Fencing Club

[Foil Girl]

Me and my club are trying to get a club going at my school. We had a demostration one day at lunch, and if the people were interested in joining a fencing club at the school, we had a clipboard to put their names down on. I got about 30 or so names. How should I go from there? I was thinking sending all those people flyers for a meeting so we could get together and talk. Any suggestions?

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-Foil Girl

[swordsen]

Don't just talk. Get them together and start tehm fencing as soon as possible! When you have your meeting have them show up ready to learn and get them started.
The longer you delay the less people you will get.

[saberkid]

yeah if you can get them into a room and start teaching them to fence the sooner the better for 30 ppl you should have about 5 ppl helping you maybe 4 but he's right the sooner the better

[epeemancer]

Don't get discouraged!! Sometimes it feels like your club is going no where fast but just keep at it. Good Luck

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It is not who you are or what you've done, It is who you WILL be and what you WILL do!

[Nasty]

Opportunity:
There are those that dream of success and there are those that up and do something about it!

If you truly want a club at your school, do it yourself initiative will take you along way in life. I am sure you get the club going then all the legal stuff will be handled and so will the financial issues.

I am 23 and a US Marine so I look at things different but don’t le your age sex or those bastards who could care less about it unless they get something out of it. Go do what you need to do and do not take no for answer good luck…
Eli Mcginty

[Rick]

Initiative is what I'm seeing here... and that's great! One of the things you want to instill in the founding members is a sense of belonging. If people feel like they belong to something (or something belongs to them), they'll take it more seriously.
One thing we are doing at my fencing club is having T-shirts and Warm-ups made. Something that will tell other people that this is 'MY' Club. We don't have the apparel yet, but it's getting our members excited.
Granted that we are older and make our own money... since you're students, you may want to consider another avenue towards 'camaraderie'. But the jacket idea is always a big hit in schools.
Also, once you get started, take your members to a Fencing Tournament and have them watch seasoned fencers go at it. If their the competitive types, you'll have them looking forward to your next club practice.
Good luck!

[Mergs]

IMHO, and from having done the same thing on several occasions, I would say that of the 30 names, 15 will show up for the first meeting, 7 will actually start classes and you will probably end up with one or two that continue on. Which is not bad odds. The keys to being successful are:

1. Get the faculty behind you. That is an enthusiastic sponsor that will help out (maybe even fence).
2. Make sure that no matter what, classes, meetings, etc. are consistently held. DON'T CANCEL THEM IF YOU CAN POSSIBLY HELP IT!!
3. Have equipment available as soon as you can.

Be positive. Be enthusiastic. And be there!

Good luck.

[Moonitic]

The best way to sell anything boils down to one word: Marketing. Tell the world what you have, why it will change their lives, & that they MUST have it. Once you got people on the hook, you need to KEEP them there. As others have mentioned, get weapons in their hands as soon as possible. Make it fun, make it interesting. Just MAKE it!

One of the most important things to remember is that you need to be a contagious leader. Show such enthusiasm that people can't help but be just as excited as you are.