Opening Night & an Internal Ranking System

Tonight is the first official night of operation. The 9 & under class is beginning tonight with tomorrow being the first club night. I already have curriculum set up for the homeschool class I am teaching on Friday from 1:30-3:00 and material laid out for the club. This is a huge first step into the unknown, and I am definitely giddy with excitement.

Our intro classes are sadly empty, but this was to be expected for the first month. No demos are scheduled as of yet, but after those I can only see club membership expanding & the intro classes will start to see filler.

I wrote up a ranking system last week which I hope will be approved by the remainder of the club tonight at the meeting. It goes as follows:

Yelllow bar- Beginner skill base
Red bar- Intermediate skill base
Black bar- Advanced skill base
Club Logo- Signifies Theoretical mastery
ARMORER- Signifies that the student is either a certified armorer or is knowledgeable enough in repair that they deserve this patch.
DIRECTOR- Signifies that the student is a rated referee with USFA
VARSITY- Signifies a student involved with the local high school league
CAPTAIN- Signifies a student that has captained with either the club or their respective high school at a competition. In addition, the student must also routinely provide leadership to their teammates on and off the strip.
ASS. COACH- Signifies a student that is capable of offering private lessons to Yellow bar students. Requires a club logo patch, an endorsement from the head coach, and that they pass an exam administered by the head coach. The lesson fee is limited to $10. This patch is removed after the student passes the student coaching exam. Required experience: 1 year of high school league fencing
ST. COACH (Student Coach)- Signifies a student that is capable of offering private lessons to students up to a Red bar, and teaching the minis class. Requires a club logo patch, an endorsement from their coach, and that they pass an exam administered by the head coach. This patch is removed when the next rank is received. The lesson fee is limited to $10. Required experience: 1 year of USFA tournament experience having fenced two C1 events or better
COACH- Signifies an experienced student capable of teaching private lessons to students up to Black Bar, intro classes, mini classes, & outreach. Requires a club logo patch, an endorsement from the head coach, and that they pass an exam administered by the head coach. This patch is removed when the final coach rank is received. The lesson fee is limited to $15. Required experience: 3 years of USFA tournament experience with a national rating of C or better.
HEAD COACH: Only 3 members of MFA may hold the rank of Head Coach at any given time (one for each blade) and can only be given from a prior head coach to another coach who has been fencing for at least 6 years and rated a B. One final written exam will be administered by the former head coach


All of these would represent bars either sewn on the off arm of the jacket, off leg of the knickers, the arms of their warmups, or all three. The Yellow-Club Logo would be on the off arm of the jacket preferrably.

An overview of the ranks and their relative difficulty follows below:

Yellow bar- relatively easy: Most students who have been fencing for a year plus will likely earn this bar within the first month if not the first week. Most of the already more advanced students would earn this bar if they tried to test in one day.
Red bar- more difficult: Most students who have been fencing for a year or more will likely test into this within a month. Most of the more advanced students will test into it within a week, with an exceptional few testing into it in one day
Black Bar- Incredibly hard: Nobody will test into this in one day let alone in one month. It will require a test bout with a closely matched student at the club in addition to skill tests. This bar would be challenging for me to achieve without practicing for it for a week. I want this bar to mean something to whoever earns it, possibly meaning more than the club logo.
Club Logo- Incredibly hard: If the Black bar is hard, this will be worse. It will require two test bouts as practicals (one to 5 & one to 15) in which the student will fence their instructor. In addition their will be a written exam in which the fencer is asked essay & multiple choice questions on certain situations, theoretical concepts, & character questions.
Armorer- Difficult without certs: If a student ever gains a reputation for a fix-it wizard, reliable repairs, & innovation, then they should receive this patch.
Director- Fairly difficult: Only awarded to students who have a rating 10 in at least one blade as a director.
Varsity- Easy: All the student need do is participate in a full season of high school league fencing in Missoula
Captain- Difficult: A student has to routinely captain for either the club or his high school at league tournaments for an entire season. In addition, he must also show quality of character, positive motivation of teammates, & sportsmanship. Should probably accompanied by a small gift certificate or other award outside of fencing.
Assistant Coach- Difficult: In addition to the fencer's normal routine, he will have to undergo several tests when it comes to teaching as well as give a free PL as a practical exam. He will available to coach at his high school after receiving this rank
Student Coach- Very hard: In addition to the Assistant Coach, he will have to undergo outreach training as well as public relations & marketing. He will also begin to undergo testing as to managing a fencing club when it comes to internal politics & different personalities of coaches & students.
Coach- Nigh Impossible: The outreach, PR, & marketing are now paramount to this fencer's instruction. They will be tested on theory that even I have trouble grasping at times and their exam will be filled with questions that have no right answer, only damage control. In a pinch, anyone with this rank can substitute one of the head coaches if they are sick or away @ tournaments (thereby facilitating a permanent Saturday), and not bat an eye if someone new comes to the club asking questions. This will likely require a separate course entirely if not done on an individual basis.
Head Coach- Fairly easy by comparison: After 6 years, this test will likely be a breeze as the student in question has already passed as a Coach for 3 years or more at this point. I just wanted the road to this rank to be as comprehensive, rocky, and challenging as possible so that we end up training people who do not replace Chris, Kole, & I, but are better trained, better schooled on the environment, & improve upon our original design. Their role is fairly self explanatory.


This system is preliminary and was posted here to garner feedback. It will also likely be posted on the club's facebook page for more feedback. As for now, testing fees outside of paying for the patch are unlikely. This ranking system was concocted by me because it has become apparent that many parents want a ranking system outside of the USFA one, as those rankings seem incredibly hard to come by. Also, if I was to deal with a ranking system I would rather the system be one that I built rather than someone else. I'm not going to make these ranks much easier to obtain, as any rank should be earned, not given.