What dreams may come
Another year of coaches college has gone by, and another certificate has been added to my wall; I even managed to find the same frame I used last year.
Last year at this time I remember feeling slightly overwhelmed and uncertain about what I wanted to do with the newly gained knowledge. This year I am less so. I have few doubts now that coaching is where my future in this sport lies. This does not mean I won’t be competing. It simply means that I will be focusing more on developing myself as a coach rather than a competitor. Part of this development is going to include offering private fencing lessons from my home.
Private teaching is something I’ve been mulling over for a while now. Some months ago I gave a talk on sport fencing to a local homeschool group, and there seemed to be a great deal of interest. There are two hurdles, though: equipment and space. The issue of equipment is rather easily solved; I simply require my students to equip themselves. I can make some suggestions on vendors, and perhaps recommend a good starting kit, but a fencer should really be prepared to equip themselves. Since I don’t have the capital to maintain an armory, there’s no time like the present. I realize this will cut down on the amount of students able to participate, but I don’t think I want a great many of them to begin with; three to five students would suit me just fine. That only leaves the question of space.
Ideally, I would like to do this from my home, owing no one rent or a lease, and therefore allowing me a great deal of freedom with how and when I want to do things. My USFA Coach’s membership insures me everywhere I go, so that’s covered. I just need a space. Right now I’m looking at my garage. If it were completely empty one could probably fit four compact cars in there. It is not, however, empty … not even close. I think, though, with one good weekend’s work I can get it to a point where fencing could be taught in there, but it would sure be warm in the summer and cold in the winter. We’ll see. I also have fantasies of building a, well, building specifically for teaching fencing on my property. I think Corrie Ann would have fits about that if I built it before I built her barn, though.
Space … it’s my biggest hurdle. I need solutions.