5 Ways to Save Memories and Savor Fencing Summer NationalsIt’s here! After a whole year of preparation, a long hard season that’s pushed everyone to their limit, and an incredible amount of personal growth and diligent planning, Fencing Summer Nationals are finally here.

We sincerely hope that you’re reading this blog on your smartphone as you’re sitting in the audience between matches, or at the hotel as you unwind after a long day of competition. Or at the very least from the comfort of your own home if you didn’t make it out to Salt Lake City this year, as you follow your favorite fencers.

These giant events come and go, and we’re often so focused on getting through them that we don’t stop and think about how to savor and save them. In the fast-paced world of social media, the events of Fencing Summer Nationals are communicated out across the world in moments.

But you can save memories and savor Fencing Summer Nationals with these five awesome strategies!

1.    Take pics, then PRINT them!

We all know that you’re taking tons of pics on that smart phone of yours. You’re snapping wildly to catch all of those moments and putting them on Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. That’s awesome, but what about when you get home? We tend NOT to print things out anymore, and that’s a shame. To help you savor and save the memories of Fencing Summer Nationals, we really suggest that you get those great pics printed!

Get a sports bottle printed with the images to take to the club. Or maybe a luggage tag that can then hang on a fencing bag. Why not get a t-shirt printed with a particularly awesome shot to wear and show your pride? And of course it’s just great to have some large images printed up to put on the fridge or the mantle at home, or in that school locker.

It’s so easy to leave those awesome pictures in the virtual world, but it’s such a shame! Get them printed!

2.    Screenshot cool social media interactions, then scrapbook them!

With the right hashtagging and with all of the focus on social media during Fencing Summer Nationals, It’s common to see some really cool stuff on social media. Maybe your favorite fencing star commented on a picture that you posted on Instagram, or a coach typed something really special on your Facebook page. Those memories can get really lost to the ages on social media because they stay digital.

One cool thing that you can do is to screenshot those awesome things, then print them to go in your scrapbook. The bottom line is that nothing matches the power of having something in your hands and flipping through memories in the years to come. You can of course mix in other, more traditional things into your scrapbook like plane tickets or itineraries!

3.    Make a slideshow to share with family and friends when you get home

Back to digital media, one really fun thing to do is to create a slideshow to present to grandparents, friends, and classmates when you get home. This is really good to do right after you get home from Fencing Summer Nationals, rather than waiting for a few weeks.

Include video clips, quotes of inspirational things that you heard while you were there, and of course tons of pictures. When school starts up again in a couple of months, kids have something to bring with them from summer to show off what they did. And of course grandparents LOVE to see those accomplishments! It’s a great chance for your child to learn public speaking skills, as they can present the slideshow themselves. It also helps them learn how to talk about their accomplishments and to feel really wonderful about them.

4.    Live Tweet Fencing Summer Nationals

There’s nothing quite like things being live. If you’re at Summer Nationals to observe, think about live tweeting all of the action! All you do is watch the matches, updating your Twitter or Facebook feed with descriptions and/or pictures of the action. This is a great way to reach out to people who aren’t there, and it’s really fun because you get to be a reporter. This is a great thing for older siblings to do who are tagging along but who aren’t fencing themselves.

5.    Tape Interviews

As the action is winding down, before a match, or after a match, take a few minutes to do some interviews with your child, their teammates, their coaches, their opponents, and anyone else you can think of! All you have to do is take out your smart phone and video whoever you’re interviewing as they answer questions about how the event feels, what’s exciting, what’s surprising, etc. It can be REALLY informal, but this kind of casual talking about this event is something that you’ll really cherish in the future. How cool will it be in ten years to be able to watch a video of your Y14 fencer talking about their experience at Fencing Summer Nationals? Not to mention if you can grab a bit with their coach and their teammates.

You can then go home and create a cohesive video of your interviews for a powerful keepsake. The cool thing about this is that you only need two to three minutes of video to get something awesome.

[Photo credit: USFA]