Buying Equipment for a Club

[fehnor]

A new fencing club has started the school I attend, and one of the administrators' concerns is the cost of equipment. Another school in the area has had a fencing club for several years now, and it has been decided that the schools can share equipment. We have enough equipment for about three or four bouts at a time and enough foils for everyone to practice with. Each club has about fifty members. Should the schools buy more practice jackets and masks, or should the schools purchase more expensive electrical equipment? The schools have a very limited budget, so if electrical equipment is puchased, then there would barely be enough money to buy the minimal amount of equipment needed for a bout.

------------------
Jesse

[Matt]

You have fifty members and your school wont foot the bill for some basic equipment? Glad to know that my school isn't the only increadibly stingy one around. Well here're my suggestions based on building up my universities fencing program from non-existent two years ago to somewhat stable right now with no financial help from anyone.

First off, you really should try to get your own practice equipment for two reasons. First, having your own equipment will allow more people to practice, and I guarantee you that if your members spend most of their practices standing around waiting to fence you'll loose most of your members. The second reason is that, in my opinion, having something, anything that your club can point to and say "this belongs to our club" is very important psychologically for keeping your club running. It takes a lot of work to start a club, and if your club doesn't own anything of its own it is a lot easier to throw in the towel and give up.

So how are you going to pay for this? Well, getting basic equipment can be expensive, but it's not impossible. Are you charging dues? If not then maybe you should, and it doesn't have to be much, just $20.00 per quarter/semester. With fifty members that's $1000.00, which should get you off to a pretty good start. Many suppliers offer bulk discounts, and I know Triplette often gives good deals to clubs for equipment that is somehow cosmetically messed up, but still perfectly funcional. Beyond dues, do fundraisers, or host local tournaments. Anything to generate a few hundred dollars to by a couple more masks and jackets. And finally, don't be afraid to constantly harrass your school for money. If you really have fifty people regularly participating then they should be able to come up with the cash to buy at least some basic equipment.

As far as what to buy, first concentrate on the basics, i.e. masks and jackets, and weapons. Don't buy knickers or gloves or even under-arm protectors until you have enough jackets, masks, and weapons for everyone. And don't even think about buying electric equipment until you have members looking to compete. I'll tell you right now that somewhere between half and all of your electric foils will be broken at any one time due to the abuse they'll take from fifty different people using them all the time. Wait till your club has been around a year or so before making the plunge for electric gear.

Finally, don't get discouraged. You may find that the fifty people who came to your first meeting don't all come back. I've found that a helluva lot of people find the idea of fencing great, but far fewer are willing to actually put the time and effort into becomming fencers. Starting a club is a lot of work, and you'll be amazed how much bureaucracy your school forces you to deal with. Stick with it, though, and with some luck you can build a very healthy program.

Good Luck

Matt Pearsall
President, Western Washington University Fencing Club www.wwwu.edu/~fencing
fencing@cc.wwu.edu (club)
fencermatt@yahoo.com (personal)

[HilandDoug]

Great advice, Matt. I must, however, stress the importance of hosting tournaments as a way to get money for equipment. Contact your local USFA board members and propose a tournament date, splitting the profits with the Division. Spend a few dollors mailing fliers, and you should have a good turn out. Also, at one time I used to host unsanctioned novice tournaments, because I had classes full of novice fencers. $5 entry fee, medals to the top 3, available from Crown Trophy in New York, or at a distributor near you. I used to get 50 fencers at those tournaments. I'd target the high school programs, and community college adult ed classes. Those people have no electric gear to compete, aren't USFA members, and want to compete with people on their own level who they don't see all the time at their club. Good luck.

[scarlet_woman156k]

Matt has some GREAT adivce there. I was the president of my college club and we didn't have a whole lot of electric club equipment. Usually, if people wanted to compete, they would purchase their own electric equipment. You should definitely stick with the basics: masks, dry weapons, jackets (a whole range of sizes), and plenty of breast cups! Make sure practice jackets are back zips...since there will be righties and lefties.

Most of the clubs I have fenced at had either no or minimal electric practice. The clubs that I have belonged to that were 75 to 100% electric were very expensive to belong to (50 to 70 bucks a month, not including private drills)... and it was strictly a competition club.

The present goal for you should be to teach fencing to a broad range of people for as cost-effective as possible.



[This message has been edited by scarlet_woman156k (edited 09-18-2000).]

[Drew42]

All great advice! and I hope it works for me(us). We have a group currently trying to start a club at Offutt AFB in Nebraska. We plan on charging *low* dues ($10 - $20 per month) to build participation. We are getting no financial help, although the local club in Omaha (The Musketeers Fencing Club !!!) is letting those of us who belong to that club borrow equipment for the nights that the Offutt club is fencing. The basics (masks, jackets, etc.) should suck up most of our funds for at leat a year. But what the heck, its another night and another group I get to fence!

All of these suggestions are excellent. Harrasment of the school is a very important tool. Hell, I harassed my athletics director for a whole year before we got a club.
A suggestion for those fencers standing around: Have everyone not fencing act as a director or point judge (if there are enough idle ones) Directing, even if you are very new to the sport is an invaluable tool. It forces you to conciously examine different styles and moves. It also helps the fencer to understand the director's perspective, which can be just as important as the opponent's. I wish that someone had forced me to direct when I was first starting out. I have always been worried that I will make an error in judgement even after all this time. If I had had that early exposure then perhaps I would be more confident in my decisions.
One thing to remember if you decide to use this: emphasize to your students that this is merely a practice session and that imput is to be allowed from the fencers themselves. Sometimes you will get a fencer who sees this as an opportunity to hurt one of their fellow fencers by making unfair calls. If you make it clear that anyone caught doing so will not be allowed to direct but must instead do drills, and keep an eye out for such behavior, the problem should be minimal or nonexistant.

As far as equipment goes, I have always encouraged students to buy their own equipment (although there is no requirement or implication of requirement) I include their purchases with the clubs on orders and often times this has bumped us up to the next level of discounts on bulk orders. Encourage participation in fundraisers. We only have 15 fencers and through much selling of candy and three seasons we finally have enough equipment for everyone and even some electric.
Good luck.

------------------
"The sword isn't our lives, it just keeps us alive for the really good parts" - Graham Ashe