Inventory

Just what does Missoula Youth Fencing have in the way of assets?

Ah, it is this that we are trying to build. We currently have enough club gear to outfit at least 10-15 fencers at a time. Given the rate at which we add new students and the rate at which those new students buy their own gear, we use approximately 2 full sets of gear at a practice with around 20 students. Our greatest ally in this is our fabulous organizer Laura. She is the parent of one of the fencers that has been administering the club's logistics for the last 3 years. She is very adept at communication and informs all of the parents about large group purchases to cut down on shipping costs. She is also the only reason we have a respectable space in which to practice, as she is a terrifying negotiator.

As for coaching staff, we have 3-4 people. I am the Saber coach with 12 years experience, decent national results, and my coach was a student of Santelli. The Epee coach is Chris, the bright younger fencer I mentioned in the previous post. Since then he has tirelessly sought improvement in his own fencing and teaching capabilities. He teaches youth classes at the club and is a very gifted teacher. Despite his inexperience, I have great faith that he will produce talented fencers. The Foil coach is Kole, the only permanent coach on staff born in Montana and trained to fence in Montana. He is currently struggling to keep students as his focus is not on competitive fencing, but rather the social aspect of a club. There are other coaches who used to coach far more frequently but have either moved away after graduating, found other jobs, or lost interest.

We have 3 members who regularly competed at Inland Empire tournaments last year, all of which fence saber. The number is likely to stay the same as we are losing one student and gaining a new one. I'm hoping 4 more kids surprise me in practice and express and interest in competing regularly. Our greatest obstacle to overcoming this fear of competition is how these kids were introduced to the sport.

The club was originally billed as an activity that met once a week for one hour. Kids could tell their friends they knew how to fence, and their parents could boast about their awesome swashbuckling child. The older coaches were interested in having cute little fencing minions who would always look up the coach.

I am of the mind that fencing students should eventually replace their outdated coaches and strive to better themselves as fencers. There was, and still is, a bit of friction between myself and older Montana fencers.

So right now, my biggest obstacle is convincing a large group of kids that this is an Olympic sport as opposed to a Dungeons & Dragons enhancement.