Change 4 Life School Clubs

About Change 4 Life

312 new "Change 4 Life" fencing clubs have started to be launched in Secondary Schools and Further Education Colleges across the country since September 2010.

This new network of clubs aims to attract young people who might be inspired by the 2012 Games to take up and participate in fencing.

By building this network of school clubs on school and college sites, and as an integral part of a school to club framework, we hope School Sport Partnerships will be further supported to engage those not currently taking part in sport out of school hours.

These clubs will not only attract and engage young people but will also develop a sense of belonging within a club setting, and encourage the regular participation that is associated with future community club membership and lifelong participation.

Young people will be at the heart of these clubs, as the aim is that at least 50% of the club workforce will be young people (organisers, leaders, officials etc). Fencing is one of seven Olympic and Paralympic sports to be chosen as part of the Change 4 Life programme (the other six are Badminton, Boccia, Wheelchair Basketball, Table Tennis, Volleyball and Handball).

Watch the promotional video for fencing C4L clubs here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqVWBkb49p8

Club Characteristics

Clubs are ‘owned’ by young people and the school
Clubs happen once a week
Clubs takes place regularly at the same time and place beyond the current OSHL provision (not replacing current provision)
They will be planned and delivered across the whole year
Clubs will be in a single sport
The club will have subscription and affiliation/membership
Clubs will include coaching and an element of competition
There will be opportunities for young people to lead and volunteer
Each club will have a brand/name

Target groups: 13-19 year olds

Issues that this programme tackles:

Engaging and increasing participation among those young people, not yet engaged or only partly engaged in sport
Building a network of modern new School Sport Clubs
Increasing the 3rd hour opportunities nationally

Case Studies

To hear about how other schools are delivering fencing and get some inspiritation and tips on how to start or develop your fencing club further please take a look at the examples of good practice below

Watch the following video to see Our Lady and St Chad C4L fencing club in action at the Youth Sport Trust School Sport Conference 2011, including a special guest appearance by Baroness Sue Campbell - http://youtu.be/BUrHb62nzS0

To see an interview with students from Our Lady & St Chad C4L fencing club please follow this link - http://youtu.be/nOq2kAQDVV8

If you are a community fencing club interested in starting a satellite fencing club please visit http://clublinks.sportengland.org/ for information and resources. Please contact clubs@britishfencing.com to discuss your plans.

Contact:

For more information on Fencing Change 4 Life, please contact clubs@britishfencing.com

Resources:

To support Change for Life Clubs in your school, the following resources are available:

Video guides

Warm Ups - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C8AF8HmL-4

Step Lunge Game - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APtzI4BNTck

Catch the Bag - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40okexE_rUM

Bat the Bag -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGI-R-ullUQ

Skipping Game - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FarZ7mtFTro

In the river, on the bank - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dD9CUNpbQQk

Hand Tap - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzMq2gu3ods

Opposites - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmiOrEl8mIc

Tag / Knee Fencing - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1P5owVpVr0

Skill Circuit - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mxZD3ILls8

Parry Riposte - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDK35r3XHqI

Priority - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uze9YNpKyvI

Snakes and Fencers - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lchgS60qx9o

Poule Unique - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBE36EyQe1k

Team Relay - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCV1rXTDnxk

To see how these activities are included in the Youth Sport Trust's School Games resources please follow this link https://www.yourschoolgames.com/cmspage/sports

For further support in running a fencing competition please click here.

To see some young leaders from Wickham and Gateshead SSP in action delivering GO/FENCE activity at a Step into Sport day please follow this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgtihC6UWcU

For a list of all the Change 4 Life school fencing clubs please click here.

British Fencing announce the launch of the GO/FENCE Championships 2012. For further details please click here.