NAC Workshops?

[catwood1]

Geez, I guess we (saber refs) can't get a break ever huh? I've never heard the complaint of not enough simultaneous calls*...almost makes me glad I did zero saber bouts last weekend**.


*Although if there's any event where such a complaint is likely it's a D2/3.

**b/c I certainly haven't been calling anywhere near as many simultaneous actions as I would have a season or two ago.

I rarely ref sabre, so I can't speak to that.

I tend to get alot of complaints in foil that I don't call enough simuls. Usually by the fencer/coach who is losing the attack counter attack. There is a decent number of foil fencers/coaches who think that close attack counter attack off the line in foil shouldn't be called tight.


Coach: "NO! They both made an advance lunge off the line, its simultaneous!"

Me: "Yes, they did both make advance lunge off the line. But the other girl started first."

Coach: "It doesn't matter! 2 advance lunges are SIMULTANEOUS!" *scurry off looking for bout committee...

Hehe, oh the coaches...

[oso97]

I rarely ref sabre, so I can't speak to that.

I tend to get alot of complaints in foil that I don't call enough simuls. Usually by the fencer/coach who is losing the attack counter attack. There is a decent number of foil fencers/coaches who think that close attack counter attack off the line in foil shouldn't be called tight.


Coach: "NO! They both made an advance lunge off the line, its simultaneous!"

Me: "Yes, they did both make advance lunge off the line. But the other girl started first."

Coach: "It doesn't matter! 2 advance lunges are SIMULTANEOUS!" *scurry off looking for bout committee...

Hehe, oh the coaches...

First mistake you made - responding to the coach. Focus your attention on the fencers.

[teacup]

What about workshops for parents and fencers on international travel and team selection?

Who is eligible to request entry?
What support does the USFA provide?
When and how are fencers notified that they are confirmed?
When should I make travel arrangements?
Are any chaperones provided?
Does the USFA help with travel arrangements?
What are the duties of an assigned coach?
How are assigned coaches selected?
Do fencers travel as a team?
How do I make a cadet/jr team?
What are team points?
What is team selection criteria?
Is there any funding?
Do I have to travel internationally to make the team?

[KShan5[PrFC]]

First mistake you made - responding to the coach. Focus your attention on the fencers.

Enh....his response to the coach seemed pretty appropriate. He was asked a question, he answered it succinctly and then returned to the fencers. You can't ignore the coaches 100% of the time.....it just makes your life easier as a ref to appease them from time to time.

[agyee95616]

I would love to see a workshop on how to teach older fencers, or how to train as an older fencer. I just got into the sport a few months ago, and love it. I try to do all the footwork drills that the young kids do, but I promptly pulled a calf muscle doing sword jumps. It would be great to learn how to be the best fencer I can given the physical constraints that I have now as a 43 year old.

[Timacheff]

I would like to see the club business workshop, but hopefully better prepared and conducted than the one during the Summer Nationals. That one was just too free-flowing with no direction of what to talk about. And it really was blind leading the blind. (When discussions go to the level of bake-sales to bring in revenues...)

The club event at nationals was intended to be a discussion forum, not a training camp. We've run several of these before, and we intentionally have not had a specific agenda because the interests have varied so diversely; we've tried some different formats, I have led the group with support from some specialists in a marketing and branding discussion (my area of expertise, for those of you who don't know me beyond photography), but inevitably people wanted to discuss things more broadly -- such as club management issues, whether to be a not-for-profit or a for-profit, class pricing topics, etc. More recently, I've had a more open format with interesting industry "experts" (such as Jerry Benson's participation), and not limited to one area (e.g., marketing).

We have discussed doing a more topic/agenda-driven workshop that focuses on specific areas, such as developing a club business plan, etc. But we haven't offered one yet.

Part of the vision for this event is that it is virtually the only opportunity as an open forum combined with a social gathering where club owners can get together and share experiences. I believe that there's a lot of value in that -- especially given that the forum is free. We've always had good feedback about the event and people have enjoyed it, made new relationships, and learned new things.

That's not to say it hasn't occasionally gotten into the proverbial weeds, which is why the forum is moderated. But overall the response has been very positive. And I take exception to it being the "blind leading the blind." We've offered insight and contributions from successful club owners and business experts, and many of the attendees are highly successful and bring a lot of interesting and useful information and guidance to the table. But of course we'll always get the elementary comments and questions from those who are just starting, or who don't look at club ownership as seriously or from a hardcore business perspective.

That said, I do very much value this feedback and think that there's more than enough room to have something structured as well as an event that's more free-form and social. We only this year began doing this event again after a several year hietus, so we're open to ideas to make it better, but to preserve the benefits we've seen from past formats.

The business side of club ownership is a multi-faceted issue that has barely been touched by the USFA, and yet it represents the lifeblood of the organization. It has a long way to go, so inevitably how we go about sharing information, educating, marketing, and improving will change and evolve -- and inasmuch as many of our athletes and teams compete with one another, it behooves us to collaborate frequently and in a variety of formats designed to suit our interests and needs.