Coaching Certification

[Rick Thompson]

I've been the SE Regional VP of the USFCA for several years now, and can address some of the issues raised here.

First, as it was pointed out, certification is not THE THING that makes you a better coach. However, the striving for & journey to the certification levels does.

Certification is a benefit to anyone who participates with schools, parks, or other organizations, where some sort of diploma or certification is often required. The USFCA has the distinction of being the US representative of the international organization responsible for certifying Fencing Masters. This carries a little more weight, and has more accountability than some of the johnny-come-lately "organizations" from which one might obtain a certification.

The USFA Coaches College is a great program, has some fine instructors, a cohesive and detailed curriculum and a facility that is most coaches would envy.... If someone has the opportunity to attend, there's a lot to be gained. Certification from the CC is also recognized nationally, but is distinctly different from the USFCA's.

Someone mentioned early on that the USFCA is not in the business of training coaches. This is a hold-over from an earlier time. The perception of the USFCA as a clique-ish and certification-only organization is something we're trying to change. Some of the things that have been done in recent years include:

• Increased the number of local and regional USFCA sponsored clinics.
• Created the Annual Coaches Conference - a 3 or 4 day workshop held in different places each year. This includes training sessions for coaches as well as certification testing. See below for info on this year's conference.
• Increased the number of local clinics and workshops being held & sponsored by the USFCA.
• Updated the study materials. The on-line tests are based upon some traditional texts (e.g. Szabo's "Fencing and the Master") and includes texts on modern fencing theory, general physiology, training, sports psychology and so on.
• Implementing Single Weapon Prevot & Master certifications - this will allow a person to test and become certified in a single weapon, rather than having to learn & test in all three. This process has been embraced by the Academie of Armes International.
• Totally revamped the testing process: The Cerification and Accreditation Board spent hundreds of hours creating a new on-line testing service for the Moniteur and Prevot levels . This replaced the rather older (and outdated) tests used for these levels.
• Implemented the "Guild Academy" program - which denotes a school/salle where the instructors are USFCA certified. This can give an additional level of confidence in the training level of the school.

The USFCA is working to outgrow the the "Certification Only" perception, and to become a full service support organization for fencing coaches.

There's a new website currently under development, which will make the existing info easier to access (and more readable), and include a LOT more information of interest to coaches.

Another website feature that will benefit both the coaching community and the public will be the "Find a Coach" feature, which will allow the public to search for USFCA member coaches in local areas. Member coaches will be able to post their salle & contact info, along with some bio or other material to attact students.

This year's Annual Coaches Conference is being held in Lambertville, NJ on Aug 7-10. Here's the link to the conference flyer: http://www.usfca.org/usfca/misc/USFC...ence_FLYER.pdf

The conference boasts a great list of presenters, and is one of the ongoing efforts of the USFCA to increase its presence and usefulness to the coaching community.

Unofrtunately, a number of people join the USFCA only long enough to test for a certification level and then allow their membership to lapse. The organization's goal is to ensure that coaches find value in retaining a membership. Look for more info and changes in the months to come!

Cordially,

Rick Thompson,
Coach, Palmetto Fencers, Columbia, SC
Prevot d'Armes
SE Regional VP, US Fencing Coaches Assoc.
==================================

[MdA]

Thanks Rick for the great update on the USFCA.

This thread reminds me of the scene from "The Wizard of Oz" where the Scarecrow asks the wizard for a brain....remember the song "If I Only Had a Brain"?

The wizard tells him he has more brains then most of the guys with diplomas...."But they have one thing you haven't got...."

The journey is more important than the diploma....but to get the diploma you gotta make the journey....and if you are making the journey .....you might as well get the diploma.

Abdel Salem will be elected President of the USFCA in August 2008 at the annual conference. He is the Head Coach at the Air Force Academy and he is a "good guy" and a great coach. He coached a NCAA Champion and Olympian. He wants you to pass the exams. He is also the current Chairman of the Certification Board.

Yves Auriol (coach of Michael Marx) will be re-elected to the Certification Board. He is also a "good guy" and a great Maitre.

Check out the other new officer nominees on the news page www.usfca.org

Prevot Andrei Samorodov will be hosting clinics with me at Alamo Fencing Academy in San Antonio.

Ya'll come on down and we will help you prepare for the exams.

You can register online for clinics at AskFred.net and you can join the USFCA online on the website www.usfca.org.

All the info you need to pass the exams and take the tests is online on the "member's only" section of the webpage.

And if you are going to make the journey you might as well get an internationally recognized diploma from the AAI....www.escrime.org

[Allen Evans]

MdA:

I'm glad to hear that you're going to be hosting clinics. How are people going to find out about them? Will they be on AskFred? Posted on the USFCA website (when ever the new one gets rolled out)? What skill level will these clinics be?

Allen Evans

[kuroutesshin]

Thank you for the info. I haven't quite forgotten about it, but it's just a little ways off.

[MdA]

Originally Posted by Allen Evans

MdA:

I'm glad to hear that you're going to be hosting clinics. How are people going to find out about them? Will they be on AskFred? Posted on the USFCA website (when ever the new one gets rolled out)? What skill level will these clinics be?

Allen Evans

We will post them on AskFred and also on the USFCA website. We are planning to do three down here next year. One in the Fall, one in the Spring, and one in the Summer.

We will probably organize by weapon. They will be on the weekends so we will follow the weekend format that Vinnie and I used at the Pan American Fencing Academy a few years ago.

We don't have much sabre down here so we will probably start with Moniteur Foil weekend, Moniteur Epee weekend, then Prevot/Master Foil, etc...we can add a sabre weekend if there is enough interest later.

I would like to follow the format where the Prevot/Master candidates come in and help teach the Moniteurs and give the moniteur exams...go home with assignments and then come back later in the year for their Prevot/Master clinic and exams.

[MdA]

Originally Posted by MdA

We will post them on AskFred and also on the USFCA website. We are planning to do three down here next year. One in the Fall, one in the Spring, and one in the Summer.

Let's move the discussion on Coaching certification and credentials back over to this thread from the Amateur Coaches thread.

I think I am hurting their number of views...

When you pass your Moniteru cert at the upcoming clinics in San Antonio, in addition to a USFCA certificate, you will receive an internationally recognized AAI certificate.

It will take a few months to get it in the mail....if you are interested in what it looks like...I have attached a copy of mine...name has been changed to protect the inocent.

[MdA]

Originally Posted by Allen Evans

Keep in mind that it is the avowed mission of the USFCA to only certify coaches, not train them. In that regard, your path towards accredidation is a completely seperate path from "learning much more about fencing".

AE

This is not an entirely accuarate statement. The USFCA has been training US coaches since August 1955.

The first clinic was conducted by Maitres Joseph Mastropaolo and Edward Lucia.

[Allen Evans]

I would say that the individual USFCA members have been training coaches...but the USFCA itself has not had a formal program in training coaches to achieve certification. At one point (ten years ago or so) I asked the then president of the USFCA why there was no formal guidelines by the organization to train coaches, and he informed that this was not the mission of the USFCA.

Perhaps this attitude has changed?

Allen

[Jason]

Originally Posted by Allen Evans

I would say that the individual USFCA members have been training coaches...but the USFCA itself has not had a formal program in training coaches to achieve certification. At one point (ten years ago or so) I asked the then president of the USFCA why there was no formal guidelines by the organization to train coaches, and he informed that this was not the mission of the USFCA.

Perhaps this attitude has changed?

Allen

I was told the same thing within the last year or two.
Without that formal educational structure, the certification "mission" doesn't mean much.

[MdA]

I think there has been a struggle within the USFCA and its predecessor the NFCAA about this training mission. While I agree the primary mission of the USFCA is certification, there has always been recognition and elements within the association that fought for the need for eduaction and training..back in a little bit with some history

[MdA]

Here is the first committee report on Fencing Master Education by Joseph Mastropaolo in 1954.

I had to paste it into a word document to upload. Please scroll down to second page.

[MdA]

Maitre Jean Jacques Gillet served as president of the association for two terms until his retirement from Cornell in 1989. He retired to his homeland of France and continued to serve the USFCA as vice president and chairman of the Pedagogy Commission of the Academie of Arms International (AAI) from 1986-1999.

M. Gillet's greatest contribution to US Fencing was his long involvement between 1973 and 1984 with the American Fencing Academy (AFA), the two-year Fencing Masters program located on the campus of Cornell University. The program was developed in response to the need for a national academy for the training of Fencing Masters located in the United States. M. Gillet's AFA involvement spanned the entire existence of the academy. (Staffed over time as well by M. Raoul Sudre, M. Jacques Piguet and M. Steven Cook). In 1977, he published Foil Technique and Terminology which was the primary written reference for training and certification within the USFCA for many years. It was updated in 1994 and still serves as a valuable reference for those preparing for USFCA examinations


The program was designed on the French model of the Institute of Sports and the Military School at Antibes. The two-year full-time graduate program included the study of virtually every aspect involved in the teaching of fencing. Emphasis was also placed on the total business of fencing, especially the running and maintenance of a fencing salle. An average training and study day at the AFA lasted twelve hours. As a result of that program a group of Fencing Masters trained in the US emerged, working with and developing successful fencers and fencing programs at the local, national and international level. The Fencing Master Graduates of the American Fencing Academy: Lynn Antonelli, Guy Bertrand, Steve Cook, Adam Crown, Gene Gettler, Raymond Finkleman, James Fazekas, Greame Jennings, John Helmich, Anthony “Buckie” Leach, James Murray, Colin Oberg, Robert Scranton, Marc Twomey, and John Wills represent a part of the legacy to the art and sport of fencing inspired by M. Gillet. Today, M. Gillet resides in Gerde, France, at the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains. For a detailed description of the program at AFA please visit the website of graduate Adam Crown where he answers the question: What exactly is a fencing master and how did you get to be one?

[Rick Thompson]

The USFCA has bandied about the idea of creating a methodology of instruction, but this has not met with much approval for several reasons.

One is that there is considerable debate about what method of instruction is best/more correct/appropriate (see below).

Another reason is that the VERY MOMENT such a methodology is set down on paper, it becomes obsolete. And then we'll have the problem of people pointing to that as "the official document". Not to mention the fact that many people will just ignore it.

So the statement that "individuals in the USFCA have been providing training" is relatively accurate. The organization is trying to change that, however, and offer a more cohesive method of instructing coaches, and a more structured and easy-to-implement manner of hosting coaching clinics.

The problem with a "standard methodology" is that the USFCA would, in effect, be creating an "American School of Fencing" - like the "French School." Such an animal cannot exist, as our coaching base is much too diverse. Requiring a coach to adhere to the "american methodology" of training would rule out the expertise and contributions of coaches who learned in other 'schools' (e.g. French, Polish or Hard Knocks).

The certification process & examinations test the LEVEL of knowledge, not necessarily the means of applying it. It is remarkable to see the different means of working a lesson or class that examinees exhibit! An examiner on a cert board will usually look for the coach demonstrating AN effective means of teaching, not A PARTICULAR means of teaching. And this is as it should be.

The Coaches College, especially at the lower levels, has established a standard means of teaching. And their examinations look for those particular methods of instruction to be demonstrated. Their methodology is effective, and has been created by a set of talented instructors (e.g. Alex Beguinet, Abdel Salem, Ed Richards, & Ed Korfanty). But it is not the ONLY means of instructing.

Here's a simple question: What is the best means of teaching a lunge? As a current thread on this very question demonstrates, there are a number of ways of teaching students to perform this core technique. The USFCA's stance is basically to acknowledge the different techniques, as long as the underlying principles of kenesiology, motor skills, anatomical movements, and tactical usage can be demonstrated and discussed. The level of the coach plays into the formula, and the level of their student. And, clearly, a good instructor will modify his/her means of teaching for different students.

Now, having said that, the USFCA will be working to create a "curriculum" (for lack of a better term" that helps to prepare coaches for certification, and allows for variation of types of instruction. In some cases, the USFCA may sponsor "topical" clinics, which focus on specific aspects of coaching (e.g. Class instruction, Youth instruction, Risk Management, etc). And, just as Tiger Woods would lead a Golf clinic in a different way that Jack Nicklaus, so the instructors will work in the same framework but give their own flavor to the same topic.

Hope this helps!

[Allen Evans]

Three quick comments:

1. For the most part, any established coach is going to ignore an established cirriculum. That's to be expected, and even encouraged. A cirriculum (or "school" of fencing) isn't FOR them. It's for the people in those places who are just starting and don't know what questions to ask, let alone the answers. And the cirriculum would also assist those extablished coaches who want to teach apprentice coaches, but would welcome a "course guide".

I can't tell you how many pm and emails I get from perfect strangers asking the most basic of coaching questions. I started my own coaching website in order to systematically document the answers I found to some of my own questions about fencing (and I update it as I find the mistakes). There is some initial effort involved, but maintaining it has not been a full time (or even a part time) job.

2. There seems to be an absolute phobia against an "American approach" to teaching fencing. I'm not sure why. Coaches in the US from other systems (Hungarian, Italian, Icelandic...) will just ignore such a system, and teach what they learned in their respective home countries. I feel that there is an in-arguable base of knowlege for fencing that could be documented for new coaches. The Canadian Coaching manuals are a good example of approachable, mostly correct, and very accesiable documents for a beginning coach. See comment #1 above.

3. The USFCA has always maintened that exams are only about knowlege and approach. But in reality, they all too often reflect the bias of the examiners. I was VERY FORTUNATE in having Buzz Hurst, Ed Richards, and Muriel Bower on my board...they approached my Prevost exam with very open minds, and a lot of good, critical thinking. Other boards I have heard of (and witnessed) have not been nearly as gracious, or open minded. Imagine the fate of a coach with a strong modern game who has a classical fencing master on his or her board. Would they pass? We would all like to think so, but I have my doubts.

AE

[Jason]

Originally Posted by Rick Thompson

One is that there is considerable debate about what method of instruction is best/more correct/appropriate (see below).

Another reason is that the VERY MOMENT such a methodology is set down on paper, it becomes obsolete. And then we'll have the problem of people pointing to that as "the official document".

Any adopted methodology would need to be "organic". It would require regular (perhaps yearly) review. This process of review would result in methodology that would be both relevant and changing. It would also result in a much more informed organization.

Originally Posted by Rick

Not to mention the fact that many people will just ignore it.

Then those people should not be administering tests. The idea of creating an "American School" is to benefit those coaches who wish to learn and receive acknowledgment (through accreditation) of that education. Why would you care about the people who aren't interested in the material?

Originally Posted by Rick

The problem with a "standard methodology" is that the USFCA would, in effect, be creating an "American School of Fencing" - like the "French School." Such an animal cannot exist, as our coaching base is much too diverse. Requiring a coach to adhere to the "american methodology" of training would rule out the expertise and contributions of coaches who learned in other 'schools' (e.g. French, Polish or Hard Knocks).

You're overlooking who the American School would seek to serve. Someone who was already educated in another school, would not be in your market for students (although it could be reasonable to "grandfather" such people into the system). And, in spite of their different methodology, you could still use them as educators. Czajkowski is often invited to France or Italy to teach courses and give lectures. His methodology is different than theirs and is not what they are tested on. However, that does not dismiss the value of adding another perspective (one that, when the standard methodology comes under its regular review, may even be implemented).

Originally Posted by Rick

Here's a simple question: What is the best means of teaching a lunge?

You actually don't have to pick the "best" means of teaching anything. You just need to pick a standard means (or system, really--it should be something that can be adapted to the student and situation). The organization needs to have a set methodology to give the diploma weight. You need to be able to say that the diploma denotes a certain specific knowledge and skill set for it to have any value. That methodology can then, as I said above, be subject to regular review so that it can be constantly improved.

The reason that a coaching degree from France or Poland is impressive is not because of the test that the coach took, but because of the methodology that the degree certifies that the coach knows.

It's the methodology that matters, not the test.

I believe that the reason that the USFCA doesn't create an American school is a fear of becoming even more marginalized. "What if the US Russian coaches don't respect our system?" "What if the Poles think we're retarded?" The result is an organization trying to win the approval of everyone and, therefore, achieving nothing.

If a Polish or French or whatever coach comes to the US, his degree carries weight (often his unsupported claim to having that degree will carry weight). If a USFCA coach goes to another country, it means nothing. The only way to make the organization and its certification impressive is to create an "American School".

[Jason]

Looks like Allen types faster than me...

[Allen Evans]

Originally Posted by Jason

Looks like Allen types faster than me...

....though I think your arguments are probably more sound and convey the advantages of having a system better than I did.

I know it seems that I am slamming the USFCA at very turn. I really am a believer in a professional organization for coaches in the United States. The USFCA is the only logical organization to fulfill that role.

But I'll echo Jason's comment here: The USFCA has spent so much time not willing to take a stand on coaching matters that it is very much on the verge of being irrelevant. I'd like to see that change before it's too late. I think that this change is needed. I think that if the USFCA expands it's horizons about the role it can play in US fencing (and yes, pisses a few coaches off in the process) it will find itself in demand.

Allen Evans