CFFA update for August 21

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for August 21
Time to think about getting started for the new season.
The first
beginning fencing class of the season starts this Tuesday, August 23rd.  The cost is $50 for the twice weekly 6 week class, plus USA Fencing dues.
Regular
week of practice this week.  Tuesday and Thursday nights, Friday at
Camp Lejeune, Saturday morning at 10 am.  The youngsters who don’t want to fence adults or need to get to bed earlier can still come in and fence at 6:30 pm Tuesday and Thursday, however; I will be doing the beginner class, so won’t be able to help you much.

Remember that you do need to have a current US Fencing membership to be able to fence at CFFA.  This is for our insurance purposes.  If you just joined in the last couple of months you should be good, otherwise you will need to update. I am doing up a sheet to give you the basics and will attach it to the update.  I will have paper applications available, but USA Fencing is now charging an additional $10 per application to process paper applications.
September 3rd has Y -14, Women’s, and Open epee at Charlotte.  So far we have no fencers signed up.  Registration is due by August 31 or the fees jump.

Returning
afterschool fencers will start back on Tuesday, September 6th.  Still $25  per month, the students can attend as often as they wish.  I recommend twice per week.
The
homeschool classes will start back up on Wednesday, September 7th. 
Returning fencers can come in at 12:30 pm with the new beginner class
starting at 1 pm.  The beginner class lasts 8 weeks and is $40 (plus USA Fencing dues).  Returning fencers can do either the $40 payment to cover this session or $5 floor fee per session.
The
Kickoff ROC will be once again held in Fredericksburg, VA, the weekend
of September 10-11.  It will have Div 1-A and Div 2 events.  So far only 2 CFFA fencers signed up.   Registration is due by August 31 or the fees jump.
There
is a sabre and epee event at Chapel Hill on the 11th.  The division
meeting will also be held in conjunction with that event.  If we have
people going, I may ask someone to stay for the meeting if I will be in
Fredericksburg.

Beginning afterschool fencing classes will start on Monday, September
12th, at 3:30 pm.  The September evening beginner class will start that night at
6:30.  Both of these will run 6 weeks with the fencers attending twice per week.  Class cost is $50 plus USA Fencing dues.

Our
first event of the year will be on September 17th with open foil, epee,
and E and under sabre.  Please get signed up now on askfred.  The more
of our fencers are signed up early, the more likely it is that out of
town fencers will show up and add to the ratings.  Currently, we only have 4 fencers signed up.

September 24th has U19 and E and under sabre events at Mid-South.

I had forgotten about the ROC, so our first under 12 event will be held on that Saturday (24th) as well.  Foil at 10 am, sabre at 1:30 pm, epee at 3:30 pm.  Trophies to the top three place; medals to top three fencers 9 and under who don’t win a trophy.  Yearlong sword awards to the top boy and girl, plus the person voted as showing the best sportsmanship. Entry fee $5.  Volunteer referees greatly appreciated.
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

A couple of mid-week things

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
A couple of mid-week things
A very nice article from Gwenyfar Rohler in this week’s Encore about the 1/2 day fencing camp a couple of weeks ago.  Gwenyfar under rates her fencing a bit, so if she comes by some evening, expect more of a struggle than the article lets on.

LIVE LOCAL, LIVE SMALL: Gwenyfar goes to summer camp | | “Your Altern…

The Charlotte epee events for September 3rd are up on askfred.  For both it and the ROC in Fredericksburg on the 10th and 11th the fees go up if you are not preregistered by August 31.  Let me know if you are going to either so I can plan ahead coaching wise.
Still hardly anybody signed up for our event on the 17th.  The only things we appear to be up against are some unsanctioned foil events in Fayetteville, so we should be able to get a good tournament if we can draw in some outside 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 August 14

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for August 14
We now have a B in sabre.  Captain Phillips got back to being a B with a 3rd place finish at the Big Blue at Mid-South yesterday.  I would advise everyone to watch some of his practice bouts no matter what your weapon.  He is the best example of how modern fencing tries to manipulate the opponent that we have.  Not only is he doing complicated things strategically, but you can all also learn from his technique.  He doesn’t attack from out of distance, he doesn’t hold and push against the other person’s blade on parries, etc.  Oliver Galbraith took 2nd in the foil which unfortunately ended up short of the people required to make it the B event the ranks of the fencers would have made it.  Catherine Shin from UNCW took 12th.  Today was a really tough epee event.  Oliver took 9th and Brendan McConville took 15th.
 
Olympic fencing is now over and the US had a better end of the week than beginning.  In women’s foil Kiefer and Prescod both went out in the round of 16.  In men’s sabre Dershwitz lost his first DE.  However Darryl Homer won the silver medal.  In the team competitions, the women’s epee team suffered a heart breaking loss during priority to Romania in the first round.  The US then won both of their next matches pretty easily to come out in 5th.  The Romanians won both of their next matches pretty easily to win the gold.  Both men’s foil and women’s sabre teams ended up with bronze medals.  Russia took 7 medals, the US ended in a tie with Italy and Hungary for 2nd with 4.
CFFA has once again been named one of the “Best Fencing Clubs” in the United States based on results at National events.  Credit is given for every top 16 placing in NACs and National Championships.  This year we are not only listed as a Best Fencing Club for epee, but also for sabre.  The foil fencers need to step it up.  LOL  Only 49 clubs across the US were named for two weapons, only 11 were named for all three.
People still need to be taking care of US Fencing and club dues.
Regular week of practice this week.  Tuesday and Thursday nights, Friday at Camp Lejeune, Saturday morning at 10 am.  This will be the last week that I can work with the younger ones at 6:30 pm on Tu/Th as the first beginning fencing class of the season starts on Tuesday, August 23rd.
With the Olympics over we can start turning our attention to the new season.  September 3rd has y-14, Women’s, and Open epee at Charlotte.
Returning afterschool fencers will start back on Tuesday, September 6th.  The homeschool classes will start back up on Wednesday, September 7th.  Returning fencers can come in at 12:30 pm with the new beginner class starting at 1 pm.
The beginning afterschool fencing classes will start on Monday, September 12th.  The September evening beginner class will start that night at 6:30.
The Kickoff ROC will be once again held in Fredericksburg, VA, the weekend of September 10-11.  It will have Div 1-A and Div 2 events.
There is a sabre and epee event at Chapel Hill on the 11th.  The division meeting will also be held in conjunction with that event  (at the moment).
Our first event of the year will be on September 17th with open foil, epee, and E and under sabre.  Please get signed up now on askfred.  The more of our fencers are signed up early, the more likely it is that out of town fencers will show up and add to the ratings.
September 24th has U19 and E and under sabre events at Mid-South.
I had forgotten about the ROC, so our first under 12 event will be held on that Saturday (24th) as well.
Sunday the 25th is foil and sabre at Chapel Hill.
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

Midweek Olympic update plus

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
Midweek Olympic update plus
Americans have been running close to expectations so far in Rio.  Alexander Massialas pulled an epic comeback from 8-14 to get to the final four and ended up with a silver medal.  Miles Chamley-Watson lost in the first round, Gerek Meinhardt lost closely after one victory.  In Women’s sabre Ibtihaj Mohammad lost in the 16.  She was rated number 8, the other fencer was number 9; so you would expect a hard fight.  Mariel Zagunis also lost in the 16, which was a bit more surprising.  Dagmara Wozniack lost her first match. In Men’s epee yesterday Jason Pryor lost 14-15 to the fencer who ended up 4th.

Today is women’s foil with Lee Kiefer having a solid shot at medal and Nzinga Prescod, having a shot, albeit a long one.  Tomorrow for men’s sabre sort of the same situation for Darryl Home and Eli Dershwitz.  In the team events the three American squads, women’s epee, men’s foil, and women’s sabre are all in the top 6 in the world and all have a shot at a medal.

I will be in about 10 am Saturday for anyone who wants to come in and practice.

For foilists there is a rule change for this season.  Foilists only, can no longer reverse your shoulders (move the non weapon shoulder in front of the weapon shoulder) during an action.  This becomes a group 1 penalty – yellow card (unless you already have a yellow card) and then red cards thereafter.  This is being done because it was hard for referees to tell if foilists were covering target with the off arm during the reversal.  That means some of you will need to be careful when infighting and that pretty parry 2 riposte I teach is now not legal.

The Division schedule is out and I am looking at scheduling the first 12 and under tournament for the year.  Which date is better for our younger fencers, September 10th or September 24th?  Let me  know.  This event will be for returning fencers only as the new fencers will not be ready yet.

Our fencers who have been attending other camps have been doing very well.  Will Golder won the foil tournament at UNC Chapel Hill’s camp against older fencers and Samantha Milewski went undefeated all week at Drew University’s (New Jersey) advanced camp.

Mid South’s Big Blue is staring to flesh out.  Sunday’s epee needs one body to be an A2, the sabre is a B1, and the foil needs 4 bodies to become a B.
 
If you need things for the start of the season, let Herman or I know immediately so we can get it ordered.
A reporter for the Jacksonville paper may be at practice Friday night, so it would be nice to have a big turn out.
US Fencing has initiated a rebate system for the clubs.  We will receive $1 for every competitive or non-competitive membership.  You do need to make certain that you list CFFA as your #1 club.  This only applies to US Fencing member clubs, so UNCW fencers should list CFFA first and UNCW second.  You can still compete as UNCW by specifying that at a meet.
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 August 1

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for August 1
Unfortunately with so much going on and adding in the Olympics this will be another long one.
First, we had a pair of the most polite fencers I have ever had in the half day camp last week.  I have never heard the words, “Sorry, are you okay?” so much from two fencers.  Plus the first camp where I have been able to trade inside asides about Henry V with a fencer.  Hopefully they will come back and civilize the rest of you.
The North Carolina High School Fencing League had its organizational meeting yesterday and there will be many changes this year.  First, this year’s schedule will be three regular season team meets, then an individually fought conference meet for seeding into the state individual championship, then the state team championship, and then the state individual championship.  Everyone who participates in the seeding event will be allowed to go to the individuals and even those who cannot make it will be allowed to fence, but seeded at the bottom.  However, they will be separating those in high school from those in middle school and there will be both a high school and middle school championship.  There will also be epee, but only as an A division, meaning everyone is from the same high school,  (So Isaac Bear, Felix, Weston, Yasemin, and Lena?) AND you must be recognized by your high school as a team or club.  With, hopefully, a successful Olympics this might the time to push for fencing clubs in the area as Hoggard is the only school with one right now.  In foil, if you are in high school or middle school, but your high school has no team or club, you can still compete on a composite CFFA B division team.  The NCFL is close to signing a long term agreement with the city of Greensboro for one of its athletic facilities as the host of the individual championships.  There may be a small entry fee, ($10), but the size and amenities of the venue should make it worth the expense.  As dates and locations get nailed down I will keep you informed.  If you have any questions, please ask.
Best Reasons to take up fencing, #1.  On the return trip from the meeting, I was a couple of miles from the marker 301 split on 40, right where all the construction is going on, when another vehicle attempted to disprove the modern physics postulate that two objects cannot simultaneously occupy the same point in the space time continuum of our universe.  I have no idea if the other driver was falling asleep, didn’t see me, etc.  I slammed on the brakes, which with a front drive Jetta, broke the back end loose.  After the resulting fishtail, and a couple of corrections and counter corrections, everything was fine.  The car and I are both okay.  Given the speed with which it happened, I had no time to get scared or even angry at the other driver.  Given the volume and speed of traffic, if not for all the experience of dealing with swords coming at me at high speed, being able to remain calm while that was happening, and training small reactions to such events; I probably would have started what would be called in NASCAR parlance, “The big one.”  So the next time you hear me tell you “React faster,”  or “Smaller moves,” remember I am not teaching you fencing, I am attempting to keep you safe in your jet car 50 years from now.
Since you, apparently, have not worked off your collective bad Karma and are still stuck with me, the advanced epee camp will be held next week, 9 am -5 pm.  I have been getting requests, so I am throwing
this open to adults as well.  The youngest person saying he/she is
coming right now is Nicole Milewski and she needs to be fencing adults
anyway.  Given who is coming I will try to make this a pretty high level camp.
Regular
week of practice this week.  I will be in about 6:30 pm for those
youngsters who want to practice early on Tuesday and Thursday with adult
practice to follow.  Practice on board Camp Lejeune on Friday night.  Right now I hope to have a Saturday practice with a time declared later this week.
Epeeists, please remember that we have a club mate who is working toward a world championship appearance in about 6 weeks.  The last couple of weeks she has had to become proficient at defeating the arm, which is probably a bit less mobile than her opponents will be.  This is one of those times at which we need to think of ourselves as club.  Putting Erica on one end of a strip and continually throwing new fencers at her is something we can do to be good club mates, since most of us probably won’t be going to Germany with her.

August

1 was the start of a new season, so you will need to be updating your
USA fencing membership to be on the club’s insurance.  If you just
joined in the last couple of months, you should be good until July 31 of
next year.  You can check to see if you are on the current membership
list at usfencing.org by clicking on membership at the bottom, and under
current section click on current membership list.  Updating can also be done
at usfencing.org.  Again click on membership at the bottom.  Under the
list of various memberships there is a section titled already a member
with a link to click on to start the renewal process.  If you already
have a railstation account (you have previously done your membership
electronically or have entered a national event), then log in and follow
the instructions.  If you are new, enter your e-mail and hit forgot
password.  It will start the process to have you log back in and create a
password.  You can then update your profile, select the membership you
want, approve the waiver, and pay via credit card.  Please print the
receipt or membership card and bring us a copy.   Unfortunately, there are thousands of other fencers doing the same thing right now and some of our people have reported that the site is moving slowly.  It is important for
our insurance that everyone is a US Fencing member at the
non-competitive level ($10) or above.  US Fencing has put out a paper
application, but they are charging an extra $10 to do the membership via
paper.  I have some of these memberships applications
just in case there is no way for you to avoid this option.


August
1 also means that it is be time for those of you who pay the yearly
or 6 month CFFA club dues to get those in.  Regular dues are $35 month for
unlimited evening and Saturday fencing.  6 month memberships give you
those 6 months for price of 5 ($175) and the year long membership gives
you 12 months for the price of 10 ($350).  Checks should be made out to CFFA, or talk to Brendan about paying by credit card.  We are hoping to eliminate the PayPal option, so please don’t use it on the website.

Mid-South

has their Big Blue event on August 13-14.  Open sabre, open foil, and
Y-12 saber events on Saturday.  Open epee on Sunday is now an A event and needs a few more bodies to be an A2.  The foil is still an E.  The sabre needs bodies to be a C event and given all the sabre fencers at Mid-South, I have to believe it will end up as a C or B event.  See askfred for
more details.


The August evening beginner class will start on Tuesday evening, August 23rd, at 6:30 pm.  Standard $50 + $10 US Fencing membership fee.  Already showing some interest and this will hopefully be a large class.
The division schedule is official and up on ncfencing.org under schedule, then tournaments.  Our first event is September 17th.  It will have open foil and epee, and an E and under sabre.  This is another reason for all of our sabre fencers to get up to Mid-South.  We want to make that event is big enough that Captain Phillips ups his rating and you won’t have to deal with him at our meet.
The Olympics are underway.  Yesterday, USA’s women epeeists were all seeded in the middle of the pack, fencing other middle of the pack fencers.  They all lost close matches in that first round.  The gold went to a Hungarian woman, with an Italian woman second, and a Chinese woman taking the bronze.  Today is men’s foil and tomorrow women’s sabre.  These are two of the US’s strongest events.  Unfortunately with the way the seeding went, Miles Chamley-Watson and Alexander Massialas will meet in the 16 if they both win first round matches.  Coverage begins at noon on MSNBC.  That is tape delayed, so for those of you wanting to watch live, try NBCOlympics.com for live streaming.  I will update results for you throughout the week.

Finally, I have been contacted by someone with some equipment to sell.  Large jacket, I don’t know whether it is RH or back zip, mask (size unknown), 7 1/2 RH glove, electric(?) epee (I assume RH, grip unknown), and body cord.  He said they have not been used much.  I will put you in contact if you are interested.

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 31

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for July 31
A lot of
this week’s email will be about updating your US Fencing membership and
it might get a bit technical, but it is important.

We
had a good advanced foil camp last week.  It was a group that you are
at least a couple of years away from seeing compete at adult events, but
hopefully may start seeing at some evening practices.

Since
no one had ideas for what to do with the week of August 1-5, I am going
to take advantage of the Olympics and try a couple of new things
combined into a camp.  This will be a half day camp (9 am – 1 pm, no
lunch) that will get people through the beginner (foil) class with an
additional emphasis on the upcoming Olympic Fencing.  I have had some requests so I
will also throw this one open to adults as well as children.  Cost will
be $99 plus the $10 USA Fencing membership.  Help get the word out. 
This could be the opportunity some of you have talked about to learn
what the kids like about the sport, or for a parent and child to take
the class together.

August

1 is the start of a new season, so you will need to be updating your
USA fencing membership to be on the club’s insurance.  If you just
joined in the last couple of months, you should be good until July 31 of
next year.  You can check to see if you are on the current membership
list at usfencing.org, click on membership at the bottom, and under
current section click on current membership list.  Updating can be done
at usfencing.org.  Again click on membership at the bottom.  Under the
list of various memberships there is a section titled already a member
with a link to click on to start the renewal process.  If you already
have a railstation account (you have previously done your membership
electronically or have entered a national event), then log in and follow
the instructions.  If you are new, enter your e-mail and hit forgot
password.  It will start the process to have you log back in and create a
password.  You can then update your profile, select the membership you
want, approve the waiver, and pay via credit card.  Please print the
receipt or membership card and bring us a copy.   It is important for
our insurance that everyone is a US Fencing member at the
non-competitive level ($10) or above.  US Fencing has put out a paper
application, but they are charging an extra $10 to do the membership via
paper.  I will get some of these memberships applications printed out
just in case.


US
Fencing has created a couple of new categories of membership for
younger fencers that you might want to consider if you qualify.  First
is the Collegiate Competitive membership.  This only works if you are a
member of an NCAA team or member of an affiliated to US Fencing college
club.  The UNCW club might want to look into this.  If you meet those
criteria, the competitive membership is $45 instead of the $70 regular
competitive membership, but with all the same benefits.

The
second new membership category is the High School competitive
membership.  If you are in any high school whether they have a team or
not, or are a homeschool student considered to be in high school, you
can get this membership.  It is $30 and allows you to compete and get
ratings in sanctioned high school events only, still gets you the
magazine, plus you will get a varsity recognition certificate at the end
of the season and would be eligible for an All American High School
Team award US Fencing is starting.  If you want to do US Fencing
competitions (like our local events or higher) you would need to upgrade
to the full competitive membership at a later date.  (an additional
$40).  I don’t know if a certificate is worth the trouble of doing two
applications, but you can decide that for yourself.

August
1 also means that it will be time for those of you who pay the yearly
or 6 months CFFA club dues to get those in.  Regular dues are $35 month for
unlimited evening and Saturday fencing.  6 month memberships give you
those 6 months for price of 5 ($175) and the year long membership gives
you 12 months for the price of 10 ($350).  Checks should be made out to CFFA, or talk to Brendan about paying by credit card.

Regular
week of practice this week.  I will be in about 6:30 pm for those
youngsters who want to be in early on Tuesday and Thursday with adult
practice to follow.  Practice on board Camp Lejeune on Friday night.  I
will be attending an NCFL organizational meeting Saturday morning, but
if I hear that other people want to do a Saturday practice I will let
everyone know.

An
RYC in Baltimore on the 6-7 of August.  That is in the next season, so
age classifications will change for some of you.  RYCs have events for
Y-10, Y-12, and Y-14 fencers.  Your membership will definitely need to be updated by then to compete.  More info on askfred.

Olympic
Fencing starts on August 6th and lasts until the 14th.  Most of the
events are being broadcast on one of the NBC affiliated networks.  USA,
MSNBC, CNBC, etc.  I have attached the schedule of when and on what
station everything is being telecast, plus it is also being streamed.

Mid-South

has their Big Blue event on August 13-14.  Open sabre, open foil, and
Y-12 saber events on Saturday.  Open epee on Sunday needs a body to be a
B event and an A and a B to be an A event..  Strangely enough
the smallest event right now is the sabre.  See askfred for
more details.


Advanced
epee camp August 8-12.  I have been getting requests, so I am throwing
this open to adults as well.  The youngest person saying he/she is
coming right now is Nicole Milewski and she needs to be fencing adults
anyway.  Given who is coming I will try to make this a pretty high level camp.

Our
tournament requests have been turned in and once the Division schedule
is out, I will keep you updated on all the local 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

CFFA update for July 24

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for July 24
Erica and I went up to New Bern’s Tournament of Past and Present which featured an E and under epee and some SCA rapier fighting yesterday.  Erica started slowly in the pool because she was having some weapon issues, but caught fire in the DEs.  She won her first one, then defeated Ed Childs, the number one seed, 15-14 in the 3rd period.  I won my first DE and then squared off against Erica in the final; winning a close one and re-earning my E.
The advanced foil camp starts tomorrow at 9 am.  Practice Tuesday and Thursday night and Saturday morning at 10 am.
July 29th is also the start of the next set of classes in Jacksonville on board Camp Lejeune.

The
“Toomey” epee team tournament has been moved to July 30th in Charlotte. 
Their coach will set the teams to try to make them even rather than
allowing one team to be overpowering.

Since
no one had ideas for what to do with the week of August 1-5, I am going
to take advantage of the Olympics and try a couple of new things
combined into a camp.  This will be a half day camp (9 am – 1 pm, no
lunch) that will get people through the beginner class with an
additional emphasis on the upcoming Olympic Fencing.  I have had some requests so I
will also throw this one open to adults as well as children.  Cost will
be $99 plus the $10 USA Fencing membership.  Help get the word out. 
This could be the opportunity some of you have talked about to learn
what the kids like about the sport, or for a parent and child to take
the class together.

August
1 is the start of a new season, so you will need to be updating your
USA fencing membership to be on the club’s insurance.  If you just
joined in the last couple of months, you should be good until July 31 of
next year.  Updating can be done at usfencing.org.  I am hearing that USA Fencing is trying to get rid of the paper applications and as yet one has not appeared.  Thus everyone may have to go to the website to update your registration.  If you can, please bring in a copy.  I am also hearing that a paper application may yet appear, but that there will be a processing fee added to paper applications.

August
1 also means that it will be time for those of you who pay the yearly
or 6 months dues to get those in.  Regular dues are $35 month for
unlimited evening and Saturday fencing.  6 month memberships give you
those 6 months for price of 5 ($175) and the year long membership gives
you 12 months for the price of 10 ($350).

An
RYC in Baltimore on the 6-7 of August.  That is in the next season, so
age classifications will change for some of you.  RYCs have events for
Y-10, Y-12, and Y-14 fencers.  More info on askfred.

Olympic Fencing starts on August 6th and lasts until the 14.

Mid-South
has their Big Blue event on August 13-14.  Open sabre, open foil, and
Y-12 saber events on Saturday.  Open epee on Sunday looks like it will be at least a C and should be higher rated than that.  Strangely enough the smallest event right now is the sabre.  See askfred for
more details.

Advanced epee camp August 8-12.  I have been getting requests, so I am throwing this open to adults as well.  The youngest person saying he/she is coming right now is Nicole Milewski and she needs to be fencing adults anyway.

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

Next week advanced foil camp

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
Next week advanced foil camp
I am trying to get a handle on who is coming to next week’s advanced foil camp.

I know Amelia and Ivone are in
Don and Joseph are in
Lexi is in

Harry may be in if he isn’t three times as tall as the next biggest fencer.  LOL

So please let me know if you are attending next week.  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 July 17

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for July 17
The
beginner camp last week had 8 very nice young people and was a pleasant
learning experience.  You may see some of them in the upcoming weeks. 

This
week is advanced sabre camp.  We will definitely be working on how the
changes in the rules which start in August will have an impact on the
beginning of the sabre fencing season.  As with all the camps, let me
know if we can stop around 3 pm on Friday. 

Otherwise practice Tuesday and Thursday nights,  plus Jacksonville.

New
Bern is
hosting both an E and under epee and an SCA rapier event on July 23rd. 
I will be going up.  Light lunch and a potluck dinner around 4-5 pm. 
Sign up for the epee is on askfred.  I don’t know about the rapier
requirements and sign up.  It is up to 6 people, so an E can be earned.

July
25-29 is the advanced foil camp.  Looking at the level of the fencers, I
plan to concentrate more on footwork and technique, with less emphasis
on tactics and strategy.

July 29th is also the start of the next set of classes in Jacksonville on board Camp Lejeune.

The
“Toomey” epee team tournament has been moved to July 30th in Charlotte. 
Their coach will set the teams to try to make them even rather than
allowing one team to be overpowering.

Since
no one had ideas for what to do with the week of August 1-5, I am going
to take advantage of the Olympics and try a couple of new things
combined into a camp.  This will be a half day camp (9 am – 1 pm, no
lunch) that will get people through the beginner class with an
additional emphasis on Olympic Fencing.  I have had some requests so I
will also throw this one open to adults as well as children.  Cost will
be $99 plus the $10 USA Fencing membership.  Help get the word out. 
This could be the opportunity some of you have talked about to learn
what the kids like about the sport, or for a parent and child to take
the class together.

August
1 is the start of a new season, so you will need to be updating your
USA fencing membership to be on the club’s insurance.  If you just
joined in the last couple of months, you should be good until July 31 of
next year.  That can be done at usfencing.org or I should be getting
the new form for the upcoming season soon.

August
1 also means that it will be time for those of you who pay the yearly
or 6 months dues to get those in.  Regular dues are $35 month for
unlimited evening and Saturday fencing.  6 month memberships give you
those 6 months for price of 5 ($175) and the year long membership gives
you 12 months for the price of 10 ($350).

An
RYC in Baltimore on the 6-7 of August.  That is in the next season, so
age classifications will change for some of you.  RYCs have events for
Y-10, Y-12, and Y-14 fencers.  More info on askfred.

Olympic Fencing starts on August 6th and lasts until the 14.

Mid-South
has their Big Blue event on August 13-14.  Open sabre, open foil, and
Y-12 saber events on Saturday.  Open epee on Sunday.  See askfred for
more details.

Advanced epee August 8-12. Not quite certain what I will emphasize until I get a better idea of who is attending.

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