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I’ll move even bigger mountains

Hi, for those who might not know me, I'm Eli, I've been fencing for about 2,5 years now and next year I'll be in my final year of a Modern Languages degree. Having started fencing at this club, I'm passionate about providing other people with the same opportunity to fall in love with this sport and the community we've fostered.

I already have experience as part of the committee running the club in 2022/23, when I was social and wellbeing sec and women's vice captain. Amongst others, I also helped organise the open we held that year and most of the transport and accommodation for non-league competitions. On occasion I supported other people in their roles which gave me a broad view of what it takes for a club to function. As such, I’m used to interacting with LUU staff especially, as well as LSA staff, and would be able to pick up where I left off in working with them. Those who've been around me in my time at the club will know just how committed I am and that I want to contribute to it in whatever way I can.

Some of the things I would like to focus on as president include ensuring that our club is a welcoming environment for all members, experienced or new to fencing, those who've been here for years and those who only just joined, international or home students, etc.
I hope that we can cultivate an atmosphere where everyone feels that they can have an impact and that their feedback will be listened to.
Given that I started out as a complete beginner, the experience people who are new to fencing have in our club is quite important to me. I would love to work with the rest of next year's committee and members of the club to help bridge the gap between newer and more experienced fencers, both on piste and off it, making the integration process upon joining easier for everyone.
This also applies to our international members, one of which is me. I am currently on my compulsory year abroad and thus fencing in a club where everything is done in a language I am not very confident in. It's helped me gain some perspective on how this can prevent people from becoming a part of the larger community and even make training itself harder to follow. Studying abroad is tough enough on its own so I hope that we can create a safe space in the club where everyone can relax, do a sport they enjoy and feel at home.
However, I’m not forgetting about our more advanced fencers either. I want to enable both our captains to take their teams to new heights and will advocate for us to have the training slots and facilities to do so. As stated before, I think the committee being open to suggestions and feedback is important, so should experienced fencers (or any member of the club) have any ideas on how to improve our current system for training, I would be glad to hear them out and hopefully find a solution together with the training officer.

Thus, my main goal will be for our club to be well integrated and a place where everyone can fence at the level of competitiveness that best suits them while also being a safe space for its members. That includes all the aforementioned things, but also others, like regular club kit maintenance and repair etc.

I want to finish by saying that this club has been a huge positive force in my life since I've joined and I want to give back to it. So I will move mountains if that means it can have as much of a positive impact for others as it has already had for me.