18th is the Tiger Open in Clemson. This has started being a very large
event recently. All of the open events are A2s. They also have D and under events. The
foil and epee are C2 events.
A little
closer is an event in Raleigh that has a number of unsanctioned Y-12
and Y14 events, plus sanctioned open foil and epee and Div II sabre
events on the 18th and 19th. Apex is also doing a number of unsanctioned Y-12 foil and epee events, plus junior mixed foil and epee, plus a junior women’s foil.
It looks like St. Mary will want to set up for the haunted house part of
their Fall Festival on Thursday, October 23rd. No practice that afternoon or evening, and Wednesday is still up in the air. We will need to pull the overheads down on Tuesday the 21st and put them back up the next Tuesday.
October
25th is The Joseph Cadole in New
Bern. It is an E and under foil event, perfect for those of you looking
for a lower stress first tournament or a real shot at your foil
ranking. I am going so let me know if you are interested in a ride.
There is also an epee event in Charlotte that day which is shaping up to be a B rated event. See askfred for details.
Our next set of Homeschool classes will start on Wednesday, October 29th. That should let us finish that set of classes just before the holidays.
We will have practice at Camp Lejeune on Halloween night. I would ask everyone who will definitely be there to let me know that week, so I only have to pack the equipment we will need.
November 1st is a tournament at Raleigh.
The next set of evening classes will start on Monday, November 3rd. I am also planning to start our next set of afterschool classes that first week of November.
I
want to try and have another youth event before the end of the year.
Right now, it looks like it would be between November 8th and December
20th. I prefer the 8th, because I think the 20th is getting too close
to the holidays. Parents and young fencers, let me know what you think. So far it looks like the 8th is the preferred date among parents as well. I will let everyone know next week.
Sign ups for JO qualifiers are now on askfred.net. The qualifying events are on Saturday and Sunday, November 15th and 16th. All the Junior events (ages 13-19) are on Saturday and the Cadet (ages 13-16) qualifiers are on Sunday. I know that is a bit of issue which might require younger fencers to have an overnight to try to qualify in both, but there is a good reason for it. Cadet age fencers who qualify for the Junior events become automatic qualifiers for the corresponding Cadet events. That means there can be more qualifiers for the Cadet events because the automatic qualifier does not count against those who get to qualify, but does up the entry numbers. Or if they choose not to fence, at least they don’t take a qualifying spot. The USA Fencing rules are very specific that the Junior qualifying event has to be held first for that to happen. Last year when the events were all held in one day, some were not allowed the automatic qualifiers because the Cadet event was fenced first. The JOs are always held over the President’s Day weekend in February. The events are in Richmond, VA, this year. It probably will not be much closer for a long time. That means A) it is easy to get to, and B) the qualifiers will probably be large events that might be highly rated.
The
North Carolina Fencing League’s first event is
November 22nd and we will be hosting it. It is a foil team event and
takes teams of three fencers and they can have a sub. It doesn’t cost
anything, but it is appreciated if we have volunteer referees. Fencers
do need a full outfit including knickers and underarm protector. Let us
know if you might be interested in fencing and don’t have such things
yet so we can see if the club has your size or can borrow from someone.
Our teams fence in the B Division since we don’t represent a school.
In that division fencers can be any age so we will put together as many
teams as we can. Of course, you will possibly be fencing people all the
way up to high school age, but we can try to split some of it out by
ages.
Homeschool fencers cannot fence in the NCFL this year. I missed that the actual first event is Sunday, November 9th. I’ll be sending out a note later today with all the dates, registration information, etc.
pax vobiscum,
Head Coach
Cape Fear Fencing Association
but that’s the way to bet.” Damon Runyon
