RESULTS
We had a number of fencers attend Salle New Bern’s Skirmish at Tryon Palace yesterday. It was a beautiful day to hold this outdoor event on the grounds of the Colonial Governor’s mansion. Interesting A2 event in that a couple of the better fencers were injured and a U fencer earned his B. (He would have earned his A except for a red card.) Kenyatta Sanford got the bad luck of being in the pool with the eventual winner (A – Aiden Click) and the person who went from U to B (2nd place finisher, Gregory Howard). She went 1-4, lost her first DE to the C who finished 8th, and finished 24th. Nora Reber went 1-3 in her pool but ran into our Ryan O’Dea in her first DE and finished 20th. Ryan was 3-2 in his pool, defeated Nora, but then ran into Stephen Kmiec, who finished 3rd and earned his way back to a B. Ryan finished 13th. Robert Thomas was also 3-2 in his pool, won his first DE, but then ran into Aiden and finished 11th. Patrick Gadow was 4-1 in his pool, only losing to an A, Tristan Click. He won his first DE but then lost to the same C who took out Kenyatta in a close 13 – 15 bout. Patrick finished 9th and went from being a U to a D26. Jackson Jones (fencing on a broken toe) was 4-1 in his pool, and James Russell was 5-0 in his. Jackson won his first two DEs, while James got a first round bye, and won his first DE. That placed them against each other in the round of 8, with James coming out ahead. Jackson finished 7th. The weirdness of this event was that the two B rated teammates fenced in the round of 8 and the two A rated teammates, the Click brothers, also met in the round of 8. That meant that the top 4 rated fencers all ended up in the same half of the table. Aiden defeated James on his way to the title. James earned the 3rd place trophy and re-upped his B to a B26. Congratulations to everyone.
IMPORTANT DEADLINES
Our last event of the season, the Stab-a-thon, is April 18th. At the moment, the Open foil is a 19 person D1. The Open epee is already a 24 person A1. The D and under epee is a 9 person E1. The registration fee jumps up after April 12 (Today).
The deadline for entering the Summer Nationals at the regular fees is May 6th. The regular fees (tournament fee, event fee, and administrative fee) total $225 for one event, $320 for two, etc. After May 6th the fees triple, so $675 for one, $960 for two, etc. Let me know if you are going so I can make plans, the only person I see at the moment is Brendan.
CLUB UPDATES
The new afterschool class starts on Tuesday and will be Tuesday/Thursday. All the other classes and lessons should be per usual for this week.
I hope to do two 12 and under events. Right now May 2 and 23rd look open. Let me know how that works for people. So far, no one has even expressed an interest, so let me know if there is any.
SUMMER CAMPS
No input since the beginning so let’s go with this
July 13-17 Advanced epee
July 20 – 24 Beginner foil
July 27-31 Advanced foil
August 3-7 TBD
ABSOLUTE HIGH SCHOOL ALL-AMERICAN and ALL-ACADEMIC AWARDS
The self-nomination process for the Absolute Fencing High School All-American and All-Academic awards is open from now until June 2nd. To be eligible, you must be a USA Fencing member and in High School grades 9-12 (Homeschool counts). For the All-American status there are three levels: First team – to be first team All-American you must have earned or re-earned an A or B in the 2025-2026 season (there are some other possible criteria such as placement at NACs, world events, etc.). For second team honors you must have earned or re-earned a C or D. For honorable mention you must have earned or re-earned an E. For the All-Academic team, first team status is awarded for those with a 3.85 and above GPA, so long as you are in the top 25% of your class. For the second team, your GPA must be between 3.4 – 3.84. There are four scholarships available (one $4,000 and one $1,000 scholarship each for a male and a female) by also submitting an essay. There is a $35 application fee (each), so be certain you meet the criteria.
ARMORING CLINIC
There seems to be some interest in an armoring clinic, so Herman is looking at setting one up this summer. We would probably have Kathy Walters come in. Kathy is (was?) the person who represents the US at International Armorer meetings and also is one of the people they send to International events to oversee the international armorers. Let Herman or me know if you are interested and some dates that might be good.
UPCOMING EVENTS
April 18 CFFA Wilmington Stab-a-thon Open foil, open epee, Div III epee
April 24-27 NAC Richmond, VA Div 1, Junior, Vets
May 3 Forge Durham Spring Forge-ward Open epee, open sabre
May 16 Apex Apex Novice Cup Y10, Y12, Y 14 foil, adult foil and epee
May 30 Apex Fencing Apex Coach Miller Memorial Open foil, open epee, Div III foil
June 27 – July 6 USA Fencing Portland, OR Summer Nationals Regular Fee entry deadline May 6
pax vobiscum,
Greg Spahr
Head Coach
Cape Fear Fencing Association