Coach’s Corner | Cape Fear Fencing Association

Last Day to enter December NAC

October 19, 2016October 19, 2016 Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication

Today is the last day to get entered into the December NAC in Richmond, December 2-5, before the triple fees kick in. It has:

Div 1 must be a C or better (Just epee & sabre, no Div I foil)

Div 1-A anyone can enter

Vets combined all over 40

Vets aged 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70+

Please let me know if you are entered so I can plan. 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 October 16

October 16, 2016October 16, 2016 Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication

Erica finished up her time at the World Championships by competing on the Women’s Vet combined team. It is a bit of a hybrid competition. It uses the relay system for teams, however it takes one fencer from the 50-59 age group, one from the 60-69 age group, and one from the 70+ age group. Each fencer only fences someone from their age group. They fence two rounds so the event goes to thirty. Another peculiarity is that you can fence the same fencer twice. Teams generally have two sets of veterans and can sub in if needed. The US defeated Great Britain in pools with Erica sitting out. The US lost to Germany by 1 touch with Erica in. Erica was only behind her German counterpart by one touch over two matches even though the German woman had won the bronze medal in the championships the day before. Then, just to prove that event manipulation does not only occur in North Carolina, the organizers decided to violate the seeding order. As the seeding turned out, the US would have faced Great Britain again in the first DE round with the winner facing Germany. France, Finland, and Hungary; the teams in the other pool, faced a similar situation. The organizers decided to have the US fence Hungary and France fence Great Britain instead of following the correct seeding order. With Erica sitting this one out, the Hungarians took advantage of the situation and defeated the Americans by one touch. This left the US out of the medals in 5th place. Of course discussions/complaints followed, but in the end the results of the event manipulation were allowed to stand.

October 19th is the last day to enter the December NAC in Richmond before fees triple. Please let me know who all is going so I can make plans to be there.

About time to order again, so get requests to Herman or me by Thursday.

St.
Mary’s Fall Festival is Friday night, October 21. Our space
traditionally becomes the Haunted House for the event. We will take the
overheads down after Tuesday’s practice. Homeschool fencing will meet
on Wednesday, October 19, but there will be no afterschool or evening
fencing for either Wednesday or Thursday.

There will be fencing at Camp Lejeune on Friday night.

October 22nd is an epee event in Charlotte for Y-14, women’s and open events. The open looks to make it up to be a B event.

Mid-South is having a sabre RJCC on the 22nd. The women’s sabre events (cadet and junior) both look to be C events.

October
22nd will also be our next youth event. It is earlier than I
would have liked, but the schedule from that date until January is
extremely crowded. I will truncate the classes now in
progress so that those youngsters will be ready to participate.

That
means that the foil could be very large. Any help with refereeing is
appreciated. Foil at 10 am, sabre at 1:30 pm, and epee at 3:30 pm.

The
JO qualifiers are now up on askfred. They will be on the weekend of
the 29-30 and the times are set. They will be held at Research Triangle Academy. The actual event is in Kansas City next year on
President’s Day weekend. Not real close, but not too far away. Entry deadline before the fees go up is 10/23. Right now only Oliver and Samantha are entered. The junior events are on Saturday and the cadet events are on Sunday. If you qualify for the junior event and are eligible for the cadet, you are automatically qualified and do not have to fence Sunday. Most of our 13-19 year old fencers should be going just for the experience. Although there is still a week to enter most of the events are really small. Only 6 in the junior men’s foil and epee and only 4 in the cadet events. (Logan, Kyler, Phil, Will, Kent, Harry, etc.) Only 3 in junior women’s foil and 2 in cadet. (Bea, Kirin) NOBODY in either women’s sabre Reaghan.

The week of October 31st will begin the next afterschool class. The next homeschool session will begin on the 2nd.

November 1st is when I have to have rosters in for our homeschool league team.

We
will be hosting the first NCFL meet of the season on November 5th.
This tends to be a huge event and we can use help. The A division is
comprised of official high school teams or clubs and will have divisions
for men’s foil, women’s foil, and mixed epee this year. The B division
has junior high and up fencers and they compete as mixed foil teams.
It can be B teams from the high schools, junior high teams, or fencers
can compete under a club banner. Any of our fencers attending a public
school (junior high and up) can compete. Let me know if you need gear
as everyone must compete in a complete uniform. I am assuming a local team from Hoggard and a New Hanover women’s foil team.

For adults who want to compete rather than help referee, etc. ECU is having their fall event on the 5th. It has foil, epee, and a C and under epee. No one signed up yet.

November’s beginner class will start on Monday, the 7th.

Our next event will be November 12th. It has an open epee that is well on its way to being a B. The open foil only has two fencers. The E and under foil has 0. To all the following people, this is the day you should be fencing. You can come in and do foil in the morning in what could be a large event like our last one, or at the very least do the E and under where no one will be an absolute dominant fencer. If we can get 15 people, with 4 of them being Es, someone will earn a D. At the very least 6 people lets someone earn/re-earn an E. Here goes – Logan, Kyler, Will, Harry, Bea, Kirin, Reaghan, Stephanie, Phil. Get Nora and Robert in to have a couple of those Es. From UNCW Bracy, left and right hand Catherines, Connor, Taylor, Will, Alex, Hannah, Jasmine, and a bunch of you for whom this would be the perfect first USA Fencing tournament. All those people show up and we just about have our D tournament before anyone shows up from outside.

November 13th will be a homeschool league scrimmage in Winston Salem. Let me know if you are interested so we can start making uniform and travel plans.

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

practice?

October 14, 2016October 14, 2016 Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication

Already
getting questions as to if there will be a 10:00 am practice tomorrow
since the tournament is cancelled. What are people up for?

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

Up, up, and Away cancelled

October 14, 2016October 14, 2016 Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication

We are cancelling tomorrows event. Too many people were finding it a hardship to get to Wilmington because of road closures, which brought our number down precipitously. Rather than have people travel in dangerous conditions, or travel to find a very small event, (and that includes our local people) we think it is just better to regroup and prepare for the November 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

Erica

October 12, 2016October 12, 2016 Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication

At the World Championships Erica went 3-3 in her pool. She lost her first DE 9-10 and finished 17th. Very proud of her.

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 October 8

October 8, 2016October 8, 2016 Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication

I hope everyone is safe and dry inside somewhere. I thought I should go ahead and send this out in case the power goes down later.

Div 1-A has been added to the NAC in Richmond for December. Therefore the events that our people may be interested in are:

Fri. Dec 2 Div 1 ME Div 1A MF Vet MS Vet WE

Sat. Dec 3 Div 1-A ME MS Vet Combined WE Vet Combined WS Vet 70

Sun. Dec 4 ME Vet MF Vet Combined MS Div 1-A WS Vet Combined

Mon. Dec 4 ME Vet Combined MS Div 1 WE Div !-A

For Div 1 you must be at least a C to enter. For Div 1-A you can have any rating. The entry deadline before the fees triple is October 19.

Regular week of practice this week.

Erica Julien will be competing at the World Championships in Germany on October 12th. I will keep you posted as to her results.

Our
next event is Saturday, October 15th, Open foil, Open epee, and a D and
under epee. Right now we are in exactly the same quandary as we were for the last event. We have 10 in the epee, 6 in the D & under epee, and 5 in the foil. We have no idea how many referees we will need. Patrick Lausi and Robert Mones have both pulled out, probably because it didn’t look to be worth the drive up. Please sign up well ahead of time if you are coming.

October 22nd is an epee event in Charlotte for Y-14, women’s and open events.

That means that the foil could be very large. Any help with refereeing is appreciated. Foil at 10 am, sabre at 1:30 pm, and epee at 3:30 pm.

The
JO qualifiers are now up on askfred. They will be on the weekend of
the 29-30 and the times are set. The division is still looking to lock
down a location. The actual event is in Kansas City next year on
President’s Day weekend. Not real close, but not too far away. Entry deadline before the fees go up is 10/23.

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

Hurricane Matthew

October 5, 2016October 5, 2016 Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication

With the current speed and projections for Matthew, I don’t see any problem having Thursday practices.

I am also planning for practice up at Camp Lejeune although that is a bit more tenuous and I will contact the Jacksonville people if I cancel it.

Donny has cancelled Salle New Bern’s event on Saturday.

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 October 2

October 3, 2016October 3, 2016 Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication

Last request for people who might be interested in helping with the WHQR pledge drive. The Sunday (October 16th) times ( 7-10 am, 10 am – 1 pm) are about all that is left. Please let me know if anyone is interested ASAP so we can secure a time.

This will happen the weekend after Erica competes in the Worlds so we should have plenty of good news to put out over the air waves.

We have a new B in epee. Ricki Richards took 2nd at the Bell Tower Classic in Chapel Hill to earn it. In his semi-final he defeated Justine De Grasse, a B from Canada (who had just taken out Andrew Fullmer) 15-8. This was the best I have ever seen him fence. Samantha Milewski also fenced well, winning her first DE handily before losing to the number 2 seed. Also, following up on a former area fencer (UNCW), Connor Costa won the foil event and earned his A.

We also had good results with Nicole MIlewski at the Regional Youth Circuit in Richmond. First Nicole took 7th in the Y-14 competition. Then she was undefeated in her pool in Y-12, taking 2nd. She only lost to the young woman who won both the Y-12 and Y-14 competitions and that score was 12-15.

Our next Tuesday/Thursday beginner class starts on the 4th at 6:30 pm and will run for 6 weeks.

No Wednesday night UNCW practice as they will be on Fall Break.

The next beginner class at Camp Lejeune will start on Friday, October 7th, at 7 pm (1900) and runs for 8 sessions.

October

8th is Salle New Bern’s Joseph Cadole Memorial event. It will be an
unsanctioned adult E foil (meaning no ratings can be earned) and and an
unsanctioned Y-12/under 12 event. I will give the
appropriate sword points for any of our Y-12/under 12 foilists who want
to go. I am assuming that all the foil fencers from New Bern who competed yesterday will be there.
Let me know if any of our young fencers are going so I can make certain you have equipment. Also, I will be
going up, probably to referee, so I can take people if they need a ride. So far no one is signed up for either event.

Erica Julien will be competing at the World Championships in Germany on October 12th. I will keep you posted as to her results.

Our
next event is Saturday, October 15th, Open foil, Open epee, and a D and
under epee. That means if we can find 4 D epee fencers, 4 E epee
fencers, and fill out a field of 25, that someone can walk away with a C
without having to defeat any Cs. Right now the open epee will almost certainly be at least a B, the D and under epee and the open foil both need bodies at this point. Please
get signed up as soon as you are certain you can be there.

St. Mary’s Fall Festival is Friday night, October 21. Our space traditionally becomes the Haunted House for the event. We will take the overheads down after Tuesday’s practice. Homeschool fencing will meet on Wednesday, October19, but there will be no afterschool or evening fencing for either Wednesday or Thursday.

October 22nd is an epee event in Charlotte for Y-14, women’s and open events.

October
22nd will also probably be our next youth event. It is earlier than I
would have liked, but the schedule from that date until January is
extremely crowded. I will try to truncate the the classes now in progress so that those youngsters will be ready to participate.

The JO qualifiers are now up on askfred. They will be on the weekend of the 29-30 and the times are set. The division is still looking to lock down a location. The actual event is in Kansas City next year on President’s Day weekend. Not real close, but not too far away.

We will be hosting the first NCFL meet of the season on November 5th. This tends to be a huge event and we can use help. The A division is comprised of official high school teams or clubs and will have divisions for men’s foil, women’s foil, and mixed epee this year. The B division has junior high and up fencers and they compete as mixed foil teams. It can be B teams from the high schools, junior high teams, or fencers can compete under a club banner. Any of our fencers attending a public school (junior high and up) can compete. Let me know if you need gear as everyone must compete in a complete uniform.

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

WHQR Pledge Drive

September 27, 2016September 27, 2016 Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication

Right now it looks like Sunday, October 16 7 am – 10 am, is the best choice. If I can get a couple more people I will try to sign us up for that. Spots are filling up fairly quickly, so please let me know if you are interested and available.

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 September 25

September 25, 2016September 25, 2016 Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication

WHQR is having their fall pledge drive October 12-18. It looks like they may have done away with it being a contest to get some free advertising on the station. However, it is still an easy way for us to get our name on the air a bit. They need to have four people (I think you can have more like 5-6) to take pledge phone calls. They have a computer program that walks you through the pledge process, so it isn’t hard. I will be there, so if we can get 3 more people I will try to get us signed up. Most shifts are for three hours. The downside is that our next tournament is that Saturday, so for people to be off work we would probably need to sign up for one of the Sunday shifts (October 16th), which are 7-10 am, and 10 am – 1 pm. The upside is that it is right after Erica does the World Championship thing, so we should have some good things to talk about. If interested email me ASAP with when you might be available. In the past the slots have disappeared quickly.

I have been reading our insurance policy through USA Fencing and it reinforces the fact that everyone MUST get signed up to be a USA Fencing member. The $10 non-competitive membership is fine. By definition we are only a USA Fencing “member club” if 100% of our members have a USA Fencing membership. If even one of our members is not a USA Fencing member, then we are an “affiliated club” and NO ONE has insurance. Additionally, the hundreds of dollars we spent to get the insurance is wasted. Please bring me in a copy of your membership if you haven’t already.

Yesterday we had Kathy Walters in to teach armoring. Only a small turn out, but a good bit of club equipment got repaired, or at least diagnosed. Many of our people who have been armoring for years learned new time saving shortcuts for their armoring.

We also had a fairly small turnout for our first youth tournament of the year. Thanks to Zemi Lawrence and Robert Thomas for helping with the refereeing. I think everyone would like to see more competitors at the next one, but Elina and Avery particularly want to fence someone more than just themselves. Here are the results:

Foil
1st – Nicole Milewski CFFA Jacksonville
2nd – Don Evans CFFA
3rd (tie) – Luke Martin   Salle New Bern     &   Jaden Scott    CFFA
9 and under

Gold – Lexi Williams
CFFA                                                                           Silver –
Joseph Evans
CFFA                                                                        Bronze –
Everett Martin   Salle New Bern

Sabre
1st –   Elina Grooman
CFFA                                                                           2nd-   Avery Walston CFFA

Epee
1st – Nicole Milewski        CFFA Jacksonville
2nd – Abbey Campbell      Salle New Bern
3rd (tie) – Lydia Huggins    CFFA & Linus Huggins CFFA

Here are the current points in the season long competition for the swords

Boys

Evans, Don 8

Scott 7

Martin, Luke 7

Evans, Joseph 4

Bradley 3

Donelson 2

Huggins, Linus 2

Walston, Avery
1

Martine, Everett 1

Girls

Milewski 13

Williams 5

Campbell 3

Huggins, Lydia 2

Grooman 2

There were also tournaments going on at MId-South and NCFDP, but results are not yet posted. If we have any significant results from them, I will update you later.

This week we get the schedule back to normal. On Wednesday I will be doing a quick seminar on strategy for the UNCW fencers, but everyone is welcome. Thursday marks the end of the August beginner class downtown and Friday ends this session up at Camp Lejeune.

On Saturday, October 1, starting about 10:30 am at Research Triangle Fencing in Durham, there will be a free foil refereeing/ strip problem diagnosis clinic for NCFL coaches, referees, and parents.

That evening, from 6-9 pm, at the Satellite Bar and Lounge, 120 Greenfield St., there will be a going away party for Erica before she departs to Germany. Nothing huge, just a get together to send her off.

October 2nd is also an NCFDP event for epee and foil at Chapel Hill. Both events will be at least B tournaments, and probably will end up as A events.

October 1-2 is an RYC in Richmond, check askfred if interested. Preregistration closes September 30th, but price go up after September 28th.

Our next evening beginner class starts October 4th at 6:30 pm and will run for 6 weeks on Tuesday and Thursday.

The next beginner class at Camp Lejeune will start on Friday, October 7th, at 7 pm (1900) and runs for 8 sessions.

October

Erica Julien will be competing at the World Championships in Germany on October 12th. I will keep you posted as to her results.

Our
next event is Saturday, October 15th, Open foil, Open epee, and a D and
under epee. That means if we can find 4 D epee fencers, 4 E epee
fencers, and fill out a field of 25, that someone can walk away with a C
without having to defeat any Cs. Right now the open epee has 8 fencers, the D and under epee 2 (both Ds), and the open foil 4. Please get signed up as soon as you are certain you can be there.

October 22nd is an epee event in Charlotte for Y-14, women’s and open events.

October 22nd will also probably be our next youth event. It is earlier than I would have liked, but the schedule from that date until January is extremely crowded.

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