Author: Gregory Spahr

CFFA update for May 24th

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for May 24th
Stephen Kmiec was unstoppable at the season ending Stab-a-thon yesterday.  First he won the epee event with Paul Perkins 2nd, and Samantha Milewski and Robert Thomas tied for 3rd.  Then he won the foil, Oliver Galbraith took the silver, and Mark Scott and Nick Chambers tied for the bronzes.  In the nightcap , Nick beat Brett Silverman to win the D and under foil.

A huge thank you to Brendan and Herman for fixing the overheads and everyone who helped with cleaning the floor.  The club looks much nicer now.  We will be repainting the floor later this summer so your assistance will be requested then.

This week is the last one for the season for homeschool and afterschool
classes.  No practice Monday due to Memorial Day.  Wednesday
practice  for the homeschoolers will be mainly an end of year party
with fencing.  The same for the Thursday afterschool practice.
The
new set of classes on board Camp Lejeune will start on Friday, May
29th.  1800 for more advanced fencers and 1900 for the new beginners.

 
For high school fencers, Mid-South Fencing will host a clinic for foilists on Friday night.  See their facebook page for more details.

The
last youth event of the season will occur on Saturday, May 30th.  Under
12 foil at 10 am, sabre at 1:30 pm, and epee at 3:30 pm. 
We will give the season long swords away at that point.  We may have a
number of first time competing fencers for the event so volunteer refs
and assistance is very welcome.
We
will switch to a summer schedule the first week in June.  The beginner
class starts Tuesday, June 2nd, at 6:30 pm.  If there is
interest, the intermediate class will follow at 7:30 pm.  On Wednesday
the 3rd at 7 pm, if there is interest, I will start running a two hour
practice in the style of a college practice.  More footwork and drills,
less free fencing.  If you are an evening
member it will be a free add on to the other practices, for everyone
else the $5 floor fee will apply.



We
will start Saturday practices back up on June 6th at 10 am.  On the
13th the New Bern people will be coming down for a joint practice.



The
State games are the 20th of June in Raleigh.  They have recently split
the men’s and women’s events.  Check askfred for an idea
about who is coming, but the official preregistration is on the State
Games site.  June 5th is the last date to sign up before the fees jump.


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 17

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for May 17
We had a number of people travel to Apex yesterday and they all did well.  Rayne Schoonmaker got it started by taking the silver in Y-10 foil.  He had victories of 10-1 and 10-0 in his first two DEs.  Reaghan Juelke and Kyler Schoonmaker participated in the Y-12 foil.  Reaghan won the majority of her pool bouts, pulled an upset in her first DE, then ran into the eventual winner and ended in seventh out of the 19 competitors. Kyler ran into the same fencer in the next round and ended up tied for the bronze medal.  Samantha Milewski wasn’t feeling well, but was still able to come out of pools for the junior epee as the 3rd seed.  Unfortunately not feeling well made her DE hard to get through and she finished 7th.  Nicole Milewski won the bronze for the Y-12 epee.  The eight women in the open epee decided to just do a large pool and forgo DEs due to the time.  Erica Julien took second coming in just two indicators ahead of Nicole who took 3rd.  Edith de Grammont participated in her first event and took 5th, just missing a medal.  I think everyone had a good time and got some good fencing.
Standard week of practice this week in Wilmington.  No practice at Camp Lejeune because of the reduced schedule for Memorial Day.
Our
Stab-a-thon season ending event will occur on Saturday, May 23rd.  Open
Epee, open foil, and a D and under foil.  If we can get 4
Ds, 4Es, and 25 total foilists the winner can get a C without having to
fence Cs.  Right now both of the opens are really top heavy.  No Es or
Us in the epee and only one U in the foil.  Get signed up on askfred
ASAP so we can lure in other fencers.  Right now we need bodies to be able to hand out ratings.
The next week is the last one for the season for homeschool and afterschool classes.  No practice Monday due to Memorial Day.  Wednesday practice  for the homeschoolers will be mainly an end of year party with fencing.  The same for the Thursday afterschool practice.
The new set of classes on board Camp Lejeune will start on Friday, May 29th.  1800 for more advanced fencers and 1900 for the new beginners.
 
The
last youth event of the season will occur on Saturday, May 30th.  Under
12 foil at 10 am, sabre at 1:30 pm, and epee at 3:30 pm.  We will give the season long swords
away at that point.  We may have a number of first time competing fencers
for the event so volunteer refs and assistance is very welcome.
We will switch to a summer schedule the first week in June.  The beginner class starts Tuesday, June 2nd, at 6:30 pm.  If there is interest, the intermediate class will follow at 7:30 pm.  On Wednesday the 3rd at 7 pm, if there is interest, I will start running a two hour practice in the style of a college practice.  More footwork and drills, less free fencing.  If you are an evening member it will be a free add on to the other practices, for everyone else the $5 floor fee will apply.
 
We
will start Saturday practices back up on June 6th at 10 am.  On the 13th the New Bern people will be coming down for a joint practice.
 

The
State games are the 20th of June in Raleigh.  They have recently split
the men’s and women’s events.  Check askfred for an idea about
who is coming, but the official preregistration is on the State Games
site.  June 5th is the last date to sign up before the fees jump.

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 10

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for May 10
We had three fencers go up to Mid-South this weekend and all cam back with awards.  Samantha Milewski took thirs in the open epee.  Joe McLaughlin took second and Alex Hoelscher took thirds in the E and under sabre.

Unless something gets cancelled due to the weather, it will be a regular week of practice.

May
16th is a set of unsanctioned events up at Apex.  Unsanctioned means
you cannot earn a rating, but it would be a new set of people
for you to fence.  The events will be a Y-10 foil, Y-12 foil and epee,
Junior mixed foil, and Junior mixed epee.  They have just added an
unsanctioned women’s epee and changed the women’s junior foil to open
women’s foil.  This is a good opportunity for a
number of our 12 and younger fencers who want to move to the next level
(moving out of our club events).  The junior events look like they will
be pretty strong.  You will need a full uniform, so talk to me if
interested. get signed up soon if you are interested
so they know how many refs they will need.
 
Our
Stab-a-thon season ending event will occur on Saturday, May 23rd.  Open
Epee, open foil, and a D and under foil.  If we can get 4
Ds, 4Es, and 25 total foilists the winner can get a C without having to
fence Cs.  Right now both of the opens are really top heavy.  No Es or
Us in the epee and only one U in the foil.  Get signed up on askfred
ASAP so we can lure in other fencers.
 
The
last youth event of the season will occur on Saturday, May 30th.  Under
12 foil, epee, and sabre.  We will give the season long swords
away at point.  We may have a number of first time competing fencers
for the event so volunteer refs and assistance is very welcome.
 
We
will start Saturday practices back up in June.  Sometimes fencers from
other clubs come down to fence.  I will keep you posted.
 
The
State games are the 20th of June in Raleigh.  They have recently split
the men’s and women’s events.  Check askfred for an idea about
who is coming, but the official preregistration is on the State Games
site.  June 5th is the last date to sign up before the fees jump.
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 3

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for May 3
Yesterday was Salle New Bern’s Skirmish at Jack’s Island epee event.  We had a number of people go and they all had their moments.  In the end, CFFA’s Paul Perkins and Josh Harvey took both 3rd place kegs, Andrew Fullmer of Raleigh Fencers, was second, and Stephen Kmiec completed a long winding road to reach his B15 by winning the event.  This was sandwiched around an excellent lunch provided by the New Bern people.
The beginner class for May will start on Tuesday, May 5th, at 6:30 pm.  Intermediate class if interest. The rest of the week will be pretty standard.

May 9th and 10th will be an event at Mid-South with epee, sabre, and E and under sabre.  The foil event seems to have disappeared.

May

16th is a set of unsanctioned events
up at Apex.  Unsanctioned means you cannot earn a rating, but it would
be a new set of people for you to fence.  The events will be a Y-10
foil, Y-12 foil and epee, Junior
mixed foil, and Junior mixed epee.  They have just added an unsanctioned
women’s epee and changed the women’s junior foil to open women’s foil. 
This is a good opportunity for a
number of our 12 and younger fencers who want to move to the next level
(moving out of our club events).  The junior events look like they will
be pretty strong.  You will need a full uniform, so talk
to me if interested. get signed up soon if you are interested so they know how many refs they will need.


Our
Stab-a-thon season ending event will occur on Saturday, May 23rd.  Open
Epee, open foil, and a D and under foil.  If we can get 4 Ds, 4Es, and
25 total foilists the winner can get a C without having to fence Cs. 
Right now both of the opens are really top heavy.  No Es or Us in the epee and only one U in the foil.  Get signed up on askfred ASAP so we can lure in other fencers.

The
last youth event of the season will occur on Saturday, May 30th.  Under
12 foil, epee, and sabre.  We will give the season long swords away at
point.  We may have a number of first time competing fencers for the
event so volunteer refs and assistance is very welcome.
We will start Saturday practices back up in June.  Sometimes fencers from other clubs come down to fence.  I will keep you posted.
The State games are the 20th of June in Raleigh.  They have recently split the men’s and women’s events.  Check askfred for an idea about who is coming, but the official preregistration is on the State Games site.
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 April 26th

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for April 26th
A pretty calm Division meeting yesterday.  Next year’s officers are Zemi Lawrence as chair, Steve Kmiec is staying as VP for coaching and referee development, Paul Perkins is chair for youth development, Liz Morey will be both Secretary and Treasurer, and Donny Zelinski moves to Past President.  NBS gym is going to try and reopen in Lexington, NC later this year.
Standard week of practice this week.

May 2nd is Salle New Bern’s outdoor epee
event.  Right now it is a solid B event and could be a B2 with a couple more bodies.  I am observing
so will have some room if people need rides.

The beginner class for May will start on Tuesday, May 5th, at 6:30 pm.  Intermediate class if interest.

May 9th and 10th will be an event at Mid-South with epee, foil, sabre, and E and under sabre.

May

16th is a set of unsanctioned events
up at Apex.  Unsanctioned means you cannot earn a rating, but it would
be a new set of people for you to fence.  The events will be a Y-10
foil, Y-12 foil and epee, and Junior
mixed foil, and Junior mixed epee.  They have just added an unsanctioned women’s epee and changed the women’s junior foil to open women’s foil.  This is a good opportunity for a
number of our 12 and younger fencers who want to move to the next level
(moving out of our club events).  The junior events look like they will
be pretty strong.  You will need a full uniform, so talk
to me if interested.


Our
Stab-a-thon season ending event will occur on Saturday, May 23rd.  Open
Epee, open foil, and a D and under foil.  If we can get 4 Ds, 4Es, and
25 total foilists the winner can get a C without having to fence Cs. 
Get signed up on askfred ASAP so we can lure in those kind of numbers.

The
last youth event of the season will occur on Saturday, May 30th.  Under
12 foil, epee, and sabre.  We will give the season long swords away at
point.  We may have a number of first time competing fencers for the
event so volunteer refs and assistance is very welcome.
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 April 19

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for April 19
We had a very good, competitive, large event yesterday.  Eighteen foilists with Gabe Lima of Research Triangle Fencing winning and upping his C to a C15.  Mike Nicholson returned to fencing and came in second earning a D15.  CFFA’s Oliver Galbraith and Mid-South’s Stephen Pashby took the 3rds.  28 epeeists; David Swearngan of the Charlotte Fencing Academy beat Oliver to earn his B with Oliver updating his C.  Andrew Fullmer of the Raleigh Fencers Club and Scott Butler of the Wilmington Fencing Club tied for third.  As it was a B2, Clayton Hamerski of the Wilmington Fencing Club took 5th and won his D, while Gannon Hart of CFFA on board Camp Lejeune slipped into 12th and won his E.  10 unrated sabre fencers; Mike Nicholson won the gold and his E.  CFFA’s Joe McLaughlin won the silver with Jason DePertuis of Mid-south and Steve Kmiec of ECU taking the bronzes.   Thanks to everyone who helped with the set up, running, reffing, and tear down of the event.
This week should be a pretty standard week of practice.  The Tuesday Thursday class is over for the month so I should have more time to work with the people who want it.
We will have a Saturday practice starting around 10 am on the 25th.  I will have to duck out around 2 pm to make the Divisional meeting which is at 5 pm up in Raleigh.  People are welcome to go with me (I’m not holding my breath on that one.)
May 2nd is Salle New Bern’s outdoor epee
event.  Right now it is a solid B event.  I am observing
so will have some room if people need rides.
The beginner class for May will start on Tuesday, May 5th, at 6:30 pm.

May 9th and 10th will be an event at Mid-South with epee, foil, sabre, and E and under sabre.

May
16th is a set of unsanctioned youth events
up at Apex.  Unsanctioned means you cannot earn a rating, but it would
be a new set of people for you to fence.  The events will be a Y-10
foil, Y-12 foil and epee, and Junior  (age 13-19) women’s foil, Junior
mixed foil, and Junior mixed epee.  This is a good opportunity for a
number of our 12 and younger fencers who want to move to the next level
(moving out of our club events).  The junior events look like they will be pretty strong.  You will need a full uniform, so talk
to me if interested.

Our Stab-a-thon season ending event will occur on Saturday, May 23rd.  Open Epee, open foil, and a D and under foil.  If we can get 4 Ds, 4Es, and 25 total foilists the winner can get a C without having to fence Cs.  Get signed up on askfred ASAP so we can lure in those kind of numbers.
The last youth event of the season will occur on Saturday, May 30th.  Under 12 foil, epee, and sabre.  We will give the season long swords away at point.  We may have a number of first time competing fencers for the event so volunteer refs and assistance is very welcome.

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 April 12

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for April 12
Thanks to Aidan Bush, Don Evans, Elijah Wells, and Reaghan Juelke for helping with the demos at Roger Bacon.  It was good to have fencers about the same age as the audience.

Mid-South is holding their next set of Youth sabre events today.

Lynn
Krupey’s memorial service is today from 1-3 pm at Halyburton Park.
The
last afterschool beginner class of the year will commence this week as afterschool picks back up after Spring Break.  The overall schedule should be back to normal.  I have one young man who will be finishing his beginner class on Thursday evening.  It would be nice to have some fencers come in about 7 pm to give him some different people to fence electrically.
Our next event is on Saturday, April 18th.  The boys can come
back out and fence this time.  The epee is now a strong B
event.  The foil needs to get a bunch of people signed up to become a C with the outside possibility of a B.  The E and
under sabre has a reasonable number of people, but more of you who want to try sabre are welcome..

The event in Raleigh on the 25th has been
cancelled due to the unfortunate fact that NBS gym is closing its
doors.  The Division meeting will still happen that Saturday at 5 pm at
a different location.  I have proxies for people to sign this week or at the tournament Saturday.  You need to be 18+ and have a competitive membership.  I will be going so let me know if you wish to attend.  We will probably have a Saturday morning practice that weekend.

May 2nd is Salle New Bern’s outdoor epee
event.  Right now it is a solid B event.  I am observing
so will have some room if people need rides.
May 9th and 10th will be an event at Mid-South with epee, foil, sabre, and E and under sabre.

May 16th is a set of unsanctioned youth events
up at Apex.  Unsanctioned means you cannot earn a rating, but it would
be a new set of people for you to fence.  The events will be a Y-10
foil, Y-12 foil and epee, and Junior  (age 13-19) women’s foil, Junior
mixed foil, and Junior mixed epee.  This is a good opportunity for a number of our 12 and younger fencers who want to move to the next level (moving out of our club events).  You will need a full uniform, so talk to me if interested.

For about the last year and a half the board
that is supposed to operate CFFA has been reduced to Brendan, Herman,
and I.  And we are all starting to burn out.  We really need adult
fencers or parents to step up and help with a number of things around
the club.  Armoring, helping organize tournaments – getting trophies,
referees, this summer we will want to redo the floor which needs someone
to manage that undertaking, etc.  If you want to step in and help let
one of us know.
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 April 5

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for April 5
Salle New Bern held their John Martin Memorial yesterday and we had  a pretty good representation.  In the foil. SNB’s Ryan Miller won with Apex’s Alexander Wolstenhome-Britt coming in second.  Our Nora Reber and I tied for the third places.  In the epee Wilmington Fencing Club’s Brett Silverman won, SNB’s Edward Childs was second, SNB’s Josh White and I tied for the thirds.  Our kids did better than the old folks.  Will Golder won the 12 and under foil and Nicole Milewski won the 12 and under epee.  New Bern did their usual fine job with the tournament.
Tomorrow starts our next evening beginner class.  This one will run on Monday and
Wednesday for 6 weeks.  Assuming that I have a class, I will start staying
around Wednesday evenings on the 8th.  St. Mary is on Spring Break, so no
afterschool fencing this week.  I am still planning to have the
homeschool class on Wednesday. 
The Roger Bacon demo will be on Thursday at 1 pm – 2:30 pm.  I have a couple of fencers, but if anyone else is interested, let me know.
 I was going to do a Saturday morning practice on the 11th, but was reminded that the weekend is the Azalea Festival.  We can hold one, but it would be up against the parade and parking would probably be difficult.  Let me know what you think.
Mid-South is holding their next set of Youth sabre events on
Sunday April 12.

Lynn
Krupey’s memorial service is April 12th from 1-3 at Halyburton Park.
The
last afterschool beginner class of the year will commence the week of April
13th.  All of the classes and parctices should be back to normal that
week.
Our next event is on Saturday, April 18th.  The boys can come
back out and fence this time.  The epee is well on the way to being a B
event.  The foil needs to get a bunch of people signed up.  The E and
under sabre is a larger event than the open foil at this point.
The event in Raleigh on the 25th has been cancelled due to the unfortunate fact that NBS gym is closing its doors.  The Division meeting will probably still happen that Saturday at a different location.
May 2nd is Salle New Bern’s outdoor epee event.  Right now it is one fencer from being a B event.  I am observing so will have some room if people need rides.
May 16th is a set of unsanctioned youth events up at Apex.  Unsanctioned means you cannot earn a rating, but it would be a new set of people for you to fence.  The events will be a Y-10 foil, Y-12 foil and epee, and Junior  (age 13-19) women’s foil, Junior mixed foil, and Junior mixed epee.
For about the last year and a half the board that is supposed to operate CFFA has been reduced to Brendan, Herman, and I.  And we are all starting to burn out.  We really need adult fencers or parents to step up and help with a number of things around the club.  Armoring, helping organize tournaments – getting trophies, referees, this summer we will want to redo the floor which needs someone to manage that undertaking, etc.  If you want to step in and help let one of us know.
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

Fencing update for April 2

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
Fencing update for April 2
The fencing demo for the Roger Bacon Academy will be next Thursday, April 9th, from 1 pm – 2:30 pm.  It will be 3 half hour demos – one each for 6th, 7th, and 8th grades.   If you are available and want to help, let me know.
The Raleigh tournament for April 25-26 has been cancelled.  I don’t yet know what will happen with the Divisional Meeting.
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