The Way Forward for USA Fencing (Part I)

Sometimes I have a little too much time on my hands during 10 hour flights back-and-forth to Europe for World Cups. With the USA Fencing elections around the corner, it just got me thinking about what fencing in the USA needs to do to grow.   The results was a 20-page document that’s very rough which captures my best thinking on what we need to do.   I’ll start with the broad overview in this post (since 20 pages usually don’t make for great blog posts!) and in the future I’ll share specifics about how we can get there.

We have one of the greatest sports in the world and the future can (and will) be amazing if we push forward in the right ways.  Feedback always welcome.

Yours,
Tim
PS Please “like” me on facebook:
www.facebook.com/timmorehouseusa  Thanks!

VISION AND ASPIRATIONAL GOALS

BIG GOAL: Create the most effective sport National Governing Body (NGB) in the world.

1. Fencing as a regular part of Physical Education across America
2. Strongest Performing Olympic Team in the World.
3. Strongest Youth Development program focused on sportsmanship, life skills and dreaming big.
4. Everyone in the USA has the opportunity to watch fencing on TV or Live.
5. Everyone in the country has the access in their area to fencing and knows how to find a place to fence.
6. Fencing contributes to the overall society of USA.

DRIVING PHILOSOPHIES…

1. Set big goals
2. Synergize the strengths of the programs and people involved in fencing.
3. Find the best and most experience people, get them, retain them and put them in the right places to let them drive the development.
4. Plan with the end in mind.
5. Copy best practices of effective organizations both in sports (Professional and Olympic) and business.
6. Embody the mentality of a champion: Never give up when faced with challenges, learn and grow from every experience and strive for excellence in all aspects.

NUMERIC TARGETS:

1. One million plus children fencing in the USA in school programs
2. Gold medal (s) at every Olympic Games
3. Four Million plus members of the National Fencing Organization
4. Fencing with four plus regular TV broadcasts on network television
5. Twenty Million dollars plus annual fundraising and corporate sponsorship