Saturday morning practice

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
Saturday morning practice
Just a reminder that we will have a Saturday morning practice at 10 am this Saturday.  It will last until you all decide to go home.

Saturday morning practices will become the norm for much of the summer once we get past the Stab-a-thon and the last youth event.

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 14

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for May 14
We provided about half of the competitors at yesterday’s Skirmish at Jack’s Island in New Bern.  The event should probably have been renamed the Left handed open as over 50% of the field was left handed and almost 50% of the staff was left handed.  Therefore it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Oliver Galbraith won and now has a trophy taller than he is.  Ryan Miller of Salle New Bern came in second.  Stephen Kmiec of ECU (also left handed) tied with our own Josh Harvey for 3rd.  Eli Nathan of UNCW/CFFA came in 7th and earned his E in the B1 event.  A good time and a full stomach was had by all.
A regular week of practice this week plus we will have a Saturday (5/20) practice starting about 10 am.
Our
annual Memorial Weekend Stab-a-thon will be held on Saturday, May 27. 
Open foil, epee, and sabre. The epee lost 2 of the As, but still has 4 and has 27 people, so it should still be a strong A2.  I still see it going to about 40 or more fencers, as some people who might have thought they would have no hope with 6 As, see hope with only 4.  The two fencers who dropped out were an A and a C in foil.   Foil has been stuck at 7
for a while, but now is a much more winnable event.  That makes it a better event for those looking at a good first tournament.  It would still be nice to get it to 15 people so it would be a C1.  Sabre still has
5 people with two Es.  One more fencer makes it an E event.  Alex? 
Bea? Jonathan?

June 3 will be the last 12 and under youth event of the season.  Foil at 10 am, sabre at 1:30 pm, and epee at 3:30 pm.  Swords will be given out at the end of the event or when someone reaches an insurmountable point lead.

For the adults, Matt Cox is doing a referee clinic in Richmond on the 3rd.  Attached to that is a Sunday event where the fencers will fence for free in an attempt to pump up the numbers and ranks so that the referees being observed can get ratings.  See askfred for details on both.

June 10-11 is Mid-South’s last youth/U-19/U sabre event for the year.  See askfred for details.

The
Powerade State Games are June 17-18 this year in the Winston Salem
area.  Men’s, Women’s, and Y-12 events in all weapons. 
The fees are a little higher at this point, but you can still get in at
pag.ncsports.org.  Askfred is not the official site, so entering there
does not actually get you into the event.  There is no on-site
registration this year, so that is important.  Also, since askfred is
not official, events are usually a little bigger than what is listed on
askfred.

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 7

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for May 7
We held a 12 and under event for our youth fencers yesterday.  We had 12 foilists (significantly more than we now have signed up for our next adult event).  It was won by Nicole Milewski beating out Don Evans.  Jaden Scott and Nick Byron, in his first event, tied for third.  For the 9 and under set, Jackson Jones got gold, Joseph Evans took silver, and Claire Babineau won the bronze.  Again no sabre fencers showed up – I know you’re out there.  Epee was an epic battle between Nicole and Lydia Huggins which Nicole came from behind to win, 15-14.  Nyc Baynes and Linus Huggins tied for 3rd place.  A huge thanks to Herman Smith who refereed, armored, and sold T-shirts.  Tried to get him to babysit and cook, but no such luck.  The last youth event of the season is June 3rd.  It would be nice to see some adults around as I would like to think it will be huge.  The swords are probably pretty well decided, except for the sportsmanship one, but here are the first few boys and girls and their points.
Boys
Evans,
Don                
   34                                                                                                Scott                           
   27                                                                                                          
Schoonmaker             
  23                                                                                                                      
Evans,
Joseph             
  13      
                                                                                                              Martin,
Luke                  12         
                                                                                                  
Byron                             10                                                                                                         
Jones                               
8     

     

Girls
Milewski                43                                                                                     
Williams                13                                                                            Huggins,
Lydia         8 
                                                           Campbell                 7                                                          Alexander                3                                                                   
Babineau                 2
Regular summer schedule of practice this week.  The new beginner class at Camp Lejeune starts Friday.                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Salle
New Bern is holding their annual Skirmish at Jack’s Island on Saturday,
May 13th.  Epee only, all it needs to be an A event is 2 warm bodies.  Unusual as it is held outdoors if possible.  Plus there is the usual Salle New Bern feast to be held afterward.  As and Bs get to fence free at this event.  Check askfred for the rest.

Apex
has a large number of unsanctioned youth and adult events on the 13th. 
Check askfred for the details.  If you are interested in going and need
equipment, let me know.  It would be a great opportunity for some of our foilists looking for fencing with new people in a setting where you don’t have the pressure of a sanctioned event.

Our
annual Memorial Weekend Stab-a-thon will be held on Saturday, May 27. 
Open foil, epee, and sabre. The epee is an A2 with 6 As and 4 Bs.  It is still 3 weeks out, so when you add the usual suspects; those of our fencers waiting to sign up, the WFC fencers, and the South Carolina contingent; and the unusual suspects; A’s about to lose it, B’s who really want their As, people looking for something strong to use to get ready for Salt Lake City, I could see it going to 40 or more fencers.  Foil and sabre fencers should learn from this.  Foil has been stuck at 7 for a while.  Our older foil/epee fencers are going to save themselves for the epee at this point, so our ranks will have to come from the younger set.  Harry?  Logan?  Gabe?  Maya?  Andrew? Max?  If you can get the numbers close to 15, you might pull in a B, which would make it a B1.  If that doesn’t happen and if all our people who enter are Us, then it would just need a D to make it a C1 with only 7 rated fencers.  That means that some unrated person would have to earn an E.  Maybe we can get Filer to come out of retirement at that point.  Sabre has been creeping up and now has 5 people with two Es.  One more fencer makes it an E event.  Alex?  Bea?

As mentioned earlier, June 3 will be the last 12 and under youth event of the season.

June 10-11 is Mid-South’s last youth/U-19/U sabre event for the year.  See askfred for details.

The Powerade State Games are June 17-18 this year in the Winston Salem area.  Men’s, Women’s, and Y-12 events in all weapons. 
The fees are a little higher at this point, but you can still get in at pag.ncsports.org.  Askfred is not the official site, so entering there does not actually get you into the event.  There is no on-site registration this year, so that is important.  Also, since askfred is not official, events are usual a little bigger than what is listed on askfred.

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

Powerade State Games

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
Powerade State Games
Remember that tomorrow is the last day to sign up for the Powerade State Games before the fees jump.  You must register at pag.ncsports.org, askfred is NOT the place to officially sign 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

CFFA update for April 30

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for April 30
Yesterday was the Lynn Krupey Memorial Iron Maiden.  It turned into the Meredith Powers show, as she won all three events.  She was a C foilist from Virginia, but now has an E in epee and sabre.  In the foil, Apex’s Tammy Jackson was second, CFFA’s Nora Reber and UNCW’s Taylor May tied for 3rd.  In epee, Nora was 2nd, Nayeli Lahiri of Apex and Kenyatta Sanford of CFFA took thirds.  For sabre it was Kenyatta earning the silver, with Reaghan Juelke of CFFA and Cali Pray of Hoggard tieing for the bronzes.  Thanks to Herman Smith, Brendan McConville, Zemi Lawrence, and Donny Zelinski for reffing, managing, observing.  Everyone is donating their time, so the proceeds will be donated to Cystic Fibrosis.
For everyone coming through Porter’s Neck this week, it sounds like you need to allow more time due to the traffic for the golf event.
The next Tuesday/Thursday beginner class will start this Tuesday, May 2nd at 6:30 pm.  UNCW is finished for the year, so no more Wednesday practice until fall.

Our
next 12 and under event will be held on May 6th.  Foil at 10 am, Sabre
at 1:30 pm, and epee at 3:30 pm.  $5 per event.  All of our current
beginner classes end in time for people to be able to fence, so at least the foil event will be large.  Volunteer or training
referees extremely welcome.  Hopefully we will actually have a sabre event, and I am expecting more epeeists than usual.

Mid-South
has a youth sabre event on May 6th.  Y-10, Y-12, and Y-14  events which
are unsanctioned.  A Junior and an adult U event, which look to be E rated events.

Salle
New Bern is holding their annual Skirmish at Jack’s Island on Saturday,
May 13th.  Epee only, has a good chance of becoming an A event.  It currently has three As, so it needs some Bs and bodies.  See
askfred for more details.

Apex
has a large number of unsanctioned youth and adult events on the 13th. 
Check askfred for the details.  If you are interested in going and need
equipment, let me know.  The senior foil has 15 people with 1 C, 1 D, 1 E, and 12 Us; so it should be good for someone looking for foil at that level.

Our
annual Memorial Weekend Stab-a-thon will be held on Saturday, May 27. 
Open foil, epee, and sabre.  It is beginning to look like it will be really huge.  The epee is already an A1 with 5 As and 3 Bs.  Please get signed up now so we will know how many referees we will need.  Foil has an A and will hopefully become at least a B event.  Right now there is one lone sabre fencer.

The Powerade State Games are June 17-18 this year in the Winston Salem area.  Men’s, Women’s, and Y-12 events in all weapons.  The fees go up on May 6th, so get registered by Friday.  There will be no on-site registration this year so plan if you are going now.

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

Final NAC update

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
Final NAC update
On the last day of the NAC Erica Julien fenced the Vet Combined Women’s epee.  She fenced very intelligently, and even used some wily veteran strategy to defeat one opponent.  However she lost her first DE and finished 53rd.

Brendan McConville fenced the Div II Men’s epee.  He went 5-1 in his pool with his only loss being to the eventual winner of the event.  He was seeded 10th going into the DEs.  Unfortunately, his knee was acting up and he tried to ice it (under advice from the trainers) between pools and DEs.  It never really got warmed back up for his DE, which he lost in a close bout.  He finished 34th.

KIm Phillips was 4-2 in his pool in Vet Combined Men’s sabre.  He got a bye for the first round, won his first DE, and then upset (really upset) the previously undefeated number 3 seed.  He then lost a close bout to the sabrist who won the silver medal.  He received the 8th place medal.

The sabre and epee fencers are winning national medals.  The foilists are really letting us down.

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 23

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for April 23
A nice article about Samantha Milewski was in the Jacksonville Daily News.  Here is the link http://www.jdnews.com/sports/20170422/white-oak-senior-milewski-to-fence-for-tar-heels . 
Fencing in multiple locations this week.  At the NAC in Baltimore on Saturday, Erica Julien won a couple of her pool sabre bouts, but lost her first DE and took the 6th place medal in Vet 70 sabre.  Today in Vet 70 epee, she was 3-5 in her pool, but then pulled a 10-9 upset of the number 2 seed.  Erica then lost to the eventual winner and ended up tied for third.  That should put her on pace to be named to the US team for the World Veteran’s Championship in Slovenia this year.
In the Men’s Div. II foil, Brendan McConville had a rough pool and lost his first DE to the person who eventually placed 7th.
Erica, Brendan, and Kim Phillips all have events on Monday.
UNCW fenced a team meet at NC State.  The other teams were NC State, ECU, and UNC-Greensboro.  The foil team of Taylor May, Will Ross, and Richard Everhart; and the epee team of Oliver Galbraith, Whit Stewart, and Eli Nathan both went undefeated.
No afterschool practice this Monday because we still have fencers in Baltimore.  The rest of the week’s schedule should be standard.  This will be the last Wednesday the UNCW fencers will be practicing.
April 29th is our annual Lynn Krupey Memorial Iron Maiden.  This is an event for women only.  Right now there are 13 in the epee, so its rating will depend on getting 2 more bodies with ranks.  7 in the foil.  6 Us in the sabre, so we can give out an E to the winner in both events.  You need to get entered ASAP if we hope to get these events up to where there are real ratings on the line.

The next Tuesday/Thursday beginner class will start on May 2nd at 6:30 pm.

Our next 12 and under event will be held on May 6th.  Foil at 10 am, Sabre at 1:30 pm, and epee at 3:30 pm.  $5 per event.  All of our current beginner classes end in time for people to be able to fence, so hopefully at least the foil events will be large.  Volunteer or training referees welcome.

Mid-South has a youth sabre event on May 6th.  Y-10, Y-12, and Y-14  events which are unsanctioned.  A Junior and an adult U event, which I believe will be rated if they can get the bodies.

Salle New Bern is holding their annual Skirmish at Jack’s Island on Saturday, May 13th.  Epee only, has a good chance of becoming an A event.  See askfred for more details.

Apex has a large number of unsanctioned youth and adult events on the 13th.  Check askfred for the details.  If you are interested in going and need equipment, let me know.

Our annual Memorial Weekend Stab-a-thon will be held on Saturday, May 27.  Open foil, epee, and sabre.  If people start getting signed up now they could be really big events.  Epee needs one B and a few bodies to be an A event.  Foil and sabre need bodies to start drawing other fencers.

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 16

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for April 16
CFFA has its first A rated fencer.  Today Oliver Galbraith won the epee event in Williamsburg, beating Andrew Fulmer 15-12 in the final and earning his A17.  He also finished 7th in yesterday’s foil event.  Doing his best not to be outdone, Captain Kim Phillips won yesterday’s sabre event.  Unfortunately, it was “only” a B event, so he reearns his B17.  Congratulations to both.
No afterschool tomorrow as it is the last day of St. Mary’s spring break.
April
21-24 is the NAC in Baltimore, so no local tournaments.  I
won’t have class Thursday night as we have a fencers in the 8 am event on
Friday.  There will be afterschool and night practice.  No Camp Lejeune fencing on Friday, 4/21.  There are also
fencers involved in the NAC on Monday, so no afterschool on 4/24.

April
29th is our annual Lynn Krupey Memorial Iron Maiden.  This is an event
for women only.  Our women need to start
getting signed up to make it worthwhile for people from other clubs to
show up.  For the UNCW women, consider it a study break. 
For the CFFA women, a few are signed up.  However, a number of you who
told me you were coming out of retirement to fence this are not.  Some
of you who are looking for a good first tournament where you don’t need
to fight your way through a bunch of guys, this is it.  Right now there
are 10 in the epee, so its rating will depend on getting 5 more bodies
with ranks.  6 in the foil.  5 Us in the sabre, so with one more U we
can give out an E.  Things haven’t changed in the last week, so you need to get entered ASAP if we hope to get these events up to where there are real ratings on the line.

The next Tuesday/Thursday beginner class will start on May 2nd at 6:30 pm.

Our next 12 and under event will be held on May 6th.  Foil at 10 am, Sabre at 1:30 pm, and epee at 3:30 pm.  $5 per event.  All of our current beginner classes end in time for people to be able to fence, so hopefully at least the foil events will be large.  Volunteer or training referees welcome.

Mid-South has a youth sabre event on May 6th.  Y-10, Y-12, and Y-14  events which are unsanctioned.  A Junior and an adult U event, which I believe will be rated if they can get the bodies.

Salle New Bern is holding their annual Skirmish at Jack’s Island on Saturday, May 13th.  Epee only, has a good chance of becoming an A event.  See askfred for more details.

Our annual Memorial Weekend Stab-a-thon will be held on Saturday, May 27.  Open foil, epee, and sabre.  If people start getting signed up now they could be really big events.

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

Saturday peactice/other

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
Saturday peactice/other
We will have a Saturday practice this Saturday.  I will be in about 10 am.

Practice and beginner class tonight.  I believe Samantha and Nicole will be down so Samantha can get ready for the NAC next week.

In more Samantha news, she has committed to UNC and will be fencing for the Tarheels next year.

Will everyone who is going to the Nationals in Salt Lake City let me know so I can look at whether I need to go or not.  When planning you may want to remember that Wilmington’s elevation is 30 feet, Salt lake City’s is 4226 feet.  You might want to include an extra day there before your event to get acclimated.  You have to get started on better cardio now or you may find yourself spent right when you get to the good rounds of the DE.

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