every year.

UMCP transitioned with roughly this plan:

1) at the start of the next year, act like a sports-club from day one. Start with warmups, stretching, footwork and weapons drills. Ask (nicely) people who don't participate to join in or leave. Upperclassmen will be shell-shocked and may leave, but you will probably retain more freshmen.

2) schedule competitions. Most importantly, schedule intercollegiate competitions with better teams. It's one thing to loose to someone who has crap form, it's another entirely to loose to someone who really knows what they are doing. Your fencers will start thinking "I want to be like that.".

3) After your first ass-whoping defeat, hold a team meeting. Let everyone talk. Focus on the good. Someone won a bout they should have lost? Congratulate them. Someone got a touch? Good job. Convince them that they lost because they are inexperienced, and the solution is more serious training. Let them decide to train, instead of telling them to train. But tell them that they can get there.

4) make practice about training for something, not about an end in itself. Talk from day one what events are comming up, and what they have to look forward to. Use practice as a way of getting psyched up for a competition. Dedicate the practice before the event to those going, and focus on skills needed for that event, or skills that you want your fencers to work on at the event.

It all comes down to expectations. It doesn't always work, but you get to try again every year.

W

[jdoiv]

Originally Posted by Poulet

You could even try using the U of Colorado football recruitment strategy.

PC, but I would go along with that!

[remise]

You say the hours at your club are 8:00 - 10:30. That could be a large part of the problem.

I knew of a club with similar hours, and it attracted people who were 'half-hearted' at best. The owner changed the hours and opened the club at 6:00 p.m. till 10:00 and viola. There was a considerable pick-up.

Most young kids and teens (who don't drive) would have problems getting their parents to collect them at a late hour.

[tbryan]

Originally Posted by remise

You say the hours at your club are 8:00 - 10:30. That could be a large part of the problem.

I knew of a club with similar hours, and it attracted people who were 'half-hearted' at best. The owner changed the hours and opened the club at 6:00 p.m. till 10:00 and viola. There was a considerable pick-up.

Most young kids and teens (who don't drive) would have problems getting their parents to collect them at a late hour.

Probably not a problem for a club on a college campus. I assume all of the fencers are 18+ years old. Some of them may even have class at 5 or 6 p.m.

[larkmaj]

Originally Posted by tbryan

Probably not a problem for a club on a college campus. I assume all of the fencers are 18+ years old. Some of them may even have class at 5 or 6 p.m.

In fact if there was a problem with the time it's that some people still have class then. There is a freshman course that many freshmen take that conflicts with one of the practices.