Kid's Competition

[Applesauce and Foils]

Hi, guys!
I am having an in-club competition for the members of my club. These are little kids (around 7 years old) that have a wonderful outlook on fencing and are all interested in competing. I decided that the best way to introduce them to competition would be to hold one in a friendly, fun environment.
All of the kids are going to get small prizes just for participating. We are also going to have prizes for the 1st place winners. Any ideas? (They don't even have to be fencing-related gifts.)
Any other ways you can think of to make this even more fun for them?

Thanks
AF (and today that's a party hat, not a dunce cap)

[Fencergrl]

I made these for the young kids in my classes. They are just candy necklaces with gold, silver and bronze chocolate coins attached. They were fun little edible medals. Stickers & posters from Leon Paul were also a big hit.

http://www.fencing.net/gallery/showp...4/limit/recent

[Applesauce and Foils]

I'm going to say it, even though I never thought I would succumb to using this phrase
"Awesome!"

Thanks! That's a great idea!
AF

[Fencergrl]

One kids tournament I really like they do several things right.

1) They chose refs that are "kid friendly". They're great about explaining rules to kids and complimenting them.

2) They offer free bottled water and healthy snacks (fruit etc...) because both the kids and the parents are new to the idea of a tournament.

3) They have equipment available to borrow. They sign it out at registration and return it when they're done.

4) They don't bother with shim tests etc... things go faster that way.

[Applesauce and Foils]

Well, we're not quite that big, but I am planning to make this a fun day for the kids. Thanks for the ideas!

AF

[SJCFU#2]

One kids tournament I really like they do several things right.

1) They chose refs that are "kid friendly". They're great about explaining rules to kids and complimenting them.

2) They offer free bottled water and healthy snacks (fruit etc...) because both the kids and the parents are new to the idea of a tournament.

3) They have equipment available to borrow. They sign it out at registration and return it when they're done.

4) They don't bother with shim tests etc... things go faster that way.

I agree with everything in this list except the last item.

Skipping weight and shim tests may help things go faster however it also sets up the kids (and their parents, who are often the ones maintaining their offsprings' gear) for a nasty surprise the first time they go to a tournament where these things will be checked.

[griffindm]

Skipping weight and shim tests may help things go faster however it also sets up the kids (and their parents, who are often the ones maintaining their offsprings' gear) for a nasty surprise the first time they go to a tournament where these things will be checked.

Come on Craig. These are 7 year-olds. How many do you think have their own gear anyway?

I'm with Fencergrl on this one. We do something similar once a year for our country middle school students, and we never check gear, because in almost every case, we're providing it anyway.

[Fencergrl]

Yes, the tournament organizers don't check gear for the same reason, they are usually providing it.

I agree if the kids are older or if the tournament is larger than just a club meet then things should be checked... but we're talking about little kids here. At age 7 they are barely able to co-ordinate their legs and arms to fence. It's just a fun tournament he's putting on.

[SJCFU#2]

Come on Craig. These are 7 year-olds. How many do you think have their own gear anyway?

I'm with Fencergrl on this one. We do something similar once a year for our country middle school students, and we never check gear, because in almost every case, we're providing it anyway.

Yes, the tournament organizers don't check gear for the same reason, they are usually providing it.

I agree if the kids are older or if the tournament is larger than just a club meet then things should be checked... but we're talking about little kids here. At age 7 they are barely able to co-ordinate their legs and arms to fence. It's just a fun tournament he's putting on.

All rights, I surrender!

I'll concede that things like equipment checks probably aren't that important on this small of a scale. However I still recommend making sure that they realize what you're skipping over, maybe even perform a quick demonstration just so they know what to expect should they venture outside of the club.

I'll go sit in a corner now

[Applesauce and Foils]

No problem, SJCFU#2! That's a good suggestion. What I'm going to have is a "Sign-in" spot where they'll simply sign their name to a sheet of paper, and then have them bring me their mask and jacket to "inspect". Since this is club gear, I'm not actually worried about any of it, but I am trying to introduce them on the very most basic of levels to how a tournament works. I want them to know that there's more to doing a competition than just fencing.
Thanks, y'all.

AF

[SabreReedfrost]

That's great! We have a small tournament of that sort at my club at the end of every month, and it really gets kids into the spirit of fencing and such. As for prizes, we gave them some unmarked generic fencing medals for them to take home. They LOVED that...

[Applesauce and Foils]

I just picked up some medals from Card & Party supply store that are gold. They all say #1 and Winner! on them, so I'm looking forward to handing those out.

AF

[SabreReedfrost]

Cool! Tell us how it goes!

[Applesauce and Foils]

Sure will! They are already excited about it. We've been preparing.

AF

[Applesauce and Foils]

The Competition went great. All of the kids were super-excited and they all felt very proud of themselves when it was done. They all received gold/plastic medals, a bag of candy (3 musketeers ) and a participation certificate. I don't think anyone left feeling down.
As far as running the thing, here's what we ended up doing.

We borrowed electrical gear from another local club which I set up 30 minutes early.

We did a mask check with the punch tool on all the kids masks and stamped them. (They loved that.)

I gave them all a number but also called them by name. I can barely remember what my number is when I compete, so I didn't think it'd be fair to do it to them!

We had reserved the gym for 2 hours. We ended up taking all that time, plus the 30 minutes before to run the whole thing. Give yourself plenty of time if you host one!

We ran pools as 3-touch bouts, and DEs as 5-touch bouts, because of time-constraints. We had tried to do pools of 5 touches and DEs of 2 of 3, 5 touch bouts, like the USFA handbook says, but it just took too long, and since this was just an in-club competition, it wasn't a big deal. This was good for the kids because it kept things, including them, moving quickly.

At the end we had our little awards ceremony and got pictures. It was a lot of fun, but it was exhausting for me as organizer! LOL! Worse than a day of fencing!

Oh, if you're planning to do one for your club, I would appoint one person to help unhook the kids from the reels and hand out medals.

I hope that this will be just the thing to keep their interest level up and motivate them.
Thanks to everyone for their helpful suggestions.

AF

[oiuyt]

This is the type of thing we, as a sport, ought to do more of.

A&F, thanks for sharing.

-B

[tlucente]

When we've done competitions for kids around this age, we usually do rounds of pools instead of Pools/DE's.

First round, random. Take results from 1st round, top 3 go into a "strong" pool for the next round, bottom 3 (or 4) into a weak pool(s) for the second round. That way, you separate into comparable strengths and each kid is likely to win at least one bout out of the 2 rounds.

I'm not usually a touchy-feely "everone is a winner" kinda guy, but this is about experience and fun, and kids are easily discouraged.

[catwood1]

When we've done competitions for kids around this age, we usually do rounds of pools instead of Pools/DE's.

First round, random. Take results from 1st round, top 3 go into a "strong" pool for the next round, bottom 3 (or 4) into a weak pool(s) for the second round. That way, you separate into comparable strengths and each kid is likely to win at least one bout out of the 2 rounds.

I'm not usually a touchy-feely "everone is a winner" kinda guy, but this is about experience and fun, and kids are easily discouraged.

I agree. I've been involved with many events that have used that type of format. For beginner/ younger fencers, this is a nice format; everyone gets alot of fencing, and everyone can have some level of success in the 2nd round.

[Applesauce and Foils]

Yeah, that also sounds like it'd work. The kids did very well handling the emotional side of the competition.
I did have some of the less-skilled fencers move through their 1st DE, so I think it still worked out fine to do DEs.
I think it really helped to run a practice comp. the week before. It helped them understand the process better and also test-ride their emotions. I wouldn't want to do it without a practice run!

oiuyt, I'm honored by your comment. You're welcome!

AF

[SabreReedfrost]

Sounds good! While I can't testify to the amount of energy it takes to run one of those things, I do know that helping out can be a beast, too. From there, I can deduce (quite brilliantly!) that it's harder to run that it is to help. I'm glad you managed to pull it off, and from what I can tell, run it smoothly! Good luck in the coming future!