Starting HS group, need advice

[Epeemom]

Dear Fencers,

I am a fencing parent-my son has been fencing since Sept. (loves it, loves it, loves it) We have a wonderful coach, a great club-and are eager to start a district HS team to compete with other districts in our area.

We are in the early stages of getting ourselves organized to lobby the district for at least a large place to practice after school hours. Everyone on 'the team' would have to join the club, which would provide equipment and insurance and the coach(es). We know the district will not give us any money.

We are organizing this spring, but some initial inquiries have revealed an issue which we need to overcome. Namely "if it ain't football, we're not interested". We plan to show the equipment, demonstrate how safe it is, adult supervised, etc.

I've contacted some coaches and gotten some terrific responses on how to handle the "weapons" issue (no blades longer than a few inches allowed on any campus), safety statistics, etc.

What I'd like from y'all is some personal testamonies about what a great sport fencing is-how successful your high school experiences were, etc.

You can email me directly and if you don't want to use your name, that's fine, but I'd love to have the name of your high school team, city and state as evidence that this does happen in other high schools across the nation.

Thanks for reading through this wordy post, I'm looking forward to hearing from you!

Regards,
Kathy B.
Fencing Mom
[email]bonehomewest@earthlink.net

[retardedspleen]

as i remember the insurence for fencing is the lowest of any sport...safer than golf...

Good Luck


Chris Triplett

[vegan]

Epee mom,
Be careful about the club thing- there is a law (rumored- I havent looked it up yet) in NY the says that coaches of teams cannot run a club (it gives unfair advantage to students who are in both, because some may not be able to afford to do both- in terms of time and or money).
Cheers,
Good luck- if your team ever gets to NYC for it- I promise can take on my epee squad!
B.

[PeterGustafsson]

Hi!

My experience of the USA school system is limited to 2 weeks long before I started fencing, so keep that in mind when evaluating my suggestion.

Originally posted by Epeemom
Dear Fencers,
We are organizing this spring, but some initial inquiries have revealed an issue which we need to overcome. Namely "if it ain't football, we're not interested". We plan to show the equipment, demonstrate how safe it is, adult supervised, etc.

I've contacted some coaches and gotten some terrific responses on how to handle the "weapons" issue (no blades longer than a few inches allowed on any campus), safety statistics, etc.
Regards,
Kathy B.
Fencing Mom
[email]bonehomewest@earthlink.net

1. Find out other recently started non-football clubs/teams close by, and ask them how they overcame the "ain´t football" hurdle.

2. Find out other sports with a possible problematic safety perception - and not well known by people who do it - (archery, etc) and ask them how they overcame safety concerns, well-founded and otherwise.

Have a nice time!

Peter Gustafsson

[Epeemom]

Originally posted by PeterGustafsson
Hi!

My experience of the USA school system is limited to 2 weeks long before I started fencing, so keep that in mind when evaluating my suggestion.


1. Find out other recently started non-football clubs/teams close by, and ask them how they overcame the "ain´t football" hurdle.

2. Find out other sports with a possible problematic safety perception - and not well known by people who do it - (archery, etc) and ask them how they overcame safety concerns, well-founded and otherwise.

Have a nice time!

Peter Gustafsson

Peter-

This is so funny you mention the 'non-football cubs'.

We DO have other non-football clubs (ice hockey). It's really weird-the results of the hockey matches are run in the paper as "XYZ High School Hockey Team". I email one of the coaches at XYZ High, and state that I know there is a hockey club there, it uses the high school name and can he put me in touch with the parent group that started it. Amazingly, he knows nothing about it and doesn't know anyone who does. If that email had a thermometer attached, it would read below zero! Talk about cold...so I'll have to start asking around with other parents.

In this area of Texas (Houston metro)any sports competition is very keen, and you would think that if there was a winning team associated with your school, weird sport or not, the school would be happy to give out information.

We have loads of fencing clubs in the metro area, at least three high schools with teams (in other school districts). Hopefully when we present to the Athletic Director or School Board, the competition between districts will be an incentive to at least provide us with a place to practice.

On the issue of safety, I am looking for an insurance document which lists sports in order of safety. I know fencing is very high (very safe) on the list but I need the official document. Someone mentioned this to me-I'll try my insurance agent-but does anyone know a website?

kathy b.

ps- Thanks for all the letters and responses! They are a great help!

[jBirch]

EpeeMom,

You might also bring up the issue of girls in football.

First there are the soft benefits:
Fencing is a great CO-ED sport that aids in the further diversification and integration of young men and women in sport that pits each against the other (at the club level at least), fosters critical decision making ability coupled with a positive code of ethics that translates well into sound judgement and well adjusted teens. It furthers a healthy respect for the military achievements of the past (indeed, is a great practical intro for further historical inquiry) and, by some strange twist, creates good citizens who are able to adapt to a changing environment with guile and determination. Given it's reputation as an "aristocratically elite sport" students from disadvantaged areas are more keenly visible and show clear evidence of a school's ability to break down barriers. Finally, the very nature of the sport teaches discipline and control and couples that with observation and intellect.
It also has the potential for students to compete at meaningful international levels (something football lacks).

Economics:
On the financial side, it is cheaper to outfit one fencer then one football player, there are more scholarship opportunities at highly prestigous universities (mostly due to a dearth of applicants), the space requirements are smaller, the travel budget also smaller, and the consequent insurance requirements also smaller.

Safety:
The safety gear generally used in club competition is extra-ordinarily resistant to damage and provides much greater protection to the critical areas of the body then does any set of football pads. Violence is not an encouraged part of the game (as it is in Hockey and Football) and the "weapons" themselves are anything but. A wire coat-hanger is much more dangerous in the hands of a malcontent.

Hope this helps.

[Epeemom]

A wire coat-hanger is much more dangerous in the hands of a malcontent.

Hope this helps. [/b]

Yes! The first time someone mentioned to me that we couldn't have "weapons" on the school campus I nearly choked.
I can pummel you all day with an epee and not do a bit of harm, but the same force with a baseball bat would leave ya kinda dead.

I believe this will all be a matter of education, organization and using the right 'edu-speak'. We also need a parent that is cool, calm and on the ball to handle all the questions we will get.

Once again-thanks to everyone for sharing your experiences and knowledge-I learn more every time I turn on the computer!

Regards,
Kathy B.

[Epeemom]

Originally posted by vegan
Epee mom,
Be careful about the club thing- there is a law (rumored- I havent looked it up yet) in NY the says that coaches of teams cannot run a club (it gives unfair advantage to students who are in both, because some may not be able to afford to do both- in terms of time and or money).
Cheers,
Good luck- if your team ever gets to NYC for it- I promise can take on my epee squad!
B.

Good point (no pun intended, ark, ark, ark). I'm sure if there's a problem we'll be told about it right away. We have several adults who can act as coach or sponsor. I'm sure we can find a faculty member in the district that would help out as well. Another thing to plan for.

Re: NYC, the kid loves to fly and fence (attention USAFA)so any excuse to get on a plane and then fence would be cool with him. I'd better get a job so we can afford all of this!

Thanks,
kathy b.

[Army Fencer]

When I fenced in high school, we set up fundraisers regularly in order to support the team because we didn't get any money from school. I was always walking around with a bag of candy, selling coupon books, or going door to door with chocolates. I don't know what the rules are at your particular high school, but that may be something you can look into. When you're part of the school, any donatations are tax-deductible, and that can help reel in a bigger fish later on.

USAFA? Eeh, have them go to West Point. It's *IN* New York.

[duel mom]

The district should be glad "it ain't football". Two recent articles made me happy by child chose fencing. First, a story from the New Haven Register, 11/22/03 about a Yale football player, Harry Flaster, who switched to fencing because of the concussions he had suffered (his father is a neurologist). And second, a very recent article from cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/03/health/ called "Football Similiar to Car Crashes?". Researchers put sensors into football helmets and registered half of the hits at 30 Gs with hard hits up to more than 130 Gs saying that car crashes of up to 120 Gs are survivable only by wearing a seatbelt.

Educators choose the sport of football to dumb down athletes for life for their entertainment? And who has a better chance for top college entrance? Fencers or football players?

[Epeemom]

Originally posted by duel mom
The district should be glad "it ain't football". Two recent articles made me happy by child chose fencing. First, a story from the New Haven Register, 11/22/03 about a Yale football player, Harry Flaster, who switched to fencing because of the concussions he had suffered (his father is a neurologist). And second, a very recent article from cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/03/health/ called "Football Similiar to Car Crashes?". Researchers put sensors into football helmets and registered half of the hits at 30 Gs with hard hits up to more than 130 Gs saying that car crashes of up to 120 Gs are survivable only by wearing a seatbelt.

Educators choose the sport of football to dumb down athletes for life for their entertainment? And who has a better chance for top college entrance? Fencers or football players?

Thanks for the heads up on the Flaster article. I already have the Football/Car Crash article copied. We have to tread carefully. This IS Texas after all, and I'm not opposed to football (for other people's kids, of course ). I want all students able to compete in their chosen sport. I want the district to be educated first, then make an informed decision. We will fence no matter what, but it would be nice if our high schoolers were recognized for their hard work and could earn their letter in fencing just like the football, baseball, basketball, diving and swimming, etc. students do.