Designing a system for coaching development

[Allen Evans]

... make fencing more fun, and teach coaches how to work with kids. Working with kids is a VERY different skill from teaching fencing. There is some cross over, but I would ague that teaching fencing to a 14+ year old is entirely different from anything you do in a club with most 12 or less year olds.

Chris, part of coaching fencing is teaching effective fencing actions and part of coaching fencing is making fencing accessiable (and yes, fun) to his or her students. Why would you think that any coaching education program wouldn't teach both, as well as things like nutrition, first aid, sports and business management, etc?

[catwood1]

Chris, part of coaching fencing is teaching effective fencing actions and part of coaching fencing is making fencing accessiable (and yes, fun) to his or her students. Why would you think that any coaching education program wouldn't teach both, as well as things like nutrition, first aid, sports and business management, etc?

It sounds to me like the program you're describing is an 18 month or 2 year thing. Do you really think the volunteer coach from the midwest who has another job outside of fencing wants to commit to a program like that?

[Allen Evans]

One of the things that Vinnie Bradford did for Coaches College (quite a few years ago) was to send a lot of relevant reading to the college attendees a few weeks before the session started (there were about 50 pages of reading, as I recall). We were expected to have that reading done by the first session, and during the practical course we continually referenced the material while giving lesson. This material was also part of the test at the end of the course.

The practical week in Co. Springs was also supplemented with several evening sessions which discussed the business of fencing, doping, refereeing, and such. None of these subjects were exhustively covered, but a lot of information was presented that was useful and practical.

This particualr course (Level 2 Foil) was actually one of the most productive CC sessions I attended. We got a lot done, and all of us were working from the same premises, if not the same skill level in teaching. I still review and use most of that material that was sent out before the practical course, and still find it useful and relevant.

Also at an early point in Coaches College, the USFA was sending out staff instructors to clubs in their regions to do weekend seminars. We often worked all day, and then -- depending on the instructors expertise -- had open discussions of fencing topics at night. I actually took my Foil I test this way, over four weekends in Seattle. For reasons that weren't entirely clear to me, this program was stopped in favor of everyone coming to Co. Springs.

Jason Sheridan was telling me about the program in Poland which emphasis much the same approach as Vinnie's, with a two week intensive camp for entry level coaches, and follow up work afterwards. This course is requried to teach fencing in Poland.

These are just three examples of models that would work for the part time coach. With a little more thought and planning, they would probably do an excellant job of raising the bar of amateur coaches in the US, and spread a lot of information out to where it needs to go.

The goal with a program currently should not be to create fencing masters (though there isn't any reason why this couldn't evolve out of programs like this). The goal should be to raise the level of the quality of local fencing insruction, and more importantly, to start forging channels of communication for those fencers who want to be coaches but don't have access to information about fencing pedagogy.

A

ps - ah, I see that these models might address some concerns you raised in the blade clicking thread about authoritative souces