CFFA update for July 23

CFFA update for July 23
We had a fun beginning camp last week with some young men who you may soon see showing up to continue fencing.  Be gentle.
We also had a good, if small, Saturday practice with a number of fencers from New Bern and Greenville.  Later yesterday, Herman and I represented the club at the get together Salle New Bern had to commemorate the passing of their founder and coach.
The advanced foil camp starts tomorrow with a good group of younger fencers.  If anyone is interested, but has not contacted me, just show up at 9 am.
Regular practice Tuesday and Thursday.  Lejeune practice Friday.  I am not certain about practice next Saturday.  I have an NCFL meeting in Chapel Hill.  Once I know whether or not other people will be in, I will let everyone know.
The week of the 31st will be the advanced epee camp.  It is going to be a very strong camp with a number of our recently retired fencers attending.  I guess it is a bucket list thing.
Early
next season is starting to shape up.  The first weekend (August 5-6) is
an RJCC (Regional Junior Cadet Circuit) event in Greensboro.  You need to be registered and
paid through askfred by July 30 or there is an additional $200
surcharge.  Askfred says it is now accepting payment, so get that done
if you are interested.  As of this morning, with all the people who have paid in the open adult epee, Samantha Milewski would be the top seed and Nicole is probably second.  However, if all the people registered, but not paid get in, it just needs a couple of Cs to be an A event.  The open foil has jumped and if everyone registered pays and it gets a couple of bodies, it could be an A or B event.  Pretty much the same for the youth events about getting everyone who has registered paid, and with a week to go getting a few more bodies.  Cadet Women’s epee needs one rated fencer and bodies to be a C event.  Cadet women’s foil is small at the moment.  Cadet men’s epee needs one body to be a B and cadet men’s foil should be a B.  Junior Women’s epee also is one rated fencer from being a C, with Junior women’s foil looking small.  Junior men’s epee and foil both should be strong A events.

August 7-11 is sabre camp.  I need people who have expressed an interest to touch base so I know what topics we need to cover.

The following weekend is Mid-South’s Big Blue.  The adult events have been split into women’s and men’s events.  Women’s epee needs a rated fencer and bodies to make a rated event.  It might reach a B event.  Women’s foil and sabre are small.  Men’s epee is a solid A, foil is small, and sabre needs mid level fencers and bodies to reach being a rated event.

August 1 is the start of the new season, (August 1, 2017 – July 31, 2018) which means a number of things happen.

You
need to renew your USA Fencing membership, not only for the right to do
tournaments, but also to keep our insurance viable.  Every one of our
members has to have some level of the organization’s membership for our
insurance to be valid.  The noncompetitive membership, which means you
will not be competing in USA Fencing sanctioned events, is still $10 for
the season.  The competitive membership is still $75.  The competitive
membership can be upgraded for club officers, referees, etc.  for an
additional $20.  Coaching memberships are now $120.

People
involved in the advanced epee camp should note that the start of the
season falls during the camp, so please have your membership renewed by
then.

If
you got your first membership after April 1, 2017, or upgraded to a
competitive membership after that date, you should be good for the
2017-18 season.  However, check your membership on the usfencing.org
website to be certain.

August
1 also means that the club’s dues for the season are renewable. 
Monthly dues will remain at $35/month (afterschool will stay at
$25/month).  If you wish to purchase a 6 month package  August 1 –
January 31, it will run $175, you save 1 month.  The yearly package runs
$350, August 1 – July 31, meaning you save 2 months.

Starting
on August 1, we will be raising the floor fee for evening practices at
Wilmington, to $10 per night.  The rationales for the increase are that
the people who pop in occasionally are the least likely to have all
their own equipment, meaning they are putting the most wear and tear on
uniforms and weapons.  Secondly, the insurance from USA Fencing is
jumping $450 for the season.  Lastly, and most importantly, the hope is
that people will go to the monthly fee for evening practices and then
show up more often so there are more people to fence.

pax vobiscum,

 
Greg Spahr
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

Please follow and like us:
Pin Share