Hello fencers!
In an effort to be more efficient and orderly, I've posted a schedule of club subscription charges to our website, here. They are pretty much as they've been for the last several years, with a slight increase of the junior fee for Wednesdays. There are family rates and the usual discount for monthly payment by direct debit. If there are any inconveniences caused, please don't hesitate to contact me. The club's ethos is, as it always has been to be a place of excellence and frienship, open and accessible by all.
On the subject of our website, Anna Grodent and Robert Hillier have wrought wondrous changes to our bwefencing.co.uk site. Old favourites are back: the provocative thoughts of Gianna Colligiani on the subject of fencing, her likes and her discontents. There is a gallery of photos from times past, to which we'll consistently be adding both new and old content. Courses will be advertised there and there will be guides to kit and technique as we write them. Contributions are welcome from any and all.
Saturday, 14th of January sees the Gloucestershire County Epee & Sabre Championships roll around again. There are adult and junior competitions. None are as yet massively subscribed and the standard shouldn't be frightening. Details are here.
With competition in mind, I've received this report from Nick Scott-Samuel, from last weekend's Millfield Elite Epee. Well done to Nik for doing well to overcome a low seeding and making a fine return to competitive fencing:
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A modest field of 14 assembled at Millfield School for the Men’s Elite Epee Veterans competition. Seeded 11 out of 14 going into the first (and only) round of poules, I recognised only a few of my opponents. After the poules had been fought, my seeding had mysteriously dropped to 12. The less said about that the better.
Into the DE, and I drew Jonathan Stanbury (seeded 5). I managed to beat him 10-7, guaranteeing me a top 8 finish, but then came up against an Irish chap, Duncan Salter, who knocked me out 10-6. I ended up 7th overall - an improvement on my original seeding, at least.
The competition itself was very well organised, with live streaming of results (apparently). The full results are here:
http://epee.me/…/2018%20Millfield%20(Event%201)/FTEvent3.htm
There was excitement in one of the semi-finals, as a competitor was excluded from the venue with a black card. It’s not entirely clear what he was chucked out for. There are three possibilities: throwing his mask on the ground, swearing, or being French. Maybe all three.
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Cheers,
Nick