Fantasy Fencing Club

[edew]

This could probably be posted in the Clubs forum, but it'll probably die a slow and insignificant death there.

Anyway, I may be moving my club to a larger space (4800 sqft as opposed to my current 2200 sqft). It's a warehouse type space with two support columns, but generally very open with no blockage. I've already mapped out how the strips would be.

However, given that I have time (2 months, maybe?) to make improvements and such, I'm soliciting inputs from club owners/managers and fencers alike on what they would like in a club. What amenity they would like to have at their club if they had a do-over. Bleacher seats? Different type of lighting? Refresh the walls with better paint? Wooden floors? Rubber mat floors? Some yet another type of floor that we've not discussed here? Endless cups of coffee? Lockers? Showers?

[keith]

Showers

Good lighting (bright is good but even is also important).

Depending on the window positions; blinds that prevent blindness.

Edit: and a decent coffee machine that does espresso.

[FoilyDeath]

Lighting. My kingdom for a window. Makes the whole thing a lot easier on the eyes both for fencing, for spectators, and for photographs.
Also, floor you can practice footwork on.

[Adler]

As a coach I would love the following:

1) Good acoustics.

2) Lunging pads/cuting bags/ thrusting silhouettes on the wall.

3) Wall Bars.

4) Mirrored wall.

5) Lockers.

6) Well cushioned/ sprung floors.

7) Good lighting.

8) Walking/ seating space.

[HDG]

Wet bar

[AlphaFire X5]

Floor: Our club has a tartan floor (kinda a slightly cushy foam rubber), and even though it is old, disentigrating, and impossible to clean because dirt has been pressed into it for decades, it still provides a decent amount of traction. It provides more traction than wooden gym floors without a doubt. Grounded strips would be nice for the point-weapon people; there is an epee club in San Antonio, TX that has all-metal floors that are okay for most things, but gets slippery when the pace picks up. Their floor is not the standard cheese-grater type metal strips, but rather a very smooth aluminum that almost looks like flat siding for houses. You can see a picture here. So all in all, I'd still prefer the tartan floor for most of the floor, and maybe a few grounded strips for at least the epeeists.

Lighting: Natural lighting is very nice and clean, but you have to worry about glare, inconsistancies in lighting amount and quality, and temperature differences. If a window was in place, you'd have to worry about the sun shining into someone's eyes (not a good thing in fencing). The light would also be variable throughout the day, evening, or during incliment weather. And don't forget that even with a good set of windows the sun will still heat up the room if it is shining directly into it. For efficiency and consistency, go with fluorescent bulbs. They are bright, produce a clean white light, don't produce a lot of heat or use a lot of energy like gas bulbs.

Seating: Bleacher seating would be good, as sometimes we tend to run out of room at my club for places to sit down. Padded chairs are coveted like food in, well, I'm not going to continue that thought.

Ammenities: Locker rooms with showers. Rather than dumping stuff on the sides of the room, being able to put it somewhere secure and out of the way would be great.

Water fountains are a given, and a refrigerator with gatorade would be great too (hey, you could even sell it, the 20oz bottles can be had for $0.50 a bottle and you could sell it for $1 per bottle, a perfectly reasonable cost).

Sometimes we like to fence with music on in the background, so a decent speaker setup is always a plus in my mind. Also makes warmup/conditioning a bit less bland. Nothing like running around the room to "Eye of the Tiger".

Paint: To counteract the slight harshness of the fluorescent lighting I suggested, a nice neutral light beige/tan wall paint would keep the room warm (visually). Good highlights would be dark greens, blues, and maybe reds.

[Mr Epee]

1. Reasonably priced drinks

2. Stripper pole

3. Sign that says "No Fatties"

4. WiFi so that patrons don't have to leave the premisis to brag about their totally cool fencing club.

[chefencer]

Originally Posted by FoilyDeath

Lighting. My kingdom for a window. Makes the whole thing a lot easier on the eyes both for fencing, for spectators, and for photographs.

True, but we have a problem with Too Much Sun in the afternoons coming through our windows. Skylights would be cool, though.

[remise]

Hot tub. Or pool. Can you imagine how nice it would be to have aqua-therapy after a tournament or even a good workout?

[AdamH]

A nice smoking jacket and lots of those bunny ears.

[LordShout]

Not having to leave the main room to refill my water bottle. A sink would be the absolute best option here if at all possible.

[warlordkenobi]

Originally Posted by LordShout

Not having to leave the main room to refill my water bottle. A sink would be the absolute best option here if at all possible.

Yes, this is a very good thing to have, the club I go to has a drinking fountain which is very convenient.

[cbcarey]

I don't know what you already have, so I took that as an excuse to build my own imaginary club...
This is probably more than you wanted to hear, but don't worry, If I think of more, I will add it later ;-)

Changing room with toilets and lockers.
Bonus points for showers.

Spectator area for parents of kids taking class that is moderately comfortable.
Bonus points for climate control.
Bonus points for cofee machine.
Bonus points for WiFi.
Bonus points for TV with DVD player to review tournament recordings with coach.

Working electric strips positioned for tight practice and full sized tournament use.
Strips that don't get slippery. A little rough on the shoes is better than rough on the body.
Bonus points for scoring machines with score/timers and end repeaters.
Bonus points for some grounded strips.
Bonus points for weights/testers/remotes/common tighteners at full strips.
Bonus points for good strip numbering
Bonus points for a reel system that doesn't suck in some way.

PA system that works and can be heard in every corner of the facility over the sound of screaming and buzzing.

Temperature control (heat/cool both needed for my geography, not sure what you would need)

Good visible area for the bout committe to setup when needed.

Good location for displaying pools/de assignments/seeding lists
Bonus points for a decent projection based system that eliminates crowding.

Retail section (assuming you want to sell various fencing/club related goods). Its always nice to be able to buy a wire or a pack of springs at the last minute.

Parking

Water fountain
Bonus points for sports drink vending machine.

Many mirrors positioned to watch footwork
Targets on walls/columns for blade work practice
Lighting that does not glare at you on certain strips.
Storage area that is neat-behind closed doors (for all your stuff you don't display but keep around anyway)
Weapons / equipment racks that can be easily accessed by large groups of young kids who aren't yet familiar with how to dress themselves and how to put the equipment back.
Armorers bench that has some basic tools and good lighting. For cutting tangs, bending blades, rewiring, etc..

Additional bonus points for
Bag storage area that does not interfere with strip use.
Near-strip seating available that doesn't get taken over by equipment storage.
Weight training area, dumb bells, machine, etc..
Informational post-it type board in clear view of common areas that can be used to communicate with members on various goings on.

[HDG]

Originally Posted by cbcarey

Bonus points for sports drink vending machine.

This could even generate a bit of revenue.

[Neinteen]

• Air conditioning.
• Water fountain.
• Vending Machine - Both snacks and drinks; since most people come after work/school hours when they're hungry
• Benches or seats
• Places for parents to watch, yet not be so close as to actually talk to their kids LOL
• Maestro's room or armorers room or something, so people dont go looking for you all the time
• Place for bags to be organized like a cubby or something
• general area for quick conversation, planning for events, etc. ( calender is helpful too if ur planning tournies or lessons )

thats all i can think of but yeah

[TBean]

Enough walking space around the perimeter of the strips so that people without a mask or proper shoes will not cut across the floor to get to other parts of the club like, the bathroom.

[Timacheff]

-- elevated finals strip that can also be used during pools, lessons, etc.
-- dedicated check-in area (for floor fees, greeting newcomers, registration, tournaments, etc.)
-- lots of great photos and posters ;-)

[Grasshopper]

1: glazed nut vendor
2: the clapper
3: rene roche dart board
4: Old Spice dispenser

[Mo]

Most important:
A rule stating NO LEATHER PANTS that is always enforced.
The Momster

[Sinestra]

A wall with a mirror has proved to be invaluable in my experience.
Also, I second air conditioning, but also having a water heating system in the building that will provide warm water as well as cold. (Which, of course, if there was a locker room plus shower scenario involved here, one would hope would be requisite ) I'll throw my vote in for windows, too. If you practice during the day it could be irritating, but depending on what direction they face that might not be an issue. Not to mention, you could always invest in blinds

Having a refrigerator for people to keep water bottles and things is also very useful. My club also orders in labeled water that people can by for a dollar per bottle, which could be useful for generating revenue--you just have to make sure that people actually pay for it, heh. But having a good water fountain or cooler could help solve that problem quite well.

Having benched seating near the strips is probably a good idea. I'm not sure that bleachers would be a great plan--since from what I've seen they just tend to accumulate crap on and under them more than any other form of seating--but some sort of bench-y installation would probably be much appreciated by fencer parents and observers. (That, or readily available chairs. Seating is a priceless commodity at my club sometimes, haha.)

Having space available for fencers to warm up without using a dedicated electrical strip would also be nice. My club has quite a few strips, but anyone who arrives at practice after the general footwork/drilling has ended doesn't really have any good space to warm themselves up in...it's really frustrating at times.

Just some ideas.