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Sportsmanship ... a message my fencing kids (& their parents) will soon hear

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
My kids were fencing against about a half dozen other teams yesterday. We'd fence 1 team, them move on to the next, and again to the next, etc.

One team my Saber kids faced off against had no coach present on the Saber strip. This is not unusual as the teams are typically spread out across 4 or 5 different strips. Its typical for there to be 1, 2 or maybe 3 coaches trying to be in 4 or 5 places at once. So not having a coach on the sideline is not unusual.

The kids we were fencing against acted like spoiled brats. Tossing down masks and weapons after bouts, swearing, acting out, etc. Every year we mention to our kids that this sport is a formal sport, with sportsmanship being stressed as critical. We have not had an issue with our team. Perhaps our time will come?

The following message is going out to our students & their parents via our team's Facebook page this evening:

We were fencing yesterday and some of the boys from the opposing team, after losses to us, threw their masks to the ground and dropped their weapons. Some of the girls from the same team pulled their masks off swearing curse words and tossed down their weapons.

This is not proper conduct in a fencing event.

We have discussed this among the coaches and agreed that any of our kids ever caught doing this will be, at very least, benched. Possibly for multiple tournaments. Depending upon the fencers conduct and attitude they may be removed from the team. This is not negotiable.

The opposing team coach was, at first opportunity, approached and the matter was discussed with him. He was not at the strip when the bad conduct occurred. He apologized and seemed genuinely upset at hearing the news. What he does with his team is his business, but he seemed to take the information to heart and gave assurances it would not ever be an issue in the future.

As coaches we understand when there are "bad calls" from a director, we understand when a fencer makes a mistake and is frustrated, we understand heartache from losing a bout. Come complain to us. Cry on our shoulders. Go off alone and contemplate the issue. Those are all OK. Throwing equipment, swearing, acting like a spoiled brat, none of that is acceptable and none of that will be tolerated.

This was discussed with my co-coach and she wholeheartedly agreed. We are both volunteers. We get no pay. We spend roughly 32+ hours a week with these kids. We enjoy sharing this sport, having kids who are disrespectful on our team is not something we need to deal with. Having parents who support disrespectful kids is not something we will deal with either.
 
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