Anyone have a DC who does fencing?

[EnGarde]

DD (11) did a try out sport about a year ago and liked fencing. She's been going for a year now and went to her first team competition recently. I was struck by how many parents were totally obsessed with it - standing in the gallery shouting out tips (which I'm sure their Dc couldn't hear), apps where they record the score, practicing and giving tips during the breaks. Is this normal of the circuit? Is it mainly parents who fence who have entered their DC from a young age? One kid can't have been older than 3! Will my DD be at a huge disadvantage if I know nothing about foot placement and defence strategies and can't tell her how best to counter an opponent? They all seemed quite friendly though, and did explain the rules to me!

Honestly, how much does it cost?
How much time do you spend travelling to competitions? This one was 1.5 hours away, which meant a cheerful 5am start, but the next one is further and would probably mean we'd have to stay overnight somewhere.
DD's team was wiped, although she still had fun and made some points. It was an U14 competition though, and I don't know how much age really matters in fencing?

Does your Dc practice / have equipment at home to do exercises with?
How many times a week do they have training? One mum was complaining hers only went three times a week...

My dd 11yrs took up fencing (epee) a year ago. She trains twice a week in a group and has an individual lesson weekly as well. She absolutely loves it!
she has her own mask and glove which we bought her for Christmas and will probably invest in the rest of the gear and her own sword this year.
No one in our family has ever fenced so I didn’t have a clue to start with but have found other parents really nice and friendly at competitions. We luckily have a super supportive coach who’s happy to explain to novice parents the ins and out of it all!
As with all hobbies it is expensive in time and money but I grew up competing my horses so to me the fencing is cheaper and much less time consuming!
She works on conditioning at home, sit ups, push ups, running and her grip using the squeeze balls.
She’s competed regionally this year which means more travelling but all the time she is enjoying it I’m willing to put up with the travelling.

No idea, but following with interest as DS3 does it at school & really enjoys it, so might like to take it further if he can.

8 year old, one a week.

They have all the equipment there. We can’t afford to buy her own. No competitions, only been going 6 months.

And yes, there are some parents who are obsessed. But it’s like that with all children’s activities, there are always the parents who seem to be more into it than the children.

It’s not that expensive for us though. Weekly shout and a half class if £5.

*hour and a half

We paid a hefty club membership fee which allows her to go three times a week (but she can only do 2). I was a bit surprised at the competition to find that they needed to pay a registration fee for the team - the other kids also didn't know and didn't have enough cash on them. Then they each had to pay the ref for the first match. That was an unexpected expense! They were both national competitions, are regional ones cheaper or is it a blanket rule for all?

I don't see any other parents, except for the other new girl her age, as she's in the U14 group and they all seem to go to training alone.

DD has a glove and was given a sword by all the in-laws as a birthday gift. The rest we rent/borrow.

I think it all depends on how far the child wants to take it though.

DD enjoys it and it’s fun for the hour and a half she goes. But that’s as far as it goes really.

I learned the hard way with my now adult child.
Ex h pushed him to take every interest very seriously, all the competitions, exams etc. Cost a fortune and all the driving too. It Did nothing for him in the long run and now at 21 all those interests are long gone and he doesn’t even remember half the stuff he did when he was much younger.

Ex h was one of those parents shouting from the sidelines - I always told him to do the sport himself if he was that invested, it used to mortify ds.

Obviously I would support my children if they really wanted to do competitions and things, but for a lot of them, it’s just a bit of fun.

I’ve met parents that seem to forget that!

one of those parents shouting from the sidelines
DD was horrified to see one of the parents shouting at her child and reducing her to tears because the poor girl lost a match the mother clearly thought she should have won 😮
The wanting to do competitions is definitely coming from DD - I'd far rather not have to find another job to pay for travel.

@Jesslequest is that something her coach has told her to practice or did she decide herself to do it?

yes her coach actively encourages them to work on their general fitness and conditioning in between their fencing lessons. It makes sense to build their strength and stamina and can make quite a difference if they’re serious about competing.

Twice a week for training is fine, as long as she does fitness and conditioning work at home. If she's doing epee, it's worth hanging a tennis ball from a string and practicing hitting that for accuracy (especially once you have the ball moving!)

Parents at junior competitions can be a nightmare. I used to referee on the junior circuit and the only people I ever had to black card (i.e. evict from the hall completely) were parents. They're a small number though, most are fine. The ones who aren't will soon be obvious, just avoid them.

If she's doing epee, it's worth hanging a tennis ball from a string and practicing hitting that for accuracy (especially once you have the ball moving!)

How much space do you suggest she would need around it? How high should it be? She doesn't have a lot of space in her room, but we might be able to sort something in the living room. I had looked at one of those target type things to put on the wall, but wasn't sure if it's useful as it's fixed.

Her coach hasn't said she should do anything at home fitness wise, but she does play for a netball club (regional league) so maybe he thinks that is enough. If the weather is good we do something sporty at weekends as a family.

She'd need enough to be able to vary distance including to lunge, so possibly it would have to be outdoors, or in a corridor.

Netball is really good, lots of movement, changes of direction etc. which will be good for her footwork (mine was always shite, I compensated for being slow with accuracy). Badminton is also very good and something you could do as a family. For competitions, running intervals is great.

If she ends up being serious about it, it's worth getting her own weapons and a pair of fencing shoes. Jacket and breeches can wait as she's still growing. Perhaps ask family to give money towards it instead of other gifts for birthdays/Christmas (but don't start this until it's clear she's serious).

Fencing is incredibly good fun and it's brilliant for focus and for your reflexes. I'm 55 now and I still benefit from my reaction speeds when driving, it's saved my life on the road more than once.

I'm guessing from paying the referee for the first match you're not in the UK as that is not how things usually work here (and there are very few youth team events other than the Schools Teams)

My kids don't fence (yet, too young) but I will let them try it when they are.

I won't comment on details of cost unless you're UK based but would say that the costs escalate because it's a relatively small sport so you have to travel to get to a bigger pool of opponents rather than it being innately expensive.

I'd focus on a longish linear space for home practice and can totally recommend trying it out yourself. I'm on an over 40s team and plenty of people who are competive at world level started with their children. My team had me (early 40s) someone in late 50s and 2 in their mid 70s!. I'm the only one that started before I was 20 and had a fair few years off in between. The overall over 40s Commonwealth champion was in her 60s this time around too.

The kit lasts really well and your club hopefully has a good market in outgrown kit between parents. I've had my guards for 20 odd years...

@randomsabreuse yeah, I never got paid. Got the odd bottle of bad wine as a thank you 😂.

I suspect I was at the same event.

We have been a part of the fencing circuit for a few years now, DS is solid middle of field level foil. He loves it.

It is a bit of a shock when you go to your first comp, realising that if you aren't there with a coach you're absolutely on the back foot!

DS has two sessions a week, including one to one. It's not a cheap hobby! Including that we do as many comps as we can a it's important to help them improve.

We have two foils, a wire and all the kit now (not shoes yet but it's on the list for Xmas), stuff does come up on eBay.

I totally know what you mean about some of the parents. Particular clubs are linked to elite schools and you can tell.

DS absolutely loves it but it does make me a bit sad that he's never going to rank highly because we aren't going to make him practice three hours a night.

If you join a club - often the people are lovely. They're not a conventional bunch and I've met some fascinating people.

It's also great for kids' fitness, concentration, confidence and decision making skills. I've heard it described as physical chess.

If you go down this road there's also a good book to read -

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We have a pillow hung on the back of the door with targets marker penned on it - it makes a heck of a lot of noise but a nice change from the PlayStation