Maybe instead of those banners for clubs you see at tournaments there should be big posters saying "Math", "English", "History", etc and whoever is working on that subject can congregate there and help each other.
Or a library with middle and high school textbooks, those things are heavy.
Maybe instead of those banners for clubs you see at tournaments there should be big posters saying "Math", "English", "History", etc and whoever is working on that subject can congregate there and help each other.
Great idea! See, fencers are smart! I can just imagine..."History Tutor needed to strip 23!"
Depending on where you live, your son could fence in the Jr. MF on Sunday and you could leave late that night or early Monday morning so he wouldn't have to miss Monday school.
For the November NAC, my son will miss school Thursday, (Friday is a holiday), Monday and possibly Tuesday, and that is only to compete in two events. Fortunately for Memphis they will only miss two days, Thursday and Friday. Columbus Day is not a holiday here.
So as Supermom wrote there is no way around missing school if they want to reach a certain level.
My children are really good at doing homework on planes. (I photocopy pages from their textbooks so their carry on isn't too heavy.) My son is in Gr. 11 so it is also important that he not miss school. We make back up plans if we miss planes and sometimes have complicated schedules where one flies in one day and the other leaves earlier to as miss fewer school days. Women and men's events are often at opposite ends of the schedule taking up all four days.
Yes, most fencers are competitive in school and fencing. That is one reason we love the sport. It is hard but my children make a choice and gives up certain things in order to be both competative at fencing and school. (Then there are always International events.....)
Between international & national events I can't tell you how much school my daughter (11th grade) is going to miss - what we did, and I would suggest anyone else do in this situation, is meet with your child's guidance counselor at the beginning of the school year, as well as their individual teachers, explain the situation and enlist their help in getting your child's homework assignments in a timely fashion so they can keep up. It's (hopefully as this week will prove my kid's first challenge) better than all the teachers saying "don't worry about it - you'll just make up the work when you get back..." which leaves the kid in an even bigger hole as they aren't going to be around the next weekend either. (this is what happened to my daughter last year - many all-nighters trying to finish 2 weeks worth of work because no one would give her the assignments ahead of time)
Between international & national events I can't tell you how much school my daughter (11th grade) is going to miss - what we did, and I would suggest anyone else do in this situation, is meet with your child's guidance counselor at the beginning of the school year, as well as their individual teachers, explain the situation and enlist their help in getting your child's homework assignments in a timely fashion so they can keep up.
Sleepyweasel is right, let the teachers know at the beginning of the school year about fencing. Remember to mention the following:
1. Fencing is practically a year-round sport with little time off if a student is serious about fencing.
2. Mention how many hours your fencer spends in the salle practicing, having lessons, etc. per week.
3. Tell them that in addition to local and regional events, your student is fencing in the North American Cup, a series of tournaments-yadda, yadda-spin it like you were a political advisor! If fencing is not a big thing in your area, this is VERY glam! The teachers love it and are quite intrigued.
4. Make an email list for his teachers, and about a month before a NAC, let them know what's going to be happening-especially if it involves leaving school early to catch a plane.
5. The more you include the teachers, the better it is for the student.
I did all of the above for his fresh/soph year. This year he's handling it all so far. (((even laundry))))
I may be getting ahead of myself (or himself) but I guess my rational for having him try Cadet and Jr. (instead of Y14) at this age is that there aren't too many chances to qualify for J.O.s for Cadet and Jr. I thought I'd take him to more Cadet and Jr. events to get him more acclimated to those categories. And yea, if he's good enough, why not the World Cup? But he has to fence comfortably in the National Tourneys.
I would love to take him to all three in Nov. but since he has to miss three days of school, now I have to choose between Cadet and Junior. But see, I'm taking him to Memphis for Cadet. See my dilemma? HELP! What would you do Supermom???
FYI...his coach would probably say take him to all three events in Nov. Sure, he's not the one who has to catch up three days of work.
Well, as one who's been there and done that, I have to tell you that his chances of qualifying for the JO's are WAY, WAY BETTER at the divisional qualifiers than the chances of getting points at a cadet NAC and qualifying that way. How long has he been fencing and what is his rating? Have you ever done a cadet NAC event or any NAC before (i.e., do you know what you are in for??) If it were I (or rather if it were my son) I would go with Y14 (unless he's an A or a B and has cadet points already) and cadet if it fits the schedule - forget the junior at this point unless he has boundless energy and/or is unlikely to make the 80% cut after the pools and only ends up doing 5 or 6 pool bouts each day.
Wouln't you know it? I asked the "Star" of this show and he says he'll fence cadet and Y14 (why didn't I think of that?). Why? He was in a Men's Open last Sunday and he fenced 'men' who were about five feet taller than him and with 'moustache' (referring to any men who passed puberty.) Although he did very well (14th out of 55) for a novice (I heard anyone who fenced less than 4 years falls in that category and he's been fencing less than two), he didn't think he'd do well in Junior. So the wise one says he'll do Y14 and Cadet.
So experience once again is the best teacher and in this case, the wisest one.
Now, only if we can get decent airfares and hotels which will be on a different thread all together.
Thank you all for your insights and advice. I love coming to this site and learning so many things that no one tells me at the club.
In our neck of the woods, a "novice" is someone who has been fencing for less than two years and hasn't competed much if at all. The Philly division runs at least one novice competition (or two - one for juniors and one for seniors) that are done "dry", i.e. no electrical equipment is used.
Just outside of the two week mark before I'd have to fly out to referee at the event and I still haven't heard anything. When I brought it up last, I emailed the head referee contact from the FOC webpage for more information, but have yet to receive a response.
Should I continue to hound and pester to be hired for this event? If so, who do I hound and/or pester? Will I receive any notification about not being hired for the event after my asking, or is there a time passed in which I'm just supposed to assume?
__________________ Destroy everything you touch today
Destroy me this way
Anything that may desert you
So it cannot hurt you
Just outside of the two week mark before I'd have to fly out to referee at the event and I still haven't heard anything. When I brought it up last, I emailed the head referee contact from the FOC webpage for more information, but have yet to receive a response.
Should I continue to hound and pester to be hired for this event? If so, who do I hound and/or pester? Will I receive any notification about not being hired for the event after my asking, or is there a time passed in which I'm just supposed to assume?
I had the same problem. No response. So, I assumed I wasn't hired and e-mailed some other contacts in the FOC. Those people responded and copied the head FOC. Still no response. I ended up fencing instead with the extended deadline.
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