Coaching at Nationals

This is an archived newsletter from June 6, 2014. Dates, prices and deadlines in it have passed — see current classes or the schedule.

Coaching at Nationals.

HoF Closed on 7/2/14 and 7/3/14

The National Championships are a little over two weeks away! In order to aid our fencers in achieving their very best results, we will, as usual, be coaching at Nationals. However, it is expensive for our coaches to stay in Columbus for the entire tournament. Therefore, our policy is to split the travel and lodging cost between the fencers, in order to be able to provide this service.

Based on our expenses this year, the cost per event will be under $50, possibly lower. There are 27 HoF fencers across 40 different events; if everyone pays for coaching, the cost will be as low as possible. We need to know who is paying for coaching in order to determine the final amount.

Walt will be there to coach June 22-24. Johnny and I will be there the remainder of the time, June 24-July 3. As always, it is a challenge when we have one or two coaches present and as many as eight fencers competing on a given day. We will make our best effort to be there for every fencer, but we cannot be in two places at once. DE bouts will always be more important than pool bouts, and if a DE bout seems in hand, it may be time to coach another fencer. Know that every effort will be made to provide coaching where it is needed.

Please let us know ASAP by email or in person whether you intend to pay for coaching this year. The sooner we hear from everyone, the sooner we can assess the final cost.

Let us know,

-Nick

P.S. For our first-time National attendees (and veterans too) it is a good idea to come to the venue the day before you begin fencing. Firstly, you will need to have your mask, bodycords, and glove checked, and the lines for this tend to be very long in the mornings, causing you to waste valuable warm-up time. Secondly, for first-timers, the venue will be bigger, busier, and louder than any other tournament, and it's good to get more comfortable with it before you actually begin to fence.

P.P.S. This is a great opportunity to represent HoF by wearing our new Hooked on Fencing socks! Hoodies too! You guys are the ones who asked for them; I want to see as many of our fencers wearing HoF socks as possible!