Yesterday we hosted the first NCFL meet of the current season. There were 22 teams in four divisions. For the first time in a while we had participants in all divisions. In the Men’s high School division, Will Golder was a 1 man army for Hoggard High School. He went 15-1, allowing Hoggard to go 2-5, event though most teams had 3 people. Katelyn Guthrie and defending women’s state Champion, Emma Graf, fenced for Ashley. I don’t know how Ashley did as a two person team, but Emma only lost one match all day. In the B Division (High School B teams, middle school teams, or a mix of each) Amelia Alexander of Surf City Middle School and Megan Looney of St. Mary teamed up and borrowed a fencer from New Bern Christian who was in her first meet. The team team went 1-4, however, Amelia was 8-2. In epee a CFFA team of Joey Smith and Nicole Milewski not only went undefeated as a team, but both were undefeated individually. Thanks to Robert Thomas for refereeing the epee and Will for reffing some foil once he was finished fencing. Also thanks to Kenyatta Sanford, Herman Smith, and Mike Kinney for armoring (and fixing some club gear). Thanks to our parents who brought fencers and helped with the set up and clean up. On the other hand, from what I saw reffing and watching downstairs, we have much to work on.
I spoke with the Saint Mary principal and they are certain they will not need the fencing space at this point, so homeschool fencing can return to its regular 1 pm for the returning fencers and 1:30 for the beginners slot this week. All of the other fencing should now also be back to “normal.” We are starting a new set of beginner Tuesday/Thursday classes (6:30 pm) this week if you know anyone interested.
November
10th will be a homeschool league scrimmage. I don’t have a final time and place confirmation, but they are looking at the Star of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Winston-Salem.
10th will be a homeschool league scrimmage. I don’t have a final time and place confirmation, but they are looking at the Star of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Winston-Salem.
November
11th is the Harry Rulnick event in Fayetteville. It has an open Men’s
foil event (currently with 9 fencers) and
Women’s foil event (currently with 5 fencers). I am certain they would love to see at least one more women’s fencer as that would get them to 6 and an E could be given away (everyone so far is a U). I will be going up to
observe and am happy to drive someone if that helps. Just understand that I will need to be there for both events. Check askfred for
more info.
11th is the Harry Rulnick event in Fayetteville. It has an open Men’s
foil event (currently with 9 fencers) and
Women’s foil event (currently with 5 fencers). I am certain they would love to see at least one more women’s fencer as that would get them to 6 and an E could be given away (everyone so far is a U). I will be going up to
observe and am happy to drive someone if that helps. Just understand that I will need to be there for both events. Check askfred for
more info.
November 14th is the last day
to enter the Charlotte NAC at regular rates. The dates for the NAC are January 4 -7 (Friday – Monday.) The events are Div 1 (You
must be a C to enter), Junior, and Senior Team. The Div 1 epee events
have an unusual format. You fence Day 1. If you are still in you fence
the rest of the event on Day 2. If you are knocked out on Day 1, there
is basically a loser’s bracket on Day 2. This is often an A event in
itself, so you get more bang for your buck. This is easily the closest NAC to our area this season.
to enter the Charlotte NAC at regular rates. The dates for the NAC are January 4 -7 (Friday – Monday.) The events are Div 1 (You
must be a C to enter), Junior, and Senior Team. The Div 1 epee events
have an unusual format. You fence Day 1. If you are still in you fence
the rest of the event on Day 2. If you are knocked out on Day 1, there
is basically a loser’s bracket on Day 2. This is often an A event in
itself, so you get more bang for your buck. This is easily the closest NAC to our area this season.
Our
next home event is November 17th. It will have an open foil, an open
epee, and a D and under epee. Get signed up on askfred now, and it
might start to look more like a Tiger Open. Right now, the numbers are so low that we may have to cancel it. Once we pay referees, buy awards, etc. we have to have a certain number of entries to break even. The actual idea is to hopefully pay for the rent for that month, so losing money is not a viable long term option. Right now we only have 10 in the open epee (but the ranks are such that it will be a B tournament if we can just get the numbers up), 6 in the D and under epee, and only 2 in the Open foil. One thing that helps is if we can get fencers to volunteer to referee if they are not fencing a particular event., and they are actually qualified to fence that event.
next home event is November 17th. It will have an open foil, an open
epee, and a D and under epee. Get signed up on askfred now, and it
might start to look more like a Tiger Open. Right now, the numbers are so low that we may have to cancel it. Once we pay referees, buy awards, etc. we have to have a certain number of entries to break even. The actual idea is to hopefully pay for the rent for that month, so losing money is not a viable long term option. Right now we only have 10 in the open epee (but the ranks are such that it will be a B tournament if we can just get the numbers up), 6 in the D and under epee, and only 2 in the Open foil. One thing that helps is if we can get fencers to volunteer to referee if they are not fencing a particular event., and they are actually qualified to fence that event.
That Sunday, Mid-South is having a number of youth sabre events. See askfred.
11/23 is the Black Friday Open at Mid-South for those not doing shopping.
The next NCFL meet is December 1st at Chapel Hill High School. We will start to see who is going and how we can car pool as it gets closer.
The
Division qualifiers for the Junior Olympics have been scheduled for
December 8th and 9th at Research Triangle Fencing. You must attend, and
do well enough (unless you have qualified at a National event), to be
able to go to the JOs. The JOs are in Denver over the President’s Day
weekend in February, so I certainly understand if you may not be able
to attend that. In any case, these are really good events to attend to
see how you stack up against the other fencers your age in the state. NO CFFA fencers are signed up yet. All of the events are split by gender, so ladies, you do not have to
compete against the guys. If you are looking for that next step up from
local events, these are excellent events to fence. Additionally, the
number of qualifiers the Division gets is based on the number of fencers
in the event. Just by going, you may help other fencers from NC be
able to attend. We will help with plastrons, knickers, etc as much as
we can. The two age groups are Juniors (ages 13-19) and Cadets (ages
13-16). All of the Junior events events are on Saturday, and all of the
Cadet events are on Sunday. If you qualify by placing high enough in
the Junior event, and you are eligible, you are automatically qualified
for the Cadet. So do well on Saturday, and be eligible for the Cadet,
and you don’t have to re-qualify on Sunday.
Division qualifiers for the Junior Olympics have been scheduled for
December 8th and 9th at Research Triangle Fencing. You must attend, and
do well enough (unless you have qualified at a National event), to be
able to go to the JOs. The JOs are in Denver over the President’s Day
weekend in February, so I certainly understand if you may not be able
to attend that. In any case, these are really good events to attend to
see how you stack up against the other fencers your age in the state. NO CFFA fencers are signed up yet. All of the events are split by gender, so ladies, you do not have to
compete against the guys. If you are looking for that next step up from
local events, these are excellent events to fence. Additionally, the
number of qualifiers the Division gets is based on the number of fencers
in the event. Just by going, you may help other fencers from NC be
able to attend. We will help with plastrons, knickers, etc as much as
we can. The two age groups are Juniors (ages 13-19) and Cadets (ages
13-16). All of the Junior events events are on Saturday, and all of the
Cadet events are on Sunday. If you qualify by placing high enough in
the Junior event, and you are eligible, you are automatically qualified
for the Cadet. So do well on Saturday, and be eligible for the Cadet,
and you don’t have to re-qualify on Sunday.
pax vobiscum,
Greg Spahr
Head Coach
Cape Fear Fencing Association
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
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