Author: Gregory Spahr

CFFA update for August 4

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for August 4
Final reminder that you needed to renew your USA Fencing memberships by August 1
for this season.  We get our insurance from them and EVERYONE needs to have at least the $10 non-competitive membership for our insurance to be valid.  Let me know if you are having problems with the website, and remember it is probably currently getting swamped.  Also yearly, six month, or just plain August club dues are payable at this time.  Thanks to those of you who have taken care of them. 

We
had a good practice yesterday with almost all the fencers being female.  Thank goodness a couple of them drug their kids in or there wouldn’t have been any guys.  This week the last advanced epee camp starts Monday (walk ins welcome),
regular practice Tuesday and Thursday, Camp Lejeune Friday, and Saturday morning practice.  I have a conference call about the NCFL season at 1 pm on Saturday, so if practice is going to last after about 12:30 pm, some one else will need to lock up.

Erica Julien was again the subject of a short video.  This time it was from actTwo, a series that profiles people who have started something new after age fifty.  The woman who runs it said Erica’s video is already the most popular one and it has only been up since Friday.  Here is the link:


Just a note for those of you ordering gear, Herman and I have found that the guidelines that companies give you (particularly Absolute’s) often DO NOT give you the best fit.  Please talk with us about sizing before placing orders on jackets, knickers, masks, etc.  The for sale cases are bulging with gear that didn’t fit when it came in.  Then we either have to pay shipping to send it back or hold it until someone that it fits wants gear.  Both put a strain on our small club budget or force you to pay a second, and maybe third, shipping charge.
The
only individual event for next season currently up on askfred is
Mid-South’s Big Blue.  It is next weekend with Open foil, epee, and
sabre events divided by gender.  The foil and epee are all on Sunday so
it doesn’t interfere with our Saturday practice.  The women’s epee is now a C1 because we are sending a cadre of (at least) 7 women, including our three Cs.  We have a couple of women in the foil, which needs bodies and another E to become a D1.  For men the epee is now a 19 person A, but just about the most evenly distributed A you can imagine (2 As, 3 Bs, 3 Cs, etc.).  We have a couple of our younger fencers in that.  Foil is a 24 person
B, needing only a body to be a B2, and if that person is an A it will be an A2.  (No CFFA foilists involved… yet)  However, it is extremely top heavy, (9 Bs all hoping for that second A to sign up).  Strangely enough for
Mid-South, the sabre events have the fewest people, but are picking up.
It is getting close to that time of year.  Our first new beginner class for the season will start on Tuesday, August 20th.
Herman and Brendan are hoping to get cadres of our fencers to go to some regional events.  Herman is looking specifically at the Crescent City Open in New Orleans, on October 26 -27.  That has a Div 1A, Div II, Vets, Cadet, and Junior events.  Other tournaments in our region include the Richard Oles Memorial (my old coach) Charm City event, held in Baltimore on December 14-15, which is a Div 1-A.  I have already mentioned the Capitol Clash, which is primarily for youth but does have Vets events on January 17-20, 2020, at National Harbor, Maryland.  There is the Fairfax Challenge, held in Owings Mills, Maryland (a suburb of Baltimore) which is Div 1A, Div II, and Vets on Match 14-15, 2020.  If you are willing to travel a bit farther, there is the Arnold (yes, that Arnold) Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio, on March 6-8.  It has every category; including Emers if you are reading this, Y-8.
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 July 27

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for July 27
Remember that you need to renew your USA Fencing memberships by August 1
for the next season.  That will be particularly important for those
doing the camp starting on the 29th.  For those on the board or doing
things like armoring, coaching (if you are over 18), etc. you need to
have the professional membership.  You should have the new membership to fence Thursday night.

We had a good practice today with about half of the 13 fencers from camp showing up.  This week the first advanced epee camp starts Monday, regular practice Tuesday and Thursday, Camp Lejeune Friday (remember to get your memberships renewed), and Saturday morning practice.
The
only individual event for next season currently up on askfred is
Mid-South’s Big Blue.  It is August 10-11 with Open foil, epee, and
sabre events divided by gender.  The foil and epee are all on Sunday so
it doesn’t interfere with our Saturday practice.  The women’s epee needs
bodies to be
a C.  Kenyatta, Nicole, and Alice are in.  Amelia, Eilis, for foil and Eoin for men’s epee are there.  Women’s foil needs bodies to be a D event.  For men the epee is now a 19 person A and foil is a 19 person B.  Strangely enough for
Mid-South, the sabres events have the fewest people, but are picking up.
It
is that time of year when people should start thinking about paying
their 6 month or yearly dues by August 1.  For 6 month dues it is $175
(you save one month) and yearly is $350 (you save two months worth of
monthly fees).  We just made large equipment purchases at Nationals and
have to pay our yearly membership and insurance fees to USA Fencing, so
cash on hand is a good thing.
Since I went over national events last week, I will do regional events this week.  Not much listed so far, so more will probably be added.
9/20 -22 is the Fairfax Challenge in Fredericksburg.  It will have Y10, Y12, Y14, and Cadet. 
1/18 -20 is the Capitol Clash in National Harbor, Virginia.  It has Y10, Y12, Y14, Cadet, and Vets.
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 July 21

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for July 21
We had a solid advanced foil camp last week and I saw a lot of improvement.  Practice
is normal this week – Tuesday and Thursday evening  I will be in if any
younger fencers want to show up at 6:30 pm, then the usual evening
fencing, Camp
Lejeune on Friday, and Saturday morning practice at 10 am.
The second advanced foil camp starts Monday.  Two weeks of advanced epee after that.  Let me know if you are
coming and haven’t said anything yet.
The
only individual event for next season currently up on askfred is
Mid-South’s Big Blue.  It is August 10-11 with Open foil, epee, and
sabre events divided by gender.  The foil and epee are all on Sunday so
it doesn’t interfere with our Saturday practice.  The women’s epee needs bodies to be
a C.  Kenyatta and Nicole are in.  Amelia, Eilis, and Eoin are there so Erin and Mandy should be entered.  Christi should be there and drag up her little one.  Erica would add another C, Lydia would add another E (and you might as well use that new gear), and it would be a good first event for Alice.  Women’s foil needs bodies (we have a
couple of people signed up) to be a D event.  For men the epee and foil are both Bs and both need
an A to be an A event.  Strangely enough for
Mid-South, the sabres events have the fewest people.
It
is that time of year when people should start thinking about paying
their 6 month or yearly dues by August 1.  For 6 month dues it is $175
(you save one month) and yearly is $350 (you save two months worth of
monthly fees).  We just made large equipment purchases at Nationals and
have to pay our yearly membership and insurance fees to USA Fencing, so
cash on hand is a good thing.
Also remember that you need to renew your USA Fencing memberships by August 1 for the next season.  That will be particularly important for those doing the camp starting on the 29th.  For those on the board or doing things like armoring, coaching (if you are over 18), etc. you need to have the professional membership.
A number of people have been asking about National events, so here is that schedule.  Other than Charlotte, nothing is real close this year.  However, other than Salt Lake and Kansas City (maybe Milwaukee) everything is within a one day drive (if you are used to long one day drives.)
October 18-21  Kansas City, Missouri  Div I, Div II, Cadet  (For those of you making your run at the 2020 Olympic team, you need to start with the Div I event here.)
November 8-11  Milwaukee, Wisconsin  Junior, Cadet, Y-14
December 6-9   Salt Lake City, Utah  Div I, Div II, Vet
January 3-6  Charlotte, North Carolina  Div I, Junior, Senior Team
February 14-17  Columbus, Ohio  Junior Olympics – Junior, Cadet, Junior Team  (Remember for this one there will be a qualifier, probably in November.  I would like to see a good turn out for our club at this one as a number of eligible fencers already know the venue.)
March 20-23  Detroit, Michigan  Y-14, Y-12, Y-10
April 17-20  St. Louis, Missouri  Div I, Div II, Div III, Vet
June 28-July 7  Louisville, Kentucky  Summer Nationals  (Just about everything)
You have to enter prior to the event (usually like a month ahead), so if you have questions, ask.
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 July 14

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for July 14
Fun practice Saturday.  It was basically Cadet women’s foil and Vets women’s epee, with a couple of miscellaneous men. (And I am counting John Alexander as a man to get to men.)
Practice is normal this week – Tuesday and Thursday evening  I will be in if any younger fencers want to show up at 6:30 pm, then the usual evening fencing, Camp
Lejeune on Friday, and Saturday morning practice.
The first advanced foil camp starts tomorrow.  Another week of advanced foil and
then two weeks of advanced epee after that.  Let me know if you are
coming and haven’t said anything yet.
If anyone attended the referee clinic at Mid-South, let me know so we can compare notes and figure out how things will be called this season.
The
only individual event for next season currently up on askfred is
Mid-South’s Big Blue.  It is August 10-11 with Open foil, epee, and
sabre events divided by gender.  The foil and epee are all on Sunday so it doesn’t interfere with practice.  The women’s epee needs bodies to be a C
(Kenyatta is the top seed) and women’s foil needs bodies (we have a couple of people signed up)to be a D event.  For men the epee needs
an A (Oliver?) and one other fencer to be an A.  The foil needs a C, a D, and one other fencer to be a B event.  Strangely enough for Mid-South, the sabres events have the fewest people.
It is that time of year when people should start thinking about paying their 6 month or yearly dues by August 1.  For 6 month dues it is $175 (you save one month) and yearly is $350 (you save two months worth of monthly fees).  We just made large equipment purchases at Nationals and have to pay our yearly membership and insurance fees to USA Fencing, so cash on hand is a good thing.
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 July 7

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for July 7
Finishing up with the results from Nationals…
On Friday Nicole fenced the Div II Women’s epee.  She had a solid pool round going 4-2 with both losses being 4-5 (one was against the woman who finished 2nd).  She won her first DE handily and lost a second close DE, finishing 47/179.  Robert fenced the Div III Men’s epee in the afternoon.  Also a solid 4-2 performance.  He also won his first DE, and then ran into the fencer who finished 8th.  He ended up 46/197.
On Saturday we had a pair of fencers in their first National competitions.  Amelia Alexander did well for her first (and last) national Y-12 foil event.  She won a bout and didn’t get blanked by anyone.  She got one of the few touches against the 12 year old C in her pool.  She was totally in her DE, but lost, coming in 145/163.  Jackson Jones finished out our Nationals cadre in Y-10 foil.  He also won a bout in his pool (and it was 5-0).  He won his first DE, and then ran into the fencer who ended up 12th.  Jackson ended up 120/154.  Just as an aside there was a 10 year old B in the competition (Jackson didn’t fence him) and yes, he won the event.
Practice will be back to normal this week – Tuesday and Thursday evening, Camp Lejeune on Friday, and Saturday morning practice.  I did a referee clinic while at Nationals, so I will probably go over the current interpretations this week.
The beginner camp starts tomorrow.  With two weeks of advanced foil and then two weeks of advanced epee after that.  Let me know if you are coming and haven’t said anything yet.
Mid-South
is planning a referee clinic on the 13th of July.  Since I did the clinic at at Columbus, I won’t be going.  The clinician is
Rylan Delep, an international level referee.  The clinic will run from  
9 am – 5 pm with a break for lunch.  The cost is $75 for those without a
referee certification and $30 for those previously certified.  Although
this will help you get ready for taking the referee test, the primary
focus will be on current interpretation of Right of Way with actual
hands on practice using video replay.  More information is available on
askfred and possibly on facebook.
The
only individual event for next season currently up on askfred is
Mid-South’s Big Blue.  It is August 10-11 with Open foil, epee, and
sabre events divided by gender.  The women’s epee needs bodies to be a C and women’s foil needs bodies to be a D event.  For men the epee needs an A and bodies to be an A.  The foil needs a C and a D to be a B event.
There is a
sign up sheet on the gray board for anyone who would like to order a
CFFA jacket.  This is an interest request and not a commitment.  I don’t
know what they might cost as it has been a few years since we ordered
and cost will probably depend on the number we order.  There is usually a
minimum order and because these cost a bit more, the club needs to have
pre-sold most of them as we cannot afford to have our finances tied up
with hundreds of dollars of jackets sitting around.  Herman has been investigating local companies and Frank Milewski and I spoke with one of the companies at Nationals, so we should have some updated information soon.

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

Nationals update

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
Nationals update
NO Saturday practice.  Things will get back to normal next week.
Everyone has been fencing pretty well.  No breakout performances, but everyone has been solid.
Kim Phillips was up first on Monday as part of a Vet sabre team.  They won their first match pretty easily.  A quick aside, these are called the Summer nationals, but not every event here is a National Championship.  At National Championships, everyone has to be a US citizen or a permanent resident.  At a NAC event (North American Cup), anyone can enter.  At NACs in individual events you often run into very good Canadian, Chinese, and other fencers who are in the US.  If they have fenced internationally there is a formula to convert an international ranking to an American one.  If they haven’t fenced internationally or in the US they get the standard Unrated classification.  There is a joke about having a Canadian U in your pool.  Anyway, the Vet sabre team is not a National Championship and the next team Kim’s team faced had an ex-Olympian from Russia and a former Olympic medalist from Belarus.  Didn’t go quite as well.  Kim’s team then won a fence off for the bronze medal.
Anyway, most of the events here are National Championships.  The National Championships for Cadet and Junior are the JOs in February.  The National Div I Championships are in April.
Up next was Nicole Milewski in the Cadet (13-16) women’s epee NAC event.  She had an excellent first round, going 5-1, and only losing to the number 5 fencer in the country for that age group.  She won her first DE, but lost the second, still ending up at 37th out of 187.
On Tuesday it was Robert Thomas fencing in the Vet 40-49 men’s epee.  Robert was “en fuego,” going 5-1.  He beat an A and a B fencer and only lost to the top seeded person in the event.  Unfortunately, his first DE was a fencer from his pool who changed up his defense and got revenge.  Robert still finished 17th out of 38.
Wednesday was the busy day.  Robert was not quite as on as Tuesday but was still solid in the Div II epee.  His pool was 2-4, but that was three 4-5 and one 3-5 loss.  That got him one of the young whippersnapper types.  Robert kept it close, losing 11-15.  He finished 169/239.
Erica Julien was up in women’s sabre.  It took her a while to get into sabre mode.  She was 1-7 in the pool, but improved as the day went on.  She won her first DE handily and then pushed the woman who ended up finishing second with a 7-10 score.  That got her the 8th place medal.
Nicole finished the day with the Y-14 epee event.  She had another good pool, again 5-1.  Her one loss was to the woman who won the 1-A Championship earlier in the week.  She lost another close 11-15 DE to finish 72/201.
 
The events at these type of tournaments often get weird and crazy.  Nicole lost to a fencer rated about 40 places below her.  However, the woman in Nicole’s pool who won the second highest rated type of tournament a few days earlier and came out of the pools rated 13th, plus the 2nd and 7th seeds, all lost their first DEs to people seeded in the 130s and 140s.  A woman who came in 2nd in the Div 1 (highest level) Championship, didn’t make the top 16 in this one.  In this type of event, it can be all about the match up of who you get in the DEs.  Plus it shows how strong these tournaments are.  It used to be that most pools would have a “bunny.”  That was someone who qualified from Outer Podunk and had never done anything like this ever before.  Everyone in the pool would then destroy that person.  I haven’t seen any bunnies.  Everyone here knows how to fence although they may not be as experienced or gifted as the other fencers.

No one fencing today,  Tomorrow Robert and Nicole have their last events.  On Saturday Jackson Jones and Amelia Alexander fence to finish out our participation.

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 July 1

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for July 1
Starting with the news from Nationals, on Friday Nicole Milewski fenced the Junior women’s epee.  This is for women 13-19.  She had an okay first round going 2-4.  She lost her first DE and ended up 189/240.  Sunday, Kim Phillips fenced the Vet 40 men’s sabre.  He went 4-1 out of his pool.  In his first DFE he was against a person he beat in his pool.  Unfortunately, he had a different referee and didn’t get the same calls he was getting in the pool.  He dropped the bout and finished 9th.  Erica Julien then was up for Women’s epee.  She went 2-2 in her pool.  She won her first DE fairly handily, and then beat a woman with 50+ years of fencing experience.  She dropped a 9-10 bout in priority for her third DE, but comes away with a bronze medal in the National Championships.  I may toss out occasional updates throughout the week depending on how well people do and how busy I am.
Practice back in Wilmington this week will be on Tuesday night.  No practice on July 4th in Wilmington, or July 5th on board Camp Lejeune.  I will let you know about Saturday.
I will be back for the start of beginner camp on the 8th and back to normal practice for the evnings of that week.
Mid-South is planning a referee clinic on the 13th of July.  The clinician is Rylan Delep, an international level referee.  The clinic will run from 9am – 5 pm with a break for lunch.  The cost is $75 for those without a referee certification and $30 for those previously certified.  Although this will help you get ready for taking the referee test, the primary focus will be on current interpretation of Right of Way with actual hands on practice using video replay.  More information is available on askfred and possibly on facebook.  I am considering going, so I may be able to take some people.  However, I have signed up for a referee clinic being held at Nationals, which lowers the probability I will go.  If I do go, it will obviously have an impact on a Saturday practice.
The only individual event for next season currently up on askfred is Mid-South’s Big Blue.  It is August 10-11 with Open foil, epee, and sabre events divided by gender.
There is a sign up sheet on the gray board for anyone who would like to order a CFFA jacket.  This is an interest request and not a commitment.  I don’t know what they might cost as it has been a few years since we ordered and cost will probably depend on the number we order.  There is usually a minimum order and because these cost a bit more, the club needs to have pre-sold most of them as we cannot afford to have our finances tied up with hundreds of dollars of jackets sitting around.

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

upcoming schedule for CFFA

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
upcoming schedule for CFFA
Here is the schedule due to Nationals:
Thursday, June 27   Evening practice only.  Brendan says he will be in about 7 pm.
Friday, June 28       NO Camp Lejeune practice
Saturday, June 29   NO Saturday practice
Tuesday, July 2    Evening practice only.  Brendan says he will be in about 7 pm.

Thursday, July 4    NO evening practice.  Enjoy the holiday.

Friday, July 5        NO Camp Lejeune practice.

Saturday, July 6    Up in the air at the moment.  I will keep you in the loop.

Just a reminder that we need any orders that you would like me to pick up at Nationals need to be in ASAP (read today) so Herman can phone them in to Absolute.  Also get in items you want from vendors other than Absolute.  Just remember that we may not have discounts from other people.

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 23

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for June 23
Had a good Saturday practice.  My apologies for the late notice on whether I would be back or not.
Thanks
to Brendan, probably Herman, and whoever else helped getting the air
conditioner in for the office.  This will help keep the lames from
turning green as the drier air will help remove your sweat from them
more quickly and keep less of our lovely coastal salt infused air from
getting to them.  It will help dry out masks, gloves, and jackets more
quickly so they don’t start to smell.  This doesn’t mean you don’t have
to still hang them up or put them away.  The dry air can’t get to them
if they are on the bottom of a pile on the floor.
Swordmasters is going out of business and selling everything out at Nationals  If you are interested in ordering
something, please get to Herman or me in the next couple of days.  A
number of vendors always show up at National events, so it becomes easy
and cost effective for me to load up the car with purchases and save
everyone shipping.  Additionally, although not as much as used to be,
the vendors may put certain items on sale and we can save you even
more. 
This week we will have a 6:30 pm –
7:30 pm practice on Tuesday for those
too young to stay up through the evening older youngster and adult
practice.  Cost is $5 per per child.  Once I am back after Nationals,
this should occur on Tuesday and Thursday until mid-August, when
beginner classes will start back up.
Otherwise, it should be a regular week.  I will be
away for nationals Thursday (June 27th) and the following week July
2nd and 4th.  Again, I imagine other members will take care of
practice, although I doubt it will happen on the 4th.  I will keep
you posted about Saturday practice on June 29th and July 6th, those
will be up to Herman and Brendan.
I will
also be away for the two corresponding Fridays, so no Camp Lejeune
practice June 28th and July 5th.  We should be good to go
for July 12th.
Mid-South
is planning a referee clinic on the 13th of July.  The clinician is
Rylan Delep, an international level referee.  The clinic will run from
9am – 5 pm with a break for lunch.  The cost is $75 for those without a
referee certification and $30 for those previously certified.  Although
this will help you get ready for taking the referee test, the primary
focus will be on current interpretation of Right of Way with actual
hands on practice using video replay.  More
information is available on askfred and possibly on facebook.  I am
considering going, so I may be able to take some people.  However, I
have signed up for a referee clinic being held at Nationals, which
lowers the probability I will go.  If I do go, it
will obviously have an impact on a Saturday practice.
If

you want to do summer camp and have not yet told me, please do so ASAP.
(If you have confirmed it with me, we are good.)  As of a couple of year’s ago, the
camps have become
open to adults who want to use them as a vacation.  But no crying
when the kids beat you.   Right now, foil camps are larger than epee
camps, which is unusual.  Although I have ordered the camp T-shirts, you can always just show up and participate
in the camp.  I just won’t be able to promise a T-shirt in your size.

The
only individual event for next season currently up on askfred is
Mid-South’s Big Blue.  It is August 10-11 with Open foil, epee, and
sabre events divided by gender.
There
is a sign up sheet on the gray board for anyone who would like to order
a CFFA jacket.  This is an interest request and not a commitment.  I
don’t know what they might cost as it has been a few years since we
ordered and cost will probably depend on the number we order.  There is
usually a minimum order and because these cost a bit more, the club
needs to have pre-sold most of them as we cannot afford to have our
finances tied up with hundreds of dollars of jackets sitting around.
Someone
tossed a jacket in one of the trash cans.  I fished it out and it just
looks like it needs a new zipper.  Herman always tells me this is an
easy fix.  It is on the table if you want to claim it and show it to
Herman.  In any event, if you have a piece of gear go down, please run
it by one of the officers or a good armorer before chucking it.  Some of
it may be salvageable, saving you money.  If a blade breaks, save the
bell guard, tip, etc.  Even if it is not something you want to save, the
club may be able to use it for spare parts.  On jackets, the zipper may
be reusable and even those little plastic D rings some times come in
handy.  Zippers and rings on lames, plus if most of the lame is still
good, we can use that for patches on other lames.  If items are in the
trash because you have decided to give up and quit fencing, just give us
all of your gear at once and don’t make us dumpster dive for it.  LOL

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