CFFA update for October 28
We had a number of people go up to the Peak event at Apex yesterday. In men’s foil Brendan McConville and Oliver Galbraith competed. Both went 3-3 in their pools in an A2 event. Brendan won his first DE and then lost a close one to Tom Bryan, finishing 11th. Oliver won his first DE and then lost his second, finishing 9th. They both stayed for the epee and were joined by Eoin O’Brien and Kent Walston. Brendan was 2-4 in the pool in the midst of his back seizing up and pulled out prior to the DE, finishing 17th is what could have been an A event, but ended up as B. Eoin had a solid first round going 3-2 in the pool, but drew one of his pool opponents who learned from the match in his first DE. He finished 11th. Kent Walston did a bit better going 4-2 in his pool, but also lost his first DE and finished 10th. Oliver had the best performance, going 5-1, won his first DE, but then lost to the eventual winner, Lars Hansen, and finished 5th. On the women’s side, in foil, Amelia Alexander and Eilis O’Brien both competed. Eilis went 2-3 and lost her first DE finishing 11th in what was a D event. Amelia (already tired from epee – but more on that later) was 2-2 in her pool. In her first DE, she got down by 5 points and then pulled an epic comeback to win 15-14. Her second DE was against a B rated fencer. She fell behind in the first period, held the B even in the second and finally lost in the third, after putting up a good fight. She finished 8th. Saving the best for last (not actually how it happened chronologically), we had five competitors in the women’s epee: Alice Bromberg, Erica Julien, Erin and Amelia Alexander, and Nicole Milewski. Alice had a bunch of teammates in her pool, never a good thing; and the lost her first DE to Erin, finishing 12th. Erica Julien was 1-4 in her pool and then pulled an upset in her first DE, before losing in the second, finishing 8th. Erin had a very good first round, going 3-2, beat Alice in her first DE, but then got Amelia in her next DE. I believe Amelia has been grounded for beating her mom, who finished 5th. Amelia, who was 4-1 in her pool, after beating her mom, lost her next next DE and received a bronze medal. Nicole was 5-0 in her pool, easily won her first DE, then solidly defeated a person who had given her trouble in her pool, and finally got over the major hurdle of Lauren Dunseath to win the event. Good fencing by everyone and report cards will be forthcoming.
We
will need to put the overheads back up before practice on October
29th. The next set of afterschool classes will start this week. The
next set of homeschool classes will start on this Wednesday. Just FYI, I
expect a light turnout from our younger fencers on Thursday
(Halloween.) That may also mean very few adult fencers, but I will hang out at least until I see if anyone shows up.
will need to put the overheads back up before practice on October
29th. The next set of afterschool classes will start this week. The
next set of homeschool classes will start on this Wednesday. Just FYI, I
expect a light turnout from our younger fencers on Thursday
(Halloween.) That may also mean very few adult fencers, but I will hang out at least until I see if anyone shows up.
The Charlotte NAC (January 3-6) is open for registration until November 20th. It has Div I, Junior, and senior team events. For those of you wanting to see what the highest level of competition in the US feels like, this is as close as this kind of event will ever get. Additionally, for those of you who qualify for the JOs, this junior is open, and will give you an idea of what the JOs will be like. Div I means you must have a C to enter. Junior is for those born in the years 2000-2006. The senior team means you need 3, maybe 4 with an alternate. people. Everyone has to be old enough to fence in Senior (adult) tournaments. The team event is a DE from the get go, so you may not want to enter unless unless you are going for something else as well. Here are the dates, but times have not yet been posted, for the events in which I believe some of our fencers may be interested. Friday 1/3 Div I Men’s epee; Saturday 1/4 Div I Men’s foil, Div I Women’s epee; Sunday 1/5 Men’s epee team, Junior men’s foil, Junior Women’s epee,; Monday 1/6 Junior Men’s epee, Junior Women’s foil, Women’s epee team.
The
first event for the NCFL
for the year will be here on November 2nd. Get ready as there should
be a lot of fencing. As always, help refereeing will be appreciated.
High school foilists should start getting ready NOW. I will be
contacting you to start confirming who will be fencing. For this you
need a complete uniform, so if you don’t have knickers or a plastron
talk to me. The B division can consist of anyone who is 6th grade and
up. We can probably pull together a couple of actual teams from St.
Mary and Surf City. We will put together composite teams for other
interested fencers. I need to know who is fencing ASAP.
first event for the NCFL
for the year will be here on November 2nd. Get ready as there should
be a lot of fencing. As always, help refereeing will be appreciated.
High school foilists should start getting ready NOW. I will be
contacting you to start confirming who will be fencing. For this you
need a complete uniform, so if you don’t have knickers or a plastron
talk to me. The B division can consist of anyone who is 6th grade and
up. We can probably pull together a couple of actual teams from St.
Mary and Surf City. We will put together composite teams for other
interested fencers. I need to know who is fencing ASAP.
For the older people who might not be assisting with NCFL, there is a Vet event in Richmond. Epee needs one person for a B event, an A would make it an A. Foil needs bodies for a B event.
The next Monday/Wednesday classes will begin on November 4th at 6:30 pm.
The next Jacksonville classes will start on Friday evening, November 8th.
Our
next USA Fencing event is Saturday, November 9th. Mixed foil, mixed
epee, and Vet epee. Not a lot of people signed up yet. Epee finally has the bodies, but needs A s and Bs to be a higher rated event. Foil and
vet epee are lagging way behind. Foil needs bodies and Es to be a D event. Vet epee needs bodies to be a C event. Get signed up now so we can attract
more people and have a
larger event like the first one. Remember you must be signed up before midnight on Saturday, November 2nd, or the fees increase.
next USA Fencing event is Saturday, November 9th. Mixed foil, mixed
epee, and Vet epee. Not a lot of people signed up yet. Epee finally has the bodies, but needs A s and Bs to be a higher rated event. Foil and
vet epee are lagging way behind. Foil needs bodies and Es to be a D event. Vet epee needs bodies to be a C event. Get signed up now so we can attract
more people and have a
larger event like the first one. Remember you must be signed up before midnight on Saturday, November 2nd, or the fees increase.
On the 16th Mid-South has a series of Vet events in all weapons and Apex has another of their unsanctioned youth and adult events.
The
JO qualifiers are going to be November 17th at Apex. This year the
JOs are in Columbus, Ohio. The venue is pretty good and the
drive/flight is not too bad. Hopefully we can have a large contingent
at the qualifiers even if not everyone makes it to JOs. It is a one day
event, so timing will be tight and I imagine that if you attempt to
qualify in multiple weapons you will be running back and forth from one
to the other. We can probably have a Saturday practice if there is
interest. You need to be signed up by 11/14. If you fence a Junior event and qualify for the junior, you are automatically qualified for the cadet if you are the correct age. You would not then have to fence the cadet later in the day. For that reason, all of the junior events happen first and the cadet events later.
JO qualifiers are going to be November 17th at Apex. This year the
JOs are in Columbus, Ohio. The venue is pretty good and the
drive/flight is not too bad. Hopefully we can have a large contingent
at the qualifiers even if not everyone makes it to JOs. It is a one day
event, so timing will be tight and I imagine that if you attempt to
qualify in multiple weapons you will be running back and forth from one
to the other. We can probably have a Saturday practice if there is
interest. You need to be signed up by 11/14. If you fence a Junior event and qualify for the junior, you are automatically qualified for the cadet if you are the correct age. You would not then have to fence the cadet later in the day. For that reason, all of the junior events happen first and the cadet events later.
The 23rd is the second NCFL meet, this time at Chapel Hill HS.
Also
on that date for non-NCFL fencers, The Harry Rulnick open is being held
in Fayetteville. It has open adult foil split between men and women
and is a sanctioned event.
on that date for non-NCFL fencers, The Harry Rulnick open is being held
in Fayetteville. It has open adult foil split between men and women
and is a sanctioned event.
On Sunday, Mid-South is holding the next in the program of youth sabre events.
pax vobiscum,
Greg Spahr
Head Coach
Cape Fear Fencing Association
Head Coach
Cape Fear Fencing Association
“The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that’s the way to bet.” Damon Runyon