Fencing for a different high school

[fdad]

Given the shenanigans that go on in New Jersey all the time, it would not surprise me if they have foreseen (or experienced) in some other sport talented athletes being given under the table money to attend or play at a different school than they normally would have...

Which would never happen in another sport in another state? Like football in Texas?

[shlepzig]

Starting a HS team is an option. One that will take considerable time and effort. Talking to other parents of fencers and fencers at the school will help get you some additional support. It may require that you volunteer or find another parent to act as coach/sponsor for the team.

Living in the area, I can say that I have had numerous conversations about why specifically Princeton HS does not have a fencing program despite the number of fencers that attend, the volume of fencing clubs in the area, and the general level of coaching and other fencing expertise in the area.

I have never gotten a clear answer regarding Princeton HS, but have heard many rumors and hearsay (which we know from Lionel Hutz are kinds of evidence). The first is that it is difficult finding a coach to sponsor the team. The second is that there is a prohibitive amount of red-tape involved in putting a team together. The third is that there a funding issue to contend with that even a coach willing to volunteer must be a funded position in the school.

From what I understand, the professional coaches in the area are reluctant to take on the responsibility because of the atheltic coaching restrictions put on them by the governing athletic body. They are prevented from working with the HS athletes that they would "officially" coach at the HS outside of the fencing season. Which would restrict the amount of time they can devote to developing talented fencers for NACs and beyond.

It may just be local population that also has a difficult time producing volunteers between commuting professionals, researching professors and other helicopter parents do not have the number of hours to volunteer to developing a fencing team.

It is not out of the question. I think the West Windsor Plainsboro-South team seemed to be put together by the energy of a single retired grandparent channeling the efforts of other parents and an ethusiastic student body.

Aside from that, I think your options are limited, you can try to transfer to another school permanently. But if you are happy with your current school's education and your child is happy with it, it would probably do more harm than good just to be on a fencing team, and the red-tape would be extreme. You can also go the private school route, there are multiple private schools in the area that have fencing teams (Hun and Lawrenceville Prep).

-Shlep'

[Warrior Princess]

I competed in High School events where I'm from, and my high school didn't have a team. In our division, the private clubs were aloud to present teams for both team events and individual high school tournaments. Also, at least in the state that I live in, 7th grade is considdered old enough to be a varsity athlete.
My advice would be not to send your son to a private school just for the fencing. He'd know that you were paying all of that money just so that he could fence and that's a lot of pressure, it might kill the fun.
I would also recomend that if your private club has enough athletes of an age to do it, to ask the high school fencing people if they would allow a team from a private club to compete. That way you don't have to send him to a different high school or form a completly new team, but he still gets the experience. I'm sure that there are other people at your club that would want to join.
I have always been motivated to compete individually, but I can't even say how much my team and teammates meant to me. It's a good experience to have.

[Asibov Sobelo]

Thanks to everyone for your feedback. Most of what has been said just reinforced my feelings. We will see what happens. The private school that I have in mind really is a good fit for my son and his personality. For the last couple years, he has been a straight A student, so I feel that I owe him the best education that I can manage and that may well be at this private school. Otherwise, starting a team is an option although after an initial exchange of emails with our AD, it would seem to be an uphill battle, but it would be a heck of a life experience for my son if I let him take the reigns on getting it going. We'll see what happens. Thanks again to all.

[fdad]

Thanks to everyone for your feedback. Most of what has been said just reinforced my feelings. We will see what happens. The private school that I have in mind really is a good fit for my son and his personality. For the last couple years, he has been a straight A student, so I feel that I owe him the best education that I can manage and that may well be at this private school. Otherwise, starting a team is an option although after an initial exchange of emails with our AD, it would seem to be an uphill battle, but it would be a heck of a life experience for my son if I let him take the reigns on getting it going. We'll see what happens. Thanks again to all.

You should be aware that some of the Princeton area private schools mentioned on this thread are NOT NJSIAA members. Your son would be able to fence in dual meets and the non-NJSIAA Cetrulo Relay with his team, but he would not be able to fence in any of the other major events like districts, Squad States and Individual States. If one of your reasons for choosing a private school is fencing in any of those events be sure that the school is an NJSIAA member.

[KD5MDK]

Which would never happen in another sport in another state? Like football in Texas?

Texas Monthly would never have reported on such an occurrence, no.*





* It wasn't cash to the student, it was a subsidized apartment in the attendance zone.

[pillow]

Even though NJ has high quality HS fencing compared to the rest of the country,
serious USFA circuit fencers have always found it difficult to balance the demands of HS fencing, club lessons, academics, and travel to NACs. Why not see how your kid progresses before HS. If fencing really works, and your child does well with a coach at a good club, I would not even consider HS fencing, even in the best of circumstances.