Lots to talk about.
Yesterday was the NCFL individual championships held in Elkin. We were represented by Oliver Galbraith, technically fencing for Coastal Christian. This tournament is done in an older fashion. You fence in a pool, then they cut down to a certain number of fencers, and you fence them in another pool, down to the final pool of 6. Whoever wins the last pool, regardless of how they did previously, wins the event. Oliver was undefeated until the final pool and ended up finishing second out of 45 fencers who started the event. We were represented on the women’s side by Reaghan Juelke. I think Reaghan was the only 8th grader there. She went 2-3 in her pool and finished 21st out of 33. Here is an explanation of how big tournaments work that will be helpful to those who want to compete at National or other events. They often have a format where they eliminate people after the first round. Most local events take everyone up into the DE, but many of these large events cut to only the top 80%. Yesterday’s event was much rougher, cutting to the top 18 out of 33, or just over 50%. Reaghan was in a pool of 6 and went 2-3. There were three pools of 6 and three pools of 5. What gets you in to the next round is winning percentage. Reaghan was 2-3, for 40%. The people who won 2 in the pool of 5 were 2-2, or 50%. All the girls who won 2 in the pools of 5 made the 2nd round. None of the girls in the pools of 6 who won 2 did. Just one of those bad breaks and something to remember for your National events.
Those
of you who want to attend the NAC in Richmond in April, remember that, tomorrow, February 29th is the last day to enter before the triple fees. Vets and
Div III, primarily. Here are the people I saw as being entered as CFFA members: Samantha Milewski Div III epee, Robert Thomas Vet 40 epee, Vet epee, Scott Butler Vet 40 epee, Vet epee, Herman Smith Vet 60 men’s epee, Vet epee, Erica Julien Vet 70 epee, Vet 70 sabre, Vet epee, Vet saber. VET team epee Herman, Scott, Paul Perkins Granted there is still a day to go, but the entries look really light. Only 5 in Vet 40 men’s sabre – Erik? Only 6 in Vet 70 Women’s epee Edith? Only 21 in Vet 40 epee Paul? For all you Us, Es, and Ds; the Div III events are very light. ME 51, MF 38, MS 34, WE 37. WF 37, WS 38. This is important because by regulation DIV III NACs are automatically C3 tournaments. That means they would normally have to have 64 entrants with a large number of Ds (24). The top 4 finishers get Cs, so here is a solid shot at a higher rating if you think you are ready. Let me know if you enter.
Our next evening class will start on March 1st (Tuesday) at 6:30 pm. Otherwise it should be a regular week of practice, barring weather.
People wanting equipment, particularly for the NAC, should get the order to Herman or me by March 3rd.
Our
next event will be the Lynn Krupey Memorial Iron Maiden on March 5th.
It is the only all women’s event held in North Carolina and has all
three weapons. Many of our women are already signed up, but a few are
not. I believe some of the UNCW women will be jumping in, plus maybe we can draw a homeschooler or two, so hopefully we can push the numbers up a little. See askfred for details. We will also be hosting the homeschool A
team championship on that date at about 11:00 am. Just three teams, Forsyth County, Oak Ridge, and our people fencing as the Southeastern Cardinals.
The next set of homeschool classes will begin on Wednesday, March 9th.
If we could, I would like to have an armory night on Thursday, March 10th. You can repair your own gear or help us get the club gear ready for the onslaught of youth fencers on Saturday.
Our
first youth event of this semester will be on Saturday March 12th.
Apologies for not getting the date set earlier, but a number of other
tournaments have been moving dates due to weather, etc. Hopefully this
one can stick. These events are for fencers 12 and under and cost $5
per event. We give trophies to the top 3 places, fencing usually has a
tie for 3rd. We also give medals to the top 3 fencers who are 9 and
under who don’t win a trophy. There are swords to the top girl and boy
in our season long point competition, plus a sword awarded to the person
voted the best sport by the other fencers. Cost per event is $5. Foil
is at 10 am, sabre at 1:30 pm, and epee at 3:30 pm. As always,
volunteer refereeing help is very welcome, as foil could be pretty large. The other two youth events
this semester should be on April 23rd, and May 21st.
For adults on that Saturday, there is a mixed epee in Charlotte that looks to be a B event.
The next set of Camp Lejeune classes should start on Friday the 18th.
March 19th is the Homeschool individual championships, probably in Oak Ridge.
April 1-3 is the Ned Light RYC at Mid-South. This is for fencers from 8-14 in various age groupings and is the next level up for those who want to advance beyond our local youth tournaments. You will need a full set of gear, knickers, underarm protector, etc. We will let you borrow club gear if we have the correct sizing. Let me know if you are interested.
I
am trying to plan ahead for the Advanced camps this summer. Advanced
merely means that you have advanced beyond beginner. I am trying to
determine numbers and the level of the fencers so I can target the camps
more precisely. Right now there are no advanced sabre fenders, so I might fold that back into the advanced epee camp, like we had done before. That would allow me to offer a second week of a beginner camp instead. Please let me know about fencers who would like to
attend, ASAP. Thanks.
Advanced sabre July 18-22
Advanced foil July 25-29
Advanced epee August 1-5
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
