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It sounds incongruous, and it is. Sports coaches everywhere have been doing mental gymnastics to find ways of keeping their club memberships active and meaningful during lockdown.
One such is coach Kev Milne of the West Lothian Fencing Club. How do you take a contact sport from a long piste in a gym hall, to the space of a yoga mat in your living room?
Picture The Dualists. Or the epic sword fight in The Princess Bride. In lockdown mode, who knew your fencing opponent could be replaced by a tennis ball and a USB cable? Speed, reaction time, accuracy and stamina are all developed in a fun way during Zoom sessions at the usual club times by games and exercises Kev has devised using objects easily found around the house. In addition, Kev is running a series of weekly challenges for club members to participate in by doing the challenge and sending in a video for Kev to judge.
WATCH
Kev is Head Coach at West Lothian Fencing Club, facebook @westlothianfencingclub and at the Heriot-Watt Fencing Club, Edinburgh
Published in Konect May 2020
Author: Helen-Jane Shearer
Video: West Lothian Fencing Club