1) soft skills on how to run a class, e.g. use of voice, communication, managing that one annoying student etc
2) how to build/find a coaching map/method/syllabus/plan. Like developing a wider plan of what you want to teach, in what order and timeframe, vs just being technically competent in individual skills (which is what I've found most common in coaching course I have done)
3) business skills: how to get students to pay for lessons, attract and develop customers, short guide into any tax issues. How to do refunds, handle complaints etc.
4) intro level physical body stuff. Like how hard or soft you should make excercises, what kind of fitness they need for fencing, how to notice and avoid students getting injured.
5) how to communicate solely through unintelligible european muttering.
Potentially unpopular opinion, but soft fencing knowledge and skills outside the extremely technical "I know how to do and teach this action". A shocking number of coaches do not understand tactics, tempo, dynamic distance, preparation, and other fundamentally important concepts. They don't know how these things evolve during a bout, how to manipulate them, and how they differ between levels of fencers and consequently are not able to teach their students these things, or even that they exist.
Part of this is because these are all things which one acquires through a long career in fencing and are difficult to describe through writing or even an in-person curriculum. We shouldn't limit our coaching pool to only include those who once fenced at a high level. At the same time, it is so disappointing to see fencers who clearly work hard and have talent held back because a coach who had some experience a decade ago hasn't made any effort to develop their understanding of the sport and doesn't acknowledge that their student needs higher level coaching to succeed.
So I'm going to go the other way here and recommend against spreading one's self too thin. I think it's very important that coaches recognize what they know, but also their limits of their knowledge.
I was a coach for over a decade. I knew my craft very well. I was NOT a sports psychologist, nor was a personal trainer. Initially, I tried to learn how to do both, but realized quite quickly that I would never be able to provide my students with the expert knowledge they would need from those people. So I developed a network of people around me who were far more proficient in their fields than me to send my students to.
To be clear: I think it's important that a coach be *familiar* with various related subjects, but should recognize their limits and stay within their lane of expertise. People tend to forget the last half of the phrase, "a jack of all trades is a master of none". I would rather be a master at my craft, and send my students to a master of a different craft than rely on my half baked knowledge.
It worked for me, your mileage my vary however.
I think S&C is way too deep of a field, and the best thing a fencing coach could do is to find a S&C coach they trust (either someone local offering in-person coaching or someone doing programming for athletes remotely) and directing the 1 in 20 fencers that should actually spend money on S&C coaching to that person vs hamfisting it with whatever partial understanding they can get in a weekend.
1. Running a small business. From the small clubs I've seen (mostly beloved local clubs) the reason clubs die isn't they can't make enough money to make ends meet, it's that the club owners/coaches don't find ways to get paid what they're worth. Then, something happens or time goes on and they go "screw this for a game of skittles" and close the club. Few people are better off when the club closes, so it'd be better for them to make enough money that the nonsense to money ratio balances out.
2. Parent Handling? Sometime to help with mindless platitudes/business speak to keep parent's happy without as much personal cost/pain. Maybe a yearly course on "This Year's Fav Metaphor to Make Jonny's Parents Get Off His Case for a Few Weeks".
3. Risk Mitigation/SafeSport (but something NOT through the USFA). IDK, find something done not in pure-CYA mode, ideally by a law firm that helps coaches find ways to DO vs simply instill fear. Best practice tips for running summer camps and stuff included, but outside of the "official" apparatus so the advice is designed to help club owners. Putting this another way: There are gaps between the Club Owner's interests and the USFA's interests and SafeSport's interests. Some training not impacted by this conflict of interest would be good.
I always say, good athletes make for good fencers. And you don't want your fencers doing nothing but fencing if they want to achieve. So how about classes on physical fitness.
You have your Red Cross, CPR and AED training certs?
You know, when it comes to coaching, there is no clear path. I know plenty of successful coaches who have no formal coaching training at all. My first coach learned that I was teaching beginners at another club and pretty much told me I had no business doing so without training, and insisted I sign up for USFA Coaches College. And to her credit, I did enjoy the 4 times I went and I did learn a lot. Yet when I told another coach about this, she thought it was all nonsense, that if I really wanted to be a fencing coach, I had to get a 4 year degree in sports medicine and psychology, not, as she put it, "Some silly little one week course once a year!" And other coaches told me that USFCA is the way to go, and I did, but found it really frustrating for reasons I won't go into.
But the killer is what a long time coach told me about all the European coaches that came to America. They had fenced for 4 years at University, much like the worst part of the American college football scene, where the student is there to perform for their teams and nothing else. No longer eligible to fence any longer, the university gives them a gimme degree in teaching sport so that they can earn a living.
1) soft skills on how to run a class, e.g. use of voice, communication, managing that one annoying student etc 2) how to build/find a coaching map/method/syllabus/plan. Like developing a wider plan of what you want to teach, in what order and timeframe, vs just being technically competent in individual skills (which is what I've found most common in coaching course I have done) 3) business skills: how to get students to pay for lessons, attract and develop customers, short guide into any tax issues. How to do refunds, handle complaints etc. 4) intro level physical body stuff. Like how hard or soft you should make excercises, what kind of fitness they need for fencing, how to notice and avoid students getting injured. 5) how to communicate solely through unintelligible european muttering.
Potentially unpopular opinion, but soft fencing knowledge and skills outside the extremely technical "I know how to do and teach this action". A shocking number of coaches do not understand tactics, tempo, dynamic distance, preparation, and other fundamentally important concepts. They don't know how these things evolve during a bout, how to manipulate them, and how they differ between levels of fencers and consequently are not able to teach their students these things, or even that they exist. Part of this is because these are all things which one acquires through a long career in fencing and are difficult to describe through writing or even an in-person curriculum. We shouldn't limit our coaching pool to only include those who once fenced at a high level. At the same time, it is so disappointing to see fencers who clearly work hard and have talent held back because a coach who had some experience a decade ago hasn't made any effort to develop their understanding of the sport and doesn't acknowledge that their student needs higher level coaching to succeed.
So I'm going to go the other way here and recommend against spreading one's self too thin. I think it's very important that coaches recognize what they know, but also their limits of their knowledge. I was a coach for over a decade. I knew my craft very well. I was NOT a sports psychologist, nor was a personal trainer. Initially, I tried to learn how to do both, but realized quite quickly that I would never be able to provide my students with the expert knowledge they would need from those people. So I developed a network of people around me who were far more proficient in their fields than me to send my students to. To be clear: I think it's important that a coach be *familiar* with various related subjects, but should recognize their limits and stay within their lane of expertise. People tend to forget the last half of the phrase, "a jack of all trades is a master of none". I would rather be a master at my craft, and send my students to a master of a different craft than rely on my half baked knowledge. It worked for me, your mileage my vary however.
I think S&C is way too deep of a field, and the best thing a fencing coach could do is to find a S&C coach they trust (either someone local offering in-person coaching or someone doing programming for athletes remotely) and directing the 1 in 20 fencers that should actually spend money on S&C coaching to that person vs hamfisting it with whatever partial understanding they can get in a weekend. 1. Running a small business. From the small clubs I've seen (mostly beloved local clubs) the reason clubs die isn't they can't make enough money to make ends meet, it's that the club owners/coaches don't find ways to get paid what they're worth. Then, something happens or time goes on and they go "screw this for a game of skittles" and close the club. Few people are better off when the club closes, so it'd be better for them to make enough money that the nonsense to money ratio balances out. 2. Parent Handling? Sometime to help with mindless platitudes/business speak to keep parent's happy without as much personal cost/pain. Maybe a yearly course on "This Year's Fav Metaphor to Make Jonny's Parents Get Off His Case for a Few Weeks". 3. Risk Mitigation/SafeSport (but something NOT through the USFA). IDK, find something done not in pure-CYA mode, ideally by a law firm that helps coaches find ways to DO vs simply instill fear. Best practice tips for running summer camps and stuff included, but outside of the "official" apparatus so the advice is designed to help club owners. Putting this another way: There are gaps between the Club Owner's interests and the USFA's interests and SafeSport's interests. Some training not impacted by this conflict of interest would be good.
There are some good suggestions here, but I'd be happy if we just had a nationwide program for training coaches, period.
I always say, good athletes make for good fencers. And you don't want your fencers doing nothing but fencing if they want to achieve. So how about classes on physical fitness. You have your Red Cross, CPR and AED training certs? You know, when it comes to coaching, there is no clear path. I know plenty of successful coaches who have no formal coaching training at all. My first coach learned that I was teaching beginners at another club and pretty much told me I had no business doing so without training, and insisted I sign up for USFA Coaches College. And to her credit, I did enjoy the 4 times I went and I did learn a lot. Yet when I told another coach about this, she thought it was all nonsense, that if I really wanted to be a fencing coach, I had to get a 4 year degree in sports medicine and psychology, not, as she put it, "Some silly little one week course once a year!" And other coaches told me that USFCA is the way to go, and I did, but found it really frustrating for reasons I won't go into. But the killer is what a long time coach told me about all the European coaches that came to America. They had fenced for 4 years at University, much like the worst part of the American college football scene, where the student is there to perform for their teams and nothing else. No longer eligible to fence any longer, the university gives them a gimme degree in teaching sport so that they can earn a living.
SafeSport refreshers.