Club Charter
Charter: Bryn Mawr College Fencing Club
Drafted January 2007, Updated February 10, 2012
Purpose:
The Fencing Club is committed to providing students with an opportunity to learn and practice the sport of fencing (Sport/Olympic Fencing, as different from Classical or SCA Fencing), as well as to compete in formal and informal tournaments.
Membership:
The Fencing Club is open to all members of the Bryn Mawr College community, regardless of previous fencing experience. The Fencing Club welcomes and will gladly teach beginners. Dues will be required of all members, but provisions will be made in cases of financial hardship. There is no limit on the number of members.
Duties of Members:
Members are expected to show up at all practices and meets possible. Members are expected to volunteer for tasks and generally help with the running of the club. They are expected to maintain a respectful and mature attitude towards their coaches, teammates, referees, and opponents.
Eligibility for Competitive Slots:
To be eligible for a competitive slot you must:
1. Show up consistently at practices
2. Attend the previous three practices
3. Accept the coach’s and squad captain’s decisions concerning eligibility
4. Work well with all members of the team.
In cases of large squads, seniority and veteran status may be additional factors that determine who gets priority to compete in specific events. Any problems should be promptly communicated to the club Co-Presidents and other involved parties.
Coach Job Description:
The coach is expected to show up for all practices and meets on time (unless arrangements are made in advance) and to notify the Co-Presidents and the Assistant Coach of any absence in advance. At practice the coach is expected to provide varied drills and to divide their time evenly between all members. This plan should be responsive to the needs of the club concerning pace and difficulty. This plan should be modified as needed with feedback from the club members and officers, and modifications should be implemented immediately. The coach is expected to determine competitive slots and advise substitution during competition. The coach should be constantly willing to improve their knowledge of fencing and sports medicine.
The coach should maintain an attitude that is inspirational to the club, generates respect from the club, and reciprocates that respect. The coach should be approachable for any member, and should listen to the needs of the club.
Relations:
Club members are discouraged though not prohibited from dating other club members, and all romantic relationships shall be carried out outside the sphere of the club. The coach shall not be romantically involved with any club member.
Elections:
The Fencing Club will hold annual elections for its offices in early to mid-March. This will give the new officers time to learn their duties under the supervision of the old officers. Paper will be passed around first for those wishing to nominate themselves or somebody else for any office. The same paper will circulate again to give nominated members a chance to either accept or reject the nomination. Votes will be taken at the next practice or online and tallied by the co-presidents. All dues-paying members will have voting privileges. Emergency elections may occur in the case of a sudden vacancy. In the case of emergency elections, nominations will be made either though email or verbally.
Officers:
It is vital that people running for Office be able to carry out their duties. They must be committed to the club and to their work. If they are having trouble with their responsibilities then they should talk to the club Co- Presidents. These Officers should be seen as co-coordinators, and should not have to do everything related to their particular job. It is important that each officer maintains a record of their time in office in the binder provided for that purpose. Officers may be from any class year, given that the nominee has been with the club at least one year (two for Co-Presidents) and a strong record of participation and attendance at practices.
Co-Presidents (2) are the liaisons to the school and athletic administration as well as other schools and the USFA. They are in charge of coordinating with the other officers, especially with the Treasurer and Fundraiser at the beginning of the semester when budgets need to be written. They are also responsible for, among other things, reserving space for practice and social gatherings, advertising for the club, keeping attendance (and seeing to it that attendance is handed in on time), calling meetings, and recording and distributing meeting notes over the listserv. They are the main contacts for the club and should be consulted if problems concerning the club occur. They are in charge of the master schedule for the club and should be consulted if other members would like to suggest or organize club events. The Co-Presidents must be able to work together to divide up the work of running the club.
The Co-Presidents will maintain and update the master binders for the club.
Treasurer is in charge of all monetary transactions, including the collection of dues. They must co-ordinate with the Co-Presidents on equipment orders and budgets. They must also frequently communicate with the Fundraiser. The treasurer is not, however, responsible for fundraising. They must keep up to date on how much money the club’s current financial situation. They must be present while equipment or fundraising orders are made or briefed on the transactions in advance. They are responsible for turning receipts into the Student Finance Committee (SFC) for reimbursement as well as complying with criteria outlined by the SFC for club funding.
The Treasurer should keep the proposed budgets, approved budgets, copies of receipts and other pertinent financial information in their binder. They should photocopy any receipts that need to be turned into the SFC and keep the copies in the binder.
Fundraiser coordinates all fundraisers, including publicity, fielding questions, and research, ordering etc. for fundraisers. They must be in close communication with the Treasurer, especially at the beginning of each semester, in case any fundraising advances need to be requested. All monetary transactions must be discussed with the Treasurer.
The Fundraiser should keep information regarding sales on campus and the contact info for companies that fundraising items were purchased from as well as any other useful information.
Tournament Coordinator is in charge finding information about local tournaments and distributing it to the club. They will also be the main correspondent with the coaches and fencers on other collegiate teams, including being the main contact for the Baltimore Washington Collegiate Fencing Conference (BWCFC). They will work closely with the Co-Presidents when hosting tournaments at Bryn Mawr, making sure space and all necessary equipment is available. They will also maintain an AskFRED bout committee account in order to manage tournaments. They will obtain and distribute directions to those attending tournaments (both individual and team events). They will reserve vans from the college as needed, and also have the information about the procedures through which one obtains a van license.
It is suggested that the Tournament Coordinator keep a log of van licensing/borrowing and Philly CarShare information, as well as directions to popular tournament locations.
Web Admin will be responsible for the maintenance of the club website/blog. They will communicate with Information Services and the Help Desk for useful information and in the event of technical difficulties. The club will decide with them about what to put on the website, including, but not limited to: information about practice times, tournaments schedules, and other public fencing information.
The Web Admin should keep website related information in their binder.
Non-Elected Officers:
Armorer is in charge of keeping the club inventory up to date, posting the most recent copy of the inventory posted in the cabinet, keeping the cabinet orderly, noting which weapons need to be repaired on the “Repairs” sheet and making sure that weapons in need of repair are labeled.
They should also pay attention to whether or not the stash of pens and first aid supplies are getting low and let the Co-Presidents know. The Armorer will be required to learn some equipment repair skills, either from the coach or the previous Armorer. It will thus be their responsibility to impart this knowledge onto other club members (informally or in the form of armory demonstrations) and assist with equipment repairs.
They should keep updated copies of the inventory in their binder as well as notes about what needs to be repaired.
The Armorer will be appointed by suggestion of the coach and the agreement of the officers.
Apprentice Armorer is responsible, over the course of the year, for learning the skills necessary for the maintenance of club gear from the current Armorer. They must be committed to their position and be willing to assist the future Armorer if they to accept the full position. Assistant Armorer will be appointed at the discretion of the coach and current Armorer.
Assistant Coach(es) is/are a club member or club members who are interested in taking on the responsibility of assisting the coach during practices and leading practices in the coach’s absence. This is a volunteer position that will be filled with the consultation of the coach. The assistant coach should have a good understanding of the theoretical and technical aspects of fencing and should be able to clearly communicate that understanding to their teammates. Some additional training outside of regular club meetings is required in order to learn the basics of coaching. These individuals may also hold other officer positions in the club concurrently with the position of assistant coach. They must be able to work well with other club members and, if there are multiple assistant coaches, with each other.
Squad Captains will represent their respective squad during team events, as well as make decisions, with the input of other squad members, regarding substitutions and rotation.
Squad captains are chosen at the discretion of the coach and squad members with selection usually being based on seniority and experience.
Decision-making Process:
The Co-Presidents, in consultation with the other officers and the coach, are responsible for decisions not directly relating to what happens in practice. This includes deciding practice times, cancellations, etc. If the Co-Presidents feel matters are of special importance, the whole club will be brought into the decision process. There will be at least one club meeting each semester.
Source of Income:
The Fencing Club will rely upon membership dues, fundraisers, SGA funds, and/or donations for income. This money will be used to purchase equipment and to fund club activities.
Amendments to Charter:
If necessary, the Fencing Club will amend its charter by a simple majority vote.
September 15 2008 04:32 pm
Rachel G. on 25 Jan 2009 at 8:48 pm #
Alyssa, this is a test of the comment system….testing, testing, 123.