Quote:
Originally Posted by Allen Evans  This webpage was the result of a clinic held at the DC Fencers club, and was written by Mary Anne Walker. The entries on this page covered most -- if not all -- of the questions the parents asked.
Most of the parents attending thought the use of a open forum for discussion and asking questions to be very useful.
AE |
This is the BEST site-so complete. And very parent friendly. Start writing the manual from here and you can't go wrong.
All of the other posts were excellent suggestions as well!
After I read the USFA site as a newbie parent, I felt like I was being admonished to back away from anything that had to do with my child and fencing-just stay out of the way until called for and hand over the credit card. The plus side of this site was that it got me asking more questions.
Fortunately, we had a coach who encouraged parents to get involved in all aspects of fencing-and to try it out ourselves. We learned to direct, run tournaments, fix and maintain weapons. He sent us to websites, recommended books, etc.
After four years of many local tournaments, NACs, Summer Nationals-we are still learning!
Maybe travel is one thing you need to educate them about. IF their child adores this sport and wants to further themselves they may need to travel.
If they show promise, start them traveling early with the thought that it is not their results that matter, it's the experience. They learn to do homework on the plane, eat food that is different, sleep in a strange bed-and then wake up and fence in the a.m. When their skills are fully developed-the big venue/travel stuff will be old hat. That's the best advice I got as a new parent.
Top five things I wish I'd known about travel:
5. Flying- nonstop to the tournament, so you are assured your bags arrive with you. Also, arrive EARLY at the airport. Another trick to making sure the bags go with you.
4. Take out a frequent flyer points Credit card-should have been doing that from the beginning...we've earned three tickets in the year we've had ours. Cha-ching!
3. Sign up for every hotel points card there is. Cha-ching deux.
2. Powdered Gatorade in quart size packets + 1 Nalgene bottle = big savings. Also packing anything non-perishable (power bars,etc) in the bag.
And the number one thing I wish I'd done/known earlier....
ORGANIZATION-keeping the tournament arrangements in some sort of filing system so that if you decide at the last minute to not go somewhere, you won't find out that your credit card was charged for not showing up at the hotel...you'll know where you are staying...waivers signed and ready to go...car rentals...just pull the packet and go. Wish I had started that YEARS ago!
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