CFFA update for June 16th

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for June 16th
A lovely end of the (fencing) year gathering was enjoyed by everyone in attendance yesterday.  Thanks to everyone who came and shared food.  Massive thanks to the the Chabas who opened their home, pool, and badminton court to everyone.  Plus there was great background music, for which you had to “be of a certain age,” or have really cool parents.
If you are interested in ordering something, please get to Herman or me in the next couple of weeks.  A number of vendors always show up at National events, so it becomes easy and cost effective for me to load up the car with purchases and save everyone shipping.  Additionally, although not as much as used to be, the vendors may put certain items on sale and we can save you even more. 
The weeks of June 17th
and 24th. we will have a 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm practice on Tuesday for those
too young to stay up through the evening older youngster and adult
practice.  Cost is $5 per per child.
Otherwise, it should be a regular week.  I will be
away to deal with some family business Thursday, so Herman and
Brendan will be taking care of that practice,  I will be back,
hopefully, for Saturday morning practice June 22nd, as I know a number
of you want every minute of practice time before Nationals. 
For those of you looking for a competitive last minute prep for
Nationals, there is a tune up event in Richmond June 22-23 with Y-12
foil, Senior Open foil, epee, and sabre, and a D and under foil.  See
askfred for more details.
I will be away for nationals next Thursday (June 27th) and the following week July 2nd and 4th.  Again, I imagine other members will take care of practice, although I doubt it will happen on the 4th.  I will keep
you posted about Saturday practice on June 29th and July 6th, those
will be up to Herman and Brendan.
I will
also be away for the three corresponding Fridays, so no Camp Lejeune
practice June 21st, June 28th, and July 5th.  We should be good to go
for July 12th.
Mid-South
is planning a referee clinic on the 13th of July.  The clinician is
Rylan Delep, an international level referee.  The clinic will run from
9am – 5 pm with a break for lunch.  The cost is $75 for those without a
referee certification and $30 for those previously certified.  Although
this will help you get ready for taking the referee test, the primary
focus will be on current interpretation of Right of Way with actual
hands on practice using video replay.  More
information is available on askfred and possibly on facebook.  I am
considering going, so I may be able to take some people.  If I do go, it
will obviously have an impact on a Saturday practice.
If

you want to do summer camp and have not yet told me, please do so ASAP.
(If you have confirmed it with me, we are good.)  As of a couple of year’s ago, the
camps have become
open to adults who want to use them as a vacation.  But no crying
when the kids beat you.   Right now, foil camps are larger than epee
camps, which is unusual.  Although I have ordered the camp T-shirts, you can always just show up and participate
in the camp.  I just won’t be able to promise a T-shirt in your size.

The only individual event for next season currently up on askfred is Mid-South’s Big Blue.  It is August 10-11 with Open foil, epee, and sabre events divided by gender.
There
is a sign up sheet on the gray board for anyone who would like to order
a CFFA jacket.  This is an interest request and not a commitment.  I
don’t know what they might cost as it has been a few years since we
ordered and cost will probably depend on the number we order.  There is
usually a minimum order and because these cost a bit more, the club
needs to have pre-sold most of them as we cannot afford to have our
finances tied up with hundreds of dollars of jackets sitting around.
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 practice/party

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
Saturday practice/party
Just FYI, I will be in for Saturday practice at 10 am tomorrow.  It does need to be an abbreviated practice so we can all get ready for the club party that starts at 2 pm at Piotr’s, 5122 Partha Lane.  Let us know if you are going to the party and haven’t told us yet.
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

addition to the update

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
addition to the update
Right after I sent out the first batch of updates I realized I forgot to mention. this.  Apologies to John.

John Alexander participated in an Apex event yesterday.  He went 3-3 in
his foil pool, with all the losses being 4-5.  He won his first DE
handily, and then had a close match with the number 5 seed.  He finished
11th out of 25.

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 June 9th

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for June 9th
We had a very fun and interesting middle school team foil tournament yesterday at the club.  We had four teams with really good competition.  There were no blowouts and four of the six matches went to 5-4.  In fact, at various points in the last round we thought we were going to have either a three way tie for first, or a three way tie for second.  In the end a trio of fencers; Amelia Alexander, Jams Russell, and Andrea Gervase; from Surf City came in first.  A composite team of Jackson Jones from Surf City, Noah Snyder from Jacksonville’s homeschool team, and Raul from Saint Raphael took second.  The Saint Raphael team of Cole and Keely Carter, and Jack took third.  The Saint Mary team of Megan Looney, Jonathan Jarrett, and Owen Williams was fourth.  Thanks to Will Golder for refereeing, and Herman Smith and Mike Kinney for armoring.  Thanks to all the parents for bringing and supporting your fencers.
Things will be pretty standard this week.  Tuesday and Thursday evening practice with the May beginner class finishing up.  Friday night practice on board Camp Lejeune.
The
club end of year party will be held this Saturday, June 15th.  It is being hosted
by Piotr Chaba, at 5122 Parth Lane, in Wilmington, but fencers from all
locations are welcome.  Time is 2 pm until?  Bring your own
desserts, drinks, things to throw on the grill, and chairs.  Things to
share are welcome.  There is a
pool available.  Alcohol is acceptable.  We have a signup
list on the gray board at the club so that we will know how many people are coming and what you might be
bringing.  Do people want a shortened Saturday morning practice?  No one said anything last week, so I will ask again and let people know toward the end of this week.
The weeks of June 17th and 24th. we will have a 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm practice on Tuesday for those too young to stay up through the evening older youngster and adult practice.  Cost is $5 per per child.
I will be away to deal with some family business and to coach our fencers at the Summer Nationals over the next few weeks, so I will not be at practice Thursday, June 20th, June 27th, and the week of July 1st.  Herman and Brendan will be taking care of the practices while I am away, although I doubt there will be practice Thursday, July 4th.  I will be back, hopefully, for Saturday morning practice June 22nd, as I know a number of you want every minute of practice time before Nationals.  I will keep you posted about Saturday practice on June 29th and July 6th, those will be up to Herman and Brendan.
I will also be away for the three corresponding Fridays, so no Camp Lejeune practice June 21st, June 28th, and July 5th.  We should be good to go for July 12th.
Mid-South
is planning a referee clinic on the 13th of July.  The clinician is Rylan Delep, an international level referee.  The clinic will run from 9am – 5 pm with a break for lunch.  The cost is $75 for those without a referee certification and $30 for those previously certified.  Although this will help you get ready for taking the referee test, the primary focus will be on current interpretation of Right of Way with actual hands on practice using video replay.  More
information is available on askfred and possibly on facebook.  I am considering going, so I may be able to take some people.  If I do go, it will obviously have an impact on a Saturday practice.
If
you want to do summer camp and have not yet told me, please do so ASAP.
(If you have confirmed it with me, we are good.)  I also would like to
know your T-shirt size so I
can order those.  As of a couple of year’s ago, the
camps have become
open to adults who want to use them as a vacation.  But no crying
when the kids beat you.   Right now, foil camps are larger than epee
camps, which is unusual.  Although I will make this the last call for T-shirt sizes for the camp, you can always just show up and participate in the camp.  I just won’t be able to promise a T-shirt in your size.
There is a sign up sheet on the gray board for anyone who would like to order a CFFA jacket.  This is an interest request and not a commitment.  I don’t know what they might cost as it has been a few years since we ordered and cost will probably depend on the number we order.  There is usually a minimum order and because these cost a bit more, the club needs to have pre-sold most of them as we cannot afford to have our finances tied up with hundreds of dollars of jackets sitting around.
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 June 3rd

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for June 3rd
We had a number of people participate in the Powerade State Games and brought home a number of medals.  Erica Julien started things off in sabre.  She avenged a 4-5 pool loss to take the bronze medal in the women’s sabre overall and also earned the gold medal for Vet women’s sabre.  Herman Smith followed that up in men’s epee with a 5th place overall that won him the bronze in Vet men’s epee.  We had three fencers in the Y-12 foil; Amelia Alexander, James Russell, and Jackson Jones.    Amelia finished 5th, James 10th, and Jackson 11th.  On Sunday, in women’s epee, Erica again took the bronze overall and Vet gold.  Nicole Milewski won the overall gold, the Junior gold, and the Cadet Gold.  In the Y-12 epee, Amelia brought it full circle by also avenging a 4-5 pool loss to take the bronze.  James finished 7th.  Congratulations to all.
Summer is totally here.  The school related practices at St. Mary and Topsail, and homeschool practices are finished for this school year.  Therefore right now, in Wilmington, we are down to Tuesday and Thursday night practice.  The next Camp Lejeune beginner class will start this Friday, June 7th at 7 pm.

June
8th will be a middle school team foil event which will start at 10:30 am.   We hope to have teams of 3
versus 3, but teams of 2 can participate.  The grades are 4th through
8th.  The format is best 5 of 9 bouts and we quit when one team gets to 5
victories.  I would hope to have teams from St. Mary, Topsail, San Raphael, and Jacksonville’s homeschool.  Please confirm that you will be participating.  The event is free and we will need help to referee.  A couple of people should be plenty.  Otherwise, we have to subject the children to Herman’s foil refereeing.

The
club end of year party will be held on June 15th.  It is being hosted
by Piotr Chaba, at 5122 Parth Lane, in Wilmington, but fencers from all
locations are welcome.  Time is 2 pm until?  Bring your own
desserts, drinks, things to throw on the grill, and chairs.  Things to share are welcome.  There is a
pool available.  Alcohol is acceptable.  We will try to get up a signup list so that we how many people are coming and what you might be bringing.  Do people want a shortened Saturday morning practice?  Please let me know.
If
you want to do summer camp and have not yet told me, please do so ASAP.
(If you have confirmed it with me, we are good.)  I also would like to
know your T-shirt size so I
can order those.  I would like to order soon so try to give me
an idea before summer nationals.  As of a couple of year’s ago, the
camps have become
open to adults who want to use them as a vacation.  But no crying
when the kids go after you.   Right now, foil camps are larger than epee
camps, which is unusual.  
Mid-South
is planning on doing a referee clinic on the 13th of July.  More
information is available on askfred and possibly on facebook.
People are starting to ask about CFFA jackets again.  So we can see if we have enough to order, please let Herman or I know (or I may put up another sign up sheet).
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 midweek update

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA midweek update
Brendan is planning to hold Saturday practice, beginning approximately 10:30 am, tomorrow.
Emma Graf also was selected to receive the first team Academic All-American Award from USA Fencing.
Yesterday, Nicole Milewski and Will Golder were named by USA Fencing as second team All-Americans.  This is separate from the Academic awards and also incorporates their fencing results from the this season.
Finally, Megan Loony, Hootie Bowen, Jonathan Jarrett, Locke Schoettelkotte, and Owen Williams received awards for being on the fencing team at St. Mary’s last night.
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 26

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for May 26
Congrats to Will Golder and Nicole Milewski for being named first team Academic All Americans by USA Fencing.  If anyone else also received this accolade, please let me know.
No
afterschool tomorrow (May 27) because of the holiday.  The last homeschool
practice for the school year will on the 30th and the last afterschool
will be the 31st.  We will have end of year parties for homeschool and afterschool on the 30th and 31st.  Regular classes and practice Tuesday and Thursday evening.
The last Topsail practice for the school year will be this Friday, May 31st.  It is also the last class for this session for Camp Lejeune.

June 1-2 is the Powerade State Games.  The people I see as entered are Erica, Herman, Nicole, Amelia, James, and Jackson.  If anyone else is going, please let me know.

The next Camp Lejeune beginner class will start on Friday, June 7th at 7 pm.

June
8th will be a middle school team foil event.  We hope to have teams of 3
versus 3, but teams of 2 can participate.  The grades are 4th through
8th.  The format is best 5 of 9 bouts and we quit when one team gets to 5
victories.  I would hope to have teams from St. Mary, Topsail, San Raphael, homeschool?, and perhaps Epiphany from
New Bern.  If I missed any schools and you have a couple of eligible
fencers who want to participate, let me know.  The event is free and we will need help to referee.

The
club end of year party will be held on June 15th.  It is being hosted
by Piotr Chaba, at 5122 Parth Lane, in Wilmington, but fencers from all
locations are welcome.  Time is 2 pm until?  Bring your own
desserts,drinks, things to throw on the grill, and chairs.  There is a
pool available.  Alcohol is acceptable.
If you want to do summer camp and have not yet told me, please do so ASAP. (If you have confirmed it with me, we are good.)  I also would like to know your T-shirt size so I
can order those.  I would like to order in early June so try to give me
an idea before summer nationals.  As of a couple of year’s ago, the
camps have become
open to adults, who want to use them as a vacation.  But no crying
when the kids go after you.   Right now, foil camps are larger than epee
camps, which is unusual.  Final dates are (It won’t change any more!):
Beginning Fencing        July 8 – 12
Advanced Foil             July 15 -19
Advanced Foil             July 22 -26
Advanced Epee           July 29 – August 2
Advanced Epee           August 5 – 9
Mid-South is planning on doing a referee clinic on the 13th of July.  More information is available on askfred and possibly on facebook.
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

State Games

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
State Games
Just a reminder that entry for the State Games ends tonight at 11:59 pm.  You cannot enter after that or on site this year.  Entries must be made at ncsports.org.  Let me know if you enter today, especially if it is for a minor.  The site doesn’t list entries by minors, just adults and I want to be certain I know who is going.
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 19

Gregory Spahr Coaches Communication
CFFA update for May 19
We finished our under 12 youth events season yesterday. 
Amelia Alexander continued her dominance winning both the foil and epee
and winning the sword for girls.  James Russell put together a 3rd in
foil, a 2nd in epee, and a 1st in sabre to win the sword for the boys. 
John Alexander was voted the sword for sportsmanship.  Foil results were
Amelia 1st, Noah Snyder 2nd, James sharing 3rd with Matthew Burns. 
Noah and Matthew both came down from Camp Lejeune.  For 9 and under,
John Alexander took the gold; Ander Renelt, from Topsail, won silver;
and Ellery O’Brien earned the bronze.   In epee, Amelia 1st, James 2nd,
John, and Linus Huggins 3rd, with Ellery winning the gold medal for 9
and under.  Sabre was James 1st, Eamon O’Brien 2nd, and John and Ellery
tied for 3rd.  Thanks to Eoin and Eilis O’Brien for refereeing, Mike
Kinney and Herman Smith for armoring, and all the parents and fencers
who helped with set up, clean up, and supporting their fencer.(s)  If
anyone has pictures of fencers with their awards, please email me and I
will try to get them into the paper.
We had a
few adult fencers go up to Apex’s Div 1A events yesterday.  In Women’s
epee, Nicole Milewski was 2nd, with Erica Julien 6th.  Robert Thomas was
18th in men’s epee.
Things are still
winding down with the end of the school year approaching.  Regular
afterschool, homeschool, and Tu/Th practice this week.  Topsail on
Friday, but no practice at Camp Lejeune due to their holiday schedule
for Wallace Creek.  We will have a Saturday morning practice, I will be in about 10 am.
May
25th the Charlotte Fencing Academy is having a number of unsanctioned
youth epee events from Y8 to Y14.  Entry fee doubles after today.  They
are requiring knickers, plastrons, etc. so if you want to go and need
those things, let me know.

No
afterschool on May 27 because of the holiday.  The last homeschool
practice for the school year will on the 30th and the last afterschool
will be the 31st.  We will have end of year parties for homeschool and afterschool on the 30th and 31st.

June 1-2 is the Powerade State Games.  Remember that you need to enter on the ncsports.org
website.  However, this year they are working to make the askfred list
more accurate as far as the entries.  Right now it looks pretty sparse
for all the events.  You must be registered by 11:59 pm on May 24th. 
(Friday night)  There is no late registration or walk in registration.

June
8th will be a middle school team foil event.  We hope to have teams of 3
versus 3, but teams of 2 can participate.  The grades are 4th through
8th.  The format is best 5 of 9 bouts and we quit when one team gets to 5
victories.  I would hope to have teams from St. Mary, Topsail, North
Topsail, Surf City, San Raphael, homeschool?, and perhaps Epiphany from
New Bern.  If I missed any schools and you have a couple of eligible
fencers who want to participate, let me know.  The event is free and I will need help to referee.

The
club end of year party will be held on June 15th.  It is being hosted
by Piotr Chaba, at 5122 Parth Lane, in Wilmington, but fencers from all
locations are welcome.  Time is 2 pm until?  Bring your own
desserts,drinks, things to throw on the grill, and chairs.  There is a
pool available.  (Piotr and Kenyatta correct me if I have anything
wrong.)
Even if you have told me you will
be participating in a summer camp, can
you reconfirm that?  I also would like to know your T-shirt size so I
can order those.  I would like to order in early June so try to give me
an idea before summer nationals.  As of a couple of year’s ago, the
camps have become
open to adults, who want to use them as a vacation.  But no crying
when the kids go after you.   Right now, foil camps are larger than epee
camps, which is unusual.  Final dates are (It won’t change any more!):
Beginning Fencing        July 8 – 12
Advanced Foil             July 15 -19
Advanced Foil             July 22 -26
Advanced Epee           July 29 – August 2
Advanced Epee           August 5 – 9
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