History
The Bellevue, Highline, and SnoKing kendo clubs were all founded and run by Jeff Marsten sensei. For the first 40 years of the clubs’ existences, he also managed all of the administrative work that comes with running a kendo club, with various levels of support from the support of club members. In 2016, he expressed a wish to step back from these administrative duties and instead focus on what every nanadan kyoshi should be doing: teaching kendo.
Thus, the BHS board was born.
How the board works
The board has representatives from each dojo (currently 3 board officers represent Bellevue, 2 represent Highline, and 2 represent Sno-King). We meet monthly to discuss the administration of the clubs, including things like budgeting, stocking equipment, and recruiting/retention initiatives.
Each member serves a two-year term, with half of the members’ terms expiring each year so that we always have experienced members to help out the new folks.
Club Whips
In addition to having board member representatives, each dojo also has a “club whip” who is in charge of disseminating information to each dojo. The whip is not necessarily on the board, though many of them are.