Author: Gregory Spahr

CFFA update for March 30

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for March 30
We had three fencers go to the RYC at Mid-South this year.  The RYC grew significantly; Jen said it was 40% larger than last year.  All of our fencers medaled.  (Medals go down to 8th at these larger events.)  Nicole Milewski took the gold medal for the girl’s Y-10 epee on Saturday.  On Sunday, Will Golder fenced the Y-12 boy’s foil.  He came out of pools in 3rd, won his first DE, then lost his second DE 8-9 versus the eventual winner.  He ended up in 5th.  Reaghan Juelke fenced girl’s Y-12 foil, won her first DE and then lost to the eventual winner.  She finished 7th.  It was a good performance from everyone.
The next couple of weeks practice will be unusual due to holidays, spring breaks, new classes starting, etc.  Our next homeschool
class will start at 1 pm on Wednesday April 1st.  Not an April Fool’s
joke. No afterschool on Thursday, April
2nd, as that is the beginning of St. Mary’s Spring Break. There will be fencing Thursday night for the youngster’s that want to start trying to go up against adults. There will be fencing at Camp Lejeune Friday as the staff said they are running regular hours.
 
April 4th is Salle New
Bern’s John Martin event.  E and under foil and epee plus Y-12 foil and
epee.  I hand out sword points for the Y-12 events as part of our kids
series.  So far none of our kids are signed up.  They are doing
the free lunch they always do.  Right now the adult events need some more people.  The epee needs one more person to be able to give out an E to the winner.  The foil needs about 5 more people to have the chance of giving out a D.  I will be going up, so let me know if you
need a ride. 



 
April 6th starts our
next 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 was still planning to have the homeschool class on Wednesday. 
I am also supposed to do a demo for Roger Bacon some time during that week.  Once I know the exact day and time, I will ask to see if any of you might be free to help with the demo.
Since there are no tournaments (that I see on askfred) I will be in Saturday the 11th for practice around 10 am.
 
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 this 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 as large an event as the open foil at this point.
April 25th – 26th is Raleigh’s next event.  They are having unsanctioned Y-12 and Y-14 events, Open Foil and Epee, plus a Div II sabre event.  The Division meeting will be held at 5 pm Saturday.  Check askfred for the event details.
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 March 22

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for March 22
We held the Iron Maiden event in honor of Lynn Krupey yesterday.  It had a pretty good turnout of women from across the state.  A number of them were people who don’t fence much currently who came out just for this event.  In the foil, Samantha Wolstenholme-Britt of Apex defeated Colleen Gallant of Charlotte in the final to re-earn her E.  Our Nora Reber and Emma Filer tied for the 3rd places.  In epee, Riley Hart of CFFA (Camp Lejeune) jumped from a U to a D by defeating her teammate Samantha Milewski.  CFFA’s Nora Reber got back her E in epee by taking third, tied with Sandy Tapia of Charlotte.  Sandy then proved she was the most aggressive of the non-sabre fencers in the sabre event and won her E  Kenyatta Snaford of CFFA was 2nd, Kaitlyn Hall of CFFA and Abigail Barman of the Wilmington Fencing Club tied for 3rd.  A huge thanks to all the officials who donated their time, friends who donated food, Zemi Lawrence who made all the top awards and keepsake key chains, our sponsors who provided free entry for the event, and everyone who donated in Lynn’s name.  $1173 was raised in Lynn’s name.  John Rea took a number of photos which are also on WFC’s Facebook page if the link doesn’t work for you. https://picasaweb.google.com/101660849423871806365/IronMaidenCFFAMar212015?authkey=Gv1sRgCMvP943drM78aQ 
A standard week of practice this week.  A new beginner class starts Friday night at Camp Lejeune. 

Mid-South is hosting the
area’s RYC on the 28th and 29th.  They have changed how you get to
Nationals for Y-12 and Y-10, so just showing up is not enough.  It is now
also based on how well you do, but you can’t get qualified if you don’t
go.  It is also a good first step for those of you considering the jump to
bigger events like the JOs.  They also have Y-14 events, some of which are
looking pretty strong.  If you haven’t already preregistered, the fees have gone up.
Our next homeschool class will start at 1 pm on Wednesday April 1st.  Not an April Fool’s joke.  If you missed it, we had an article in the Star news about the Artz girls this week.  Here is a link to it with some additional video posted 
http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20150318/ARTICLES/150319877/1155?p=1&tc=pg&tc=ar
 

No afterschool on April 2nd and the following week as that is St. Mary’s Spring Break. 


April
4th is Salle New
Bern’s John Martin event.  E and under foil and epee plus Y-12 foil and
epee.  I hand out sword points for the Y-12 events as part of our kids
series.  So far none of our kids are signed up.  Plus they are doing the free lunch they always do.  I will be
going up, so let me know if you need a ride.  Both have a shot at giving away Ds if we can get more fencers there.
April 6th starts our next 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 evening on the 8th.
Mid-South is holding their next set of Youth sabre events on Sunday April 12.

The last afterschool beginner class of the year will commence the week of April 13th.
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 epee is 1/2 way to being able to give an E to the winner.
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

lost phone

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
lost phone
If anyone has picked up a phone in the boys locker room either Thursday or Saturday, it belongs to Josh Harvey. Please get it back to him (or me, and I will get it back to him.)  Thanks.
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 March 15

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for March 15
A busy weekend for our fencers.  On Saturday we held the fourth of our five kids tournaments.  The foil was interesting in that over half of the competitors were age 9 or younger.  However the older kids dominated.  Kyler Schoonmaker won with Will Golder second.  Logan Pfeifle and Reaghan Juelke tied for third.  For the younger ones Rayne Schoonmaker took gold, Don Evans took silver, and Christopher Donelson took bronze.  The sabre was a small affair.  Reaghan Juelke won, William Novotny was second, Avery Walston and Seaborne Maguire tied for third.  The epee was not only all female but also all left handed.  Abbey Campbell took first, Lydia Huggins took second, and Emily Campbell was third.  Thanks to the Zelinskis and Ryan Miller for all the help.  Here are the current points for the season long competition for the swords.  I am listing just the top 10 boys and all the girls.  I will put the full list up on the bulletin board and on the website.

Boys                                       

Will Golder 37
Kyler Schoonmaker 19
Orion Brown 16
Christopher Donelson  10
Elijah Wells 10
Logan Pfeifle     9
Jacob Jenkinson   8
Gerrit Swart    7
Kent Walston    7
Rayne Schoonmaker   7
Girls
Reaghan Juelke   37
Nicole Milewski    21
Caroline Artz     18
Isabelle Artz    12
Abbey Campbell   8
Lydia Huggins  6
Abby Gray    5
Lexi Williams   4
Emily Campbell   3

The last of the youth events will be Saturday, May 30th.  I will also be giving out sword points for youth events at New Bern’s John Martin event in April.

On Sunday we had a couple of fencers go up to Mid-South’s Annual Grand Open.  Joe McLaughlin represented us in Vet sabre.  He went 3-4 in the pool and lost his first DE to David Minton.  Emma Filer was in the foil.  She went 3-2 in her pool, won her first DE and then lost to Stephen Pashby 14-15.  Both of them made good showings.

What is now the Lynn Krupey Memorial Iron Maiden will be held Saturday, March 21.  Foil,
epee, and D and under sabre. Zemi has hand made the trophies and has also been busy making key chains that will be given to every competitor.  The numbers are edging up, but we would like to see some more people so that we can hopefully give away some ratings.  Get signed up on askfred.
For those who have asked, Lynn’s mom has asked that any donations in Lynn’s memory should go to:
SECU Family House at UNC
123 Old Mason Farm Road
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
please mark checks “in memory of Lynn Krupey”
or you can bring them to the Iron Maiden
The SECU House is the adult version of a Ronald McDonald House and allows family to stay close to loved ones who are receiving long term care.
A memorial service has been scheduled for Lynn at Halyburton Park from 1-3 pm on April 12th.
Mid-South is hosting the
area’s RYC on the 28th and 29th.  They have changed how you get to
Nationals for Y-12 and Y-10, so just showing up is not enough.  It is now
also based on how well you do, but you can’t get qualified if you don’t
go.  It is also a good first step for those of you considering the jump to
bigger events like the JOs.  They also have Y-14 events, some of which are
looking pretty strong.
 

April
4th is Salle New
Bern’s John Martin event.  E and under foil and epee plus Y-12 foil and
epee.  I hand out sword points for the Y-12 events as part of our kids
series.  Plus they are doing the free lunch they always do.  I will be
going up in some capacity, so let me know if you need a ride.  So far none of our kids are signed up.

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

Fw: Iron Maiden Trophies 2015 – Tournament update

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
Fw: Iron Maiden Trophies 2015 – Tournament update
Just an update for the Iron Maiden tournament on the 21st.  We have decided to rename it, at least for this year, the Lynn Krupey Memorial Iron Maiden.   A number of people have stepped forward to help sponsor the event so your entry fee will be covered (That means you fence for free) and be used as a donation to a charity of Lynn’s mother’s choosing.  We are guessing that it will probably go to a Cystic Fibrosis or Organ Transplant charity.  I will let you know as soon as I am informed.  All of the people running the event are donating their time, so everything raised will be go to a good cause.  Should you wish to add something as a donation it would be most welcome.
Obviously, both to honor Lynn and be able to create a large donation to a worthy cause, we would like to make these events as large as possible.  If you have not yet signed up on askfred, please do so.  That will help us attract more outside fencers.  If you wish to fence something outside of your regular weapon(s), we will do our best to lend weapons, lames, masks, etc.  As of my last check, there were 8 entries in epee, 6 in foil, and 2 in sabre.
Zemi Zelinski has been working her little fingers to the bone creating jewelry as prizes for the top 3 places. I have attached a link so you can look at them.  She has it color coded:  Sabre is green, Foil is red, and Epee is blue.  If your favorite color is not aligned with your weapon; then you will just have to fence the other one to try and win.
I have also attached a copy of the permanent trophy Bobby Babson and Herman Smith have put together.  It will have a Name plaque for the tournament on the front.  The three other sides will be dedicated to one weapon each with the name of the champion and the year attached.
Don’t hesitate to contact with questions or suggestion on how to further honor Lynn.
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

—– Forwarded Message —–
From: Kemmerlyn Lawrence (via Google Drive) <overlookedfile@gmail.com>
To: gregoryspahr@yahoo.com
Sent: Monday, March 9, 2015 10:03 PM
Subject: Iron Maiden Trophies 2015 – Invitation to collaborate

Kemmerlyn Lawrence has invited you to work in the following shared folder:
Here’s the pictures of the trophies. Will this do?

Google Drive: Have all your files within reach from any device.Logo for Google Drive

CFFA update for March 9

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for March 9
The Divisional qualifiers were held over the weekend at NBS gym in Raleigh.  Because the event is in San Jose, it looks like the numbers were fairly depressed for the event.  We only had 6 people go.  Robert Thomas took the silver medal in men’s epee, qualifying for the Div II and Vet events.  He also qualified for Vet foil.  Herman Smith took 8th in the epee and qualified for the Vet epee event.  Joe McLaughlin qualified for the Vet sabre.  We had three women in the epee event.  Samantha Milewski took the bronze medal and qualified for Division II and Division III.  Erica Julien qualified for the Vet event.  Riley Hart won her first DE and lost the second and just missed qualifying for Div III.
In a bit of Housekeeping/Bookkeeping – We know it gets confusing when writing checks as to whom it goes.  We have to separate who gets what checks for tax purposes, etc.   Not an absolute killer if it gets marked wrong, but the less we have to “fix” things the better.   Here is the quick guide.
Checks to me  (Greg Spahr)                                                                                          Afterschool classes                                                                                              Homeschool classes                                                                                                  Beginner and Intermediate classes                                                                                        All Camp Lejeune classes                                                                                                 Kid’s tournaments                                                                                                        Fencing Camps  
Checks to CFFA                                                                                                               Club Dues for evening practices                                                                                     Nightly floor fees                                                                                                      Equipment orders                                                                                                            Adult tournaments 
Checks to USA Fencing     The once a year renewal of your membership to USA Fencing.  For most people this will be in early August.   
Checks to Herman Smith           Occasionally Herman will order equipment for us to have on hand to sell.  Also around the holidays when there are a large number of orders he may put some on his credit card as we tend to max out the club card.  He will let you know if you owe him directly.                                                                                                                                     March 14-15 is
Mid-South’s Grand Opening event.  The epee is now a solid A2.  The foil might reach being a B with an A or B and a couple more bodies.  They also have a Vet sabre.
Our next youth event is
March 14th.  Foil at 10 am, sabre at 1:30 pm, and epee at 3:30 pm. 
$5 per event with trophies to 1-3 and ties, medals to the top 3 who are 9 and
under who don’t get a trophy.
 
The Iron Maiden, the
only women’s only event in NC, will be held Saturday, March 21.  Foil,
epee, and D and under sabre. Of course, now this will be a memorial tournament for Lynn.  I
would like to see all of our eligible women competing, maybe even trying
weapons you haven’t fenced competitively to pump up the numbers.   Get
signed up on askfred.  Right now the entry list is pitiful.
Mid-South is hosting the
area’s RYC on the 28th and 29th.  They have changed how you get to
Nationals for Y-12 and Y-10, so just showing up is not enough.  It is now
also based on how well you do, but you can’t get qualified if you don’t
go.  It is also a good first step for those of you considering the jump to
bigger events like the JOs.  They also have Y-14 events, some of which are
looking pretty strong.  Only two CFFA fencers in the mix at the moment.
 
April 4th is Salle New
Bern’s John Martin event.  E and under foil and epee plus Y-12 foil and
epee.  I hand out sword points for the Y-12 events as part of our kids
series.  Plus they are doing the free lunch they always do.  I will be going up in some capacity, so let me know if you need a ride.
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

Sad news

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
Sad news
It is with deep sadness that I inform our club that
Lynn Krupey has passed this life to the next.
She has been a part of the heart of our fencing family.
A disciple of the epee’,  a teacher of it’s art, a never tiring
voice for fencing and Our friend. Her strolling into the club,
always with an impish smile and a love of life, a sight never
to be forgotten. Our little Iron Maiden.
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

Divisionals

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
Divisionals
Just a reminder that you need to sign up by tomorrow night to get the standard price.  It is more expensive at the door on Saturday.
Also a reminder that Daylight Savings Time starts Sunday, so you lose an hours sleep and it is as if the events started an hour earlier than listed.
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 March 1

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA Update for March 1
Yesterday was the NCFL Individual High School Championships.  For the men we had Will Golder compete.  He didn’t make it into the second round, but as a sixth grader I am pretty certain he was the youngest fencer there.  Coastal Christian sent three fencers.  Mack Smith suffered the same fate as Will.  Jonathan Hartness made into into the second round, but not the semi finals. Oliver Galbraith went undefeated for his first three rounds and ended up in 2nd place overall.  We had three entrants into the women’s events.  Reaghan Juelke and Emma Graf both made it into the semi finals and finished eleventh and twelfth respectively.  Emma Filer was undefeated for the first two rounds and finished in fifth.  Filer is an eight grader and Graf and Juelke are seventh graders so in a couple of years we should be dominating the women’s division.

The next evening beginner and intermediate classes start Tuesday,
March 3rd.  6:30 pm for the beginners, and 7:30 pm for the intermediates.  Other than that it should be a pretty standard week of practice.
 
March 7-8 are the Div II/III National Championship
qualifiers.  For Vet fencers all you have to do is show up and survive.
These also have the qualifiers for Y-14 events.   Even if you are not
planning to go to San Jose, this will be a good state wide event.  Get
signed up before the fees go up (March 6th) and so the Division can determine
how many referees they need to hire.  That weekend UNC is also hosting the
NCAA regionals so referees are tight. Right now only men’s foil has enough bodies to be a C event.  Donny is trying to line up an examiner for referees on Sunday, so if you are interested let him (or me, know).
 
March 14-15 is Mid-South’s Grand Opening event.  The epee is
an a weird A event with 2 As, 7Bs, and NO Cs.  The foil might reach being a
B with a an A or B and a few more bodies.  They also have a Vet sabre.



Our next youth event is March 14th.  Foil at 10 am, sabre at 1:30
pm, and epee at 3:30 pm.  $5 per event with trophies to 1-3 and ties,
medals to the top 3 who are 9 and under who don’t get a trophy.
 
The Iron Maiden, the only women’s only event in NC, will be held
Saturday, March 21.  Foil, epee, and D and under sabre.  This is
being held as a benefit for Lynn Krupey, one of our assistant coaches who is
currently fighting cancer.  I would like to see all of our eligible women
competing, maybe even trying weapons you haven’t fenced competitively to pump up
the numbers.   Get signed up on askfred.  Right now the entry list is pitiful, 4 in epee, 2 in foil, and non in sabre.



Mid-South is hosting the area’s RYC on the 28th and 29th. 
They have changed how you get to Nationals for Y-12 and Y-10, so just showing
up is not enough.  It is now also based on how well you do, but you can’t
get qualified if you don’t go.  It is also a good first step for those of
you considering the jump to bigger events like the JOs.  They also have
Y-14 events, some of which are looking pretty strong.  Only two CFFA
fencers in the mix at the moment.
 
April 4th is Salle New Bern’s John Martin event.  E and under
foil and epee plus Y-12 foil and epee.  I hand out sword points for the
Y-12 events as part of our kids series.  Plus they are doing the free
lunch they always do.
I am getting ready to go through all the lists I have and purge people we haven’t seen for a while, so if you are no longer interested in receiving the updates, please let me 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