solent university fencing club

[kieran]

i have my place confermed at solent university for september and have recently got very into fencing and started competing in opens. but on my visits to the university i have been made awair tat they do not have an oficial university fencing team so i am thinking of geting one started up as a new society though the su when i get there and want to do so with the aim of competing in bucs. is there the intrest and suport for this? if anyone is also going to southampton solent in sept would they want to start a fencing team?

[MKCap]

Bearing in mind you will still be required to come back for comps

[n_freebody]

If you manage to get it off the ground I know So'ton Uni will be only too happy to resurrect the old friendly varsity match that used to exist before the club at Solent dissapeared. If you don't manage to resurrect it you would be more than welcome to train with them as well . Also If your an Epeeist then you may want to give Southampton Epee club a try ( www.southampton-epee.co.uk/ )

PM me if you want any more details

[J4G]

They might not have a team, but as far as I'm aware they do have a uni fencing club. On uni trips I have seen them about, check if there's a group on Facebook or a website. Or get in touch with their students union and ask them, they'll be able to give you a definitive answer

[n_freebody]

I can assure you that Solent do not currently have a fencing club. It got shut down a number of years ago due to a lack of people. The fencers seen on Uni trips were probably from The University of Southampton not Southampton Solent University.

[J4G]

The fencers seen on Uni trips were probably from The University of Southampton not Southampton Solent University.

Ah sorry, my bad

[miraberis]

Hi Kieran,
If you want any more info on Southampton Epee Club please feel free to get in touch!
If you manage to get something going at Solent Uni and would like to find a coach I can probably help as well.
Good luck!
Andrew

[Honeybadger]

Advice: Take all the help you can get! Athletic unions like: 1) Money, 2) Success, and 3) Credit. They dont like 1) Sports that cost a lot, 2) Marginal sports like fencing that dont appeal to most people, and 3) Putting a lot of money into a club without immediate results.
The best thing to do would be to borrow non-student fencers. Not only will they have their own kit, but making it a community thing as well as a university thing means that you'll be eligable for all kinds of lovely grants. Ideally start planning asap, so that when you get there in september you can get moving right away before the AU start having second thoughts.

[ChrisL]

Advice: Take all the help you can get! Athletic unions like: 1) Money, 2) Success, and 3) Credit. They dont like 1) Sports that cost a lot, 2) Marginal sports like fencing that dont appeal to most people, and 3) Putting a lot of money into a club without immediate results.
The best thing to do would be to borrow non-student fencers. Not only will they have their own kit, but making it a community thing as well as a university thing means that you'll be eligable for all kinds of lovely grants. Ideally start planning asap, so that when you get there in september you can get moving right away before the AU start having second thoughts.

Just to add to this if you do intend to set up a new club I'd see if you can get a go-ahead from the AU even before you arrive and get some local fencers/local clubs onboard to give you a hand perhaps just by supplying steam weapons initially.
The September Fresher's intake is absolutely critical and is where you'll get the majority of your members and most of your money (I'd say the members joining, paying, then quitting are nearly as important as those that stay as for most university clubs can't afford to support the kit and numbers for all the interest. The rule is to get as much kit as possible, run waves, bite off more than you can chew and make as much money as possible which you can then use to buy kit for the actually interested ones that stay)

[AJ91]

Also get a local sponsor if at all possible. Thats far and away the easiest way to get a new sports club at a university off the ground as your extremely unlikely to get any money for at least the first 6 months to a year from the union as they'll see that as a test period as to whether its worth investing in.
General rule of thumb seems to be about 20-25 signed up members should be enough to secure some kind of funding for most university clubs.

[kieran]

ok thanks guys and yes MKCap i will be back competing for Milton Keynes as much as i can.

Andrew from Southampton Epeeists that would be amazing if you could and would volunteer your time to coach thank you so much for that.

because i have accepted the offer but not there yet is it possible for me to talk to the SU to get a stall up for freshers and would any local fencers be interested in fencing at the uni to help get it up and running?

[kieran]

Also get a local sponsor if at all possible. Thats far and away the easiest way to get a new sports club at a university off the ground as your extremely unlikely to get any money for at least the first 6 months to a year from the union as they'll see that as a test period as to whether its worth investing in.
General rule of thumb seems to be about 20-25 signed up members should be enough to secure some kind of funding for most university clubs.

do you know any local sponcers that would be willing to help? i am going to have a chat with my aria manager at Aldi and see if he will ask the Southampton Aldi area manager if that is a goer (and also for personal sponsorship for now)

[AJ91]

do you know any local sponcers that would be willing to help? i am going to have a chat with my aria manager at Aldi and see if he will ask the Southampton Aldi area manager if that is a goer (and also for personal sponsorship for now)

I'm not from Southampton I'm afraid.

Your best bet is probably places like supermarkets, Restaurants, Pubs etc though. Can offer everything from just displaying their logo as a badge to having a club banner, t shirts (and one that gets pubs/restaurants interested is promising to hold socials/weekly post training sessions there). All about stressing what you can offer in return for their investment. May also be worth asking the SU if any other clubs have sponsors and/or what businesses they would recommend to ask.

Its not easy to find sponsors for fencing unfortunately but I know of at least a couple of new uni clubs that have which had enabled them to get up and running.

[kieran]

has anyone got the contact details of the SU in solent so i can try and get a stand set up for freshers? and would any local fencers want to help run the stand?

[n_freebody]

has anyone got the contact details of the SU in solent so i can try and get a stand set up for freshers? and would any local fencers want to help run the stand?

Doesnt take much effort to google : http://www.solentsu.co.uk/

You may have difficulty getting local fencers to help as they will all either be at school, work or at the Southampton Uni bunfight good luck though

[Honeybadger]

Hows progress with this? I may have found you one gangly recruit at Solent...

[MKCap]

I'll give him a prod.