News | Cape Fear Fencing Association

CFFA update for July 26

June 26, 2016June 26, 2016 Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication

I will be in for practice Tuesday night well before 6:30 pm if any youngsters want to show up. Then I am going to visit relatives for a few days. Brendan will be in at 7:30 pm on Thursday. No Camp Lejeune practice Friday. I am assuming no one will be in Saturday. I will be back in time for 6:30 practice on Tuesday the 5th.

Robert, Erica, Oliver, and Nicole are all fencing at Nationals. Most of the events look tougher than normal. I will keep people updated as to how they do. Tuesday will pretty much be their last practice and I am certain they would like a strong turnout for their final preparations.

New Bern is hosting both an E and under epee and an SCA rapier event on July 23rd. I will be going up. Light lunch and a potluck dinner around 4-5 pm. Sign up for the epee is on askfred. I don’t know about the rapier requirements and sign up.

Only had about eight people ask about T-shirts so far. Many of you who had mentioned it in passing haven’t given me a size or a definite indication of interest. We need to be closer to the 24 minimum order to make this happen. So far only one person has expressed a definite interest in a jacket.

Beginner camp July 11-15. Advanced sabre July 18-22. Advanced foil July 25-29. No one has expressed an idea August 1-5, so that may be something or nothing. Advanced epee August 8-12.

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

practices

June 24, 2016June 24, 2016 Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication

Just a reminder that we have some people going to Nationals who would like to see some strong competition this Saturday and next week as final preparations for their events.

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

CFFA update for June 19

June 19, 2016June 19, 2016 Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication

CFFA had a good day at the Powerade State Games of North Carolina, which were held in Raleigh yesterday.

Nicole Milewski got things started right as she went undefeated in both her pool and DEs to win the gold in the Y-12 mixed epee. Reaghan Juelke competed in the women’s foil, going 1-4 in her pool and getting stronger as the pool went on. Unfortunately she lost her 1st DE and finished 10th.

The men’s sabre was the largest event, a B2 with 30 participants. Alex Hoelscher went 2-2 in his pool, won his first DE and lost his second, finishing 15th. Erik Graf was 1-3 in his pool, lost his DE and finished 21st.

The epee was a possible A1. CFFA had 4 fencers competing, 3 of whom made the top 8, with the 4th being an impossibility because two of them ran into each other in the round of 16. Robert Thomas went 3-2 in his pool, only losing to the two people who finished 1st and 2nd in the end. Unfortunately, that got him Josh Harvey for his DE. Robert ended up 12th and received the silver medal for men’s vet epee, only losing to three medalists. Oliver Galbraith went 3-1 in his pool, won his 1st DE, and then lost a solid bout to Andrew Fullmer, finishing 7th. Jesse Harvey, was 4-1 in his pool. He then made everyone else in the room mad by taking our Steve Kmiec in his first DE, dropping the tournament to a B event. That set up a brother on brother confrontation which Jesse lost, finishing 5th. Josh was 3-1 in his pool, then knocked out Robert and Jesse before losing to the eventual winner in the semis. He picked up the bronze medal for his efforts.

Will Golder had a break out performance in the Y-12 foil. He was 3-1 in his pool. Then he ground out a workmanlike performance against a 3 foot tall, left handed, energizer bunny. He then beat the number one seed 15-3 and finished by getting revenge against the fencer who defeated him in the pool, netting him the gold medal.

Samantha Milewski went 5-2 in the women’s epee pool. She won her first 2 DEs, and lost a close bout in the finals to win the silver for the overall, Junior, and Cadet. Oliver Galbraith was our only fencer to do two events. He went 4-1 in his men’s foil pool, won his first DE, then lost the next one. He ended up with the bronze for the open and Junior divisions.

Congratulations to everyone and thanks to the organizers, armorers, and referees.

Standard week of practice, Tuesday and Thursday, plus Camp Lejeune Friday. I will be in for Saturday practice as well.

Not a lot of fencing locally for a while. However, Charlotte is holding a team epee event next Saturday. The twist is that once everyone who wants to fence shows up, Coach Toomey will put the teams together, trying to balance them rather than allowing the fencers themselves to create a really overwhelming team.

The week of the 27th I will be in Tuesday, but then am taking some time off to visit family. Someone will be in to open up Thursday. I’ll give you more details next week. No Camp Lejeune practice on Friday, July 1. I will find out if anyone will be in for a Saturday practice on the 2nd. I intend to be back for the Tuesday, July 5th practice.

People

have been asking about T-shirts and jackets. The last time we had
shirts done they ran $15 and are the design with the club logo on the
back and the fencer on the front. The jackets have the club logo on the

back and were $45. I don’t know if they would be that exact price as it
was a couple of years ago, but that should be a good approximate. If
you might be interested, let me know what you want and the correct size
so we can get an order together. So far very few people have contacted
me, even a number of those who had said they wanted shirts and jackets.

Beginner camp is July 11-15. Spread the word.

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

CFFA update for June 12

June 12, 2016June 12, 2016 Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication

CFFA had a number of fencers perform in the Swan Lake ballet on Friday. I have attached a photo from one of the performances.

This week, practices in Wilmington on Tuesday and Thursday. Practice on board Camp Lejeune Friday night.

This
summer, I would like to have sessions for the 12 and under set on
Tuesday and Thursday, starting at 6:30 pm. This will give the fencers of
that age group a chance to keep up with things over the summer. My beginner class is finished so I can give you more hands
on instructions. Costs would be $35 per month or the $5 per session
floor fee.

The

Powerade State Games are next Saturday You can check askfred for
an approximate entry list. However, the actual entry is done on
pag.ncsports.org under fencing. The event is only about 2 hours away in
Raleigh this year. Events are split as Y-12, Women’s, and Men’s. They
give awards within the adult events for cadet, junior, and vet; as well
as the
overall results. You needed to be registered by the 4th as now the fees have gone up. Right now I have those entered as the Milewskis, the Harveys, Oliver, Will, Robert, and Reaghan (from askfred). I am going up to coach, so if I don’t have you listed let me know so I can look for you. Getting a medal qualifies you for the next State Games of America which will be in Grand Rapids, Michigan next August. If you medaled last year, you are already qualified. One difference from previous years (I think) is that medaling in any fencing event qualifies you for all the fencing events. Robert has the knowledge of who qualified from last year if you have forgotten if you won a medal.

The only people who I have seen on the Nationals entry list are Erica, Robert, Nicole, and Oliver. If I have missed anyone, let me know so I can help you get ready for the competition (if you want it). I will actually be going to Indiana to see my mom, so I won’t be at Nationals.

People
have been asking about T-shirts and jackets. The last time we had
shirts done they ran $15 and are the design with the club logo on the
back and the fencer on the front. The jackets have the club logo on the
back and were $45. I don’t know if they would be that exact price as it
was a couple of years ago, but that should be a good approximate. If
you might be interested, let me know what you want and the correct size
so we can get an order together. So far very few people have contacted me, even a number of those who had said they wanted shirts and jackets.

Beginner camp is July 11-15. Spread the word.

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

weather

June 7, 2016June 7, 2016 Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication

Just a quick play the weather by ear note. Most of the forecasts I have seen say that things will be better by this evening, but some say that is when it will be worst. I will be in (if it gets bad enough that changes, I will let you know), but don’t endanger yourselves.

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

CFFA update for June 5

June 5, 2016June 5, 2016 Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication

Our next beginner class will start tomorrow, June 6th, at 6:30 pm.

Ballet dress rehearsal tomorrow about 5 pm. We will do quick reminder type rehearsals on Tuesday and Thursday at 7:30 pm. Friday performances at 4 pm (arrive by 3:30 pm) and 7 pm (arrive by 6:30 pm). We are in the first act and should be done fairly quickly. Please let me know what performances you will be at and what you need as far as uniform. (If you have not already).

No Camp Lejeune practice on Friday June 10th as we will be doing the ballet performance.

Practice Saturday about 10 am in Wilmington.

The

Powerade State Games registrations are up. You can check askfred for
an approximate entry list. However, the actual entry is done on
pag.ncsports.org under fencing. The event is only about 2 hours away in
Raleigh this year. Events are split as Y-12, Women’s, and Men’s. They
give awards within the adult events for cadet, junior, and vet; as well
as the
overall results. You needed to be registered by the 4th as now the fees have gone up.
Men’s sabre looks fairly big (B2), they could really use an infusion of our
fencers in Men’s foil (could end up as a B) and epee(small A1) and all of the women’s and Y-12 events. The event is June 18th.

This
summer, I would like to have sessions for the 12 and under set on
Tuesday and Thursday, starting at 6:30 pm. This will give the fencers of
that age group a chance to keep up with things over the summer. Once
my beginner class is finished next week, I can give you more hands
on instructions. Costs would be $35 per month or the $5 per session
floor fee.

People
have been asking about T-shirts and jackets. The last time we had
shirts done they ran $15 and are the design with the club logo on the
back on the fencer on the front. The jackets have the club logo on the
back and were $45. I don’t know if they would be that exact price as it
was a couple of years ago, but that should be a good approximate. If
you might be interested, let me know what you want and the correct size
so we can get an order together. So far very few people have contacted me.

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

Nitin Iyengar

June 3, 2016June 3, 2016 Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication

Just FYI, Nitin Iyengar will be coming down to do some fencing. take a lesson, etc. tomorrow. Hopefully we can have some good foilists for him 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

Saturday reminders

June 2, 2016June 2, 2016 Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication

Just a reminder that we will have Saturday practice, starting about 10 am.

Also, Saturday is the last day to enter the State Games without the fee increase. Remember that your official entry must be done at ncsports.org. Right now the Y-12 (coed) are all about a half dozen fencers. The women’s foil and epee are E1s, and the sabre is unrated. The men’s epee needs a body to be an A1. The men’s foil needs a C and 2 Ds and a body to be a C1. The sabre is a C1 and could become a C2.

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

CFFA update for May 29

May 29, 2016May 29, 2016 Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication

W had a busy and fairly rewarding day for our last event of the 2015-16 season. The foil went pretty much to form. Oliver Galbraith of CFFA won, Bobby Gibbs of Charlotte Fencing Academy was second, and our Brendan McConville and Kyler Schoonmaker tied for 3rd. Foil is becoming a self fulfilling prophecy and it needs to change for next season. Too many of our higher rated foilists are saying it won’t renew my rating so I won’t go, too many of our lower rated or unrated foilists are saying I’ll just get beat by the more experienced people. Kyler is a U and has taken 3rd in both of the last opens. We had two Cs from other clubs drop out in the last couple of days, we had three people not show Saturday, I can list 3-4 U rated people who should have been there fencing but weren’t; and we had 3-4 people who showed up that were not signed up on askfred. If everyone would have shown it would have been a solid C1 with there still being a chance for some U foilists to slip into the top 8 and earn a rating. As it was we had more sabre fencers for an E and under than foil fencers for an open.

The epeeists, on the other hand, don’t understand the idea of having A rated events. If you keep knocking out the As before they get to the top 8, no one is going to get an A. LOL Oliver also won this event and renewed his B. Josh Harvey of CFFA was 2nd. Two Charlotte Fencing Academy fencers, Shane Mason and Tommy Dietz, took the 3rds. Vassa Falls of the Jacksonville branch of CFFA jumped from a U to a D, and Robert Thomas of CFFA upped his D to a 16. Margaret Bertoni of Mid-South/Charlotte Fencing Academy reearned her E.

In the sabre, Alex Hoelscher of CFFA won gold and reearned his E, Erik Graf of CFFA won silver. Joe McLaughlin of CFFA/Mid-South took one bronze and Ian Dube of Edge of America Fencing took the other. Thanks to everyone who did show up and fence, the referees, and all the people who helped with set up and clean up. A special thanks to Zemi who observed and ran the event while fighting through a migraine.

This week is the real start of summer hours. Afterschool and the weekly homeschool classes finished last week. So we are down to open fencing Tuesday and Thursday evenings, plus Camp Lejeune on Fridays.

We
will start having Saturday practices regularly on this Saturday, June 4th. I’ll be in
by 10 am and people can fence until they are tired. There will usually
be practice unless there is an event (State Games) or maybe a holiday
(July 4th).

All-American in Fayetteville is doing a number of unsanctioned events on the 4th, including Y-12 and Y-10 level events. If you are interested in going, let me know so we can make certain you will have the equipment you will need. More info is up on askfred.net.

Our next beginner class will start on Monday, June 6th, at 6:30 pm.

No Camp Lejeune practice on Friday June 11 as we will be doing the ballet performance.

The
Powerade State Games registrations are up. You can check askfred for
an approximate entry list. However, the actual entry is done on
pag.ncsports.org under fencing. The event is only about 2 hours away in
Raleigh this year. Events are split as Y-12, Women’s, and Men’s. They
give awards within the adult events for cadet, junior, and vet; as well as the
overall results. You need to be registered by the 4th or fees go up. Men’s sabre looks fairly big, they could really use an infusion of our fencers in Men’s foil and epee and all of the women’s and Y-12 events.

This
summer, I would like to have sessions for the 12 and under set on
Tuesday and Thursday, starting at 6:30 pm. This will give the fencers of
that age group a chance to keep up with things over the summer. Once
my beginner class is finished in early June, I can give you more hands
on instructions. Costs would be $35 per month or the $5 per session
floor fee.

No one has come up with a suggestion for the week of August 1-5 as far as a summer camp. So I may make it a second beginner camp if it looks like the Olympics may generate interest, or just take a week to relax between camps. Feel free to give suggestions.

People have been asking about T-shirts and jackets. The last time we had shirts done they ran $15 and are the design with the club logo on the back on the fencer on the front. The jackets have the club logo on the back and were $45. I don’t know if they would be that exact price as it was a couple of years ago, but that should be a good approximate. If you might be interested, let me know what you want and the correct size so we can get an order together.

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

CFFA update

May 22, 2016May 22, 2016 Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication

An interesting day with the youth events yesterday, as there were a lot of first round upsets, but in the end the older more experienced fencers came out ahead. In the foil, Jaden Scott and Nyc Baynes both went undefeated in the pools to come out numbers 1 & 2 in the DE table. In the DEs Will Golder and Nicole Milewski figured them out. It ended with Will winning, Nicole second, and Jaden and Nyc tied for third. Amelia Alexander won the gold medal for those 9 and under. We had more sabre spectators (1) than sabre fencers (0). In the epee, Lydia Huggins took out Nicole in the pool, but couldn’t repeat that in the DE. Nicole ended up 1st, Lydia was 2nd, Gio Martucci and Linus Huggins (who had the best footwork of anybody in either weapon in his first event) tied for 3rd. Will took home swords for both accumulating the most points for boys over the course of the season and for being voted the best sport by the other fencers for the season. Nicole Milewski won the season long point total for girls. A big thanks to Herman for fixing enough foils to keep the event running. A thanks to all the fencers and their parents for their participation over the course of the season.

This is the last week for the daytime homeschool and afterschool programs, so we will have small end of the year parties on Wednesday and Thursday. Riley Hart will be in town visiting and will probably be down fencing Tuesday night in Wilmington and Friday at Camp Lejeune.

Our

next event is the Stab-a-thon on May 28th. Open foil, open epee, and
an E and under sabre. Get signed up. It is the Memorial Day weekend
and we can attract people looking for some time at the beach if it looks
like we will have a good event. Epee is an A1, but our foil
and sabre fencers need to get signed up. The foil only has 10 and sabre
only has 9 entries. The foil has enough higher ranked fencers that with enough bodies it could be a C1. That would
allow a couple of unrated fencers to slip into the 7th and 8th places
and still earn an E. But we have to get to 15 for it to happen. The
sabre needs more fencers, preferably rated E to get it beyond an E1.

We will start having Saturday practices regularly on June 4th. I’ll be in by 10 am and people can fence until they are tired. There will usually be practice unless there is and event (State Games) or maybe a holiday (July 4th).

Our next beginner class will start on Monday, June 6th, at 6:30 pm.

This
summer, I would like to have sessions for the 12 and under set on
Tuesday and Thursday, starting at 6:30 pm. This will give the fencers of
that age group a chance to keep up with things over the summer. Once
my beginner class is finished in early June, I can give you more hands
on instructions. Costs would be $35 per month or the $5 per session
floor fee.

With the response I have gotten from people about summer camps, the schedule looks a bit more set.

Beginner camp July 11-15

Advanced sabre camp July 18-22

Advanced foil camp July 25-29

? August 1-5

Advanced epee camp 8-12

The Olympics start on the 5th , so we will see what works best for the first week in August. If anyone has a suggestion, I am open to ideas. Otherwise it will be a light week for me.

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