News Update 28th April

April's been a washout - here's hoping for a warmer May!

Remember, there is no fencing this Thursday coming (3rd May).  This means that if you need to borrow kit for the Herts County Championships you'll need to be down on the 10th.  If you've not entered yet I'm sure you just need to visit the HFA website and print off a form.  

Next weekend is the Brighton Open - if you're into twitter we are @StAlbansFencing and I dare say you might find some updates on there.

Three other competitions coming up:

County Team Foil and Team Epee on 2nd June - remember we pay the entry fees for that.  If you've not been fencing too long this is only teams from within county and there's a great atmosphere as you'll have your SAFC chums cheering you on.   Don't worry about finding a team, we just need to know you're interested, speak to Jo (especially if he's not wearing his hat) who will sort you out.

White Horse Team Trophy is on 24th June, it would be nice to enter a team if we could but from discussions we seem to be short on the epeeist front.  Again, we'll be picking up the tab if folks are interested.  Since it is a Foil/Epee/Sabre event just let us know you're interested and we'll do our best to find a team for you.

Norfolk Open this year is 21st/22nd July.  Three reasons to do this one:

1- Its 2 hours away

2- Its after exams (for those still afflicted with them)

3- There's a great place to get Sunday lunch on the way back for those who do Epee and Sabre.

Finally in August there's some small thing going on in London.

Club wise at our last committee meeting we had a small chat about what our goals as a club are - we didn't finish that conversation and I suspect we won't for a while yet.  If you've any input then please let us know, or better yet we'll be convening at the Garibaldi on Tuesday evening for our regular committee session at 8- all are welcome.

One last thing, Paul Davis went along to the BAF Easter Course and came away with his Level 3 foil qualification - it's a big achievement and he can rightly feel happy with himself.

See you either at Bowling this Thursday (if you'd like to come and not yet told Bev, drop her a line at Social(AT)SA-FC.org.uk) or on the 10th.  

Club news

News Update 18 August:

Hope you've all had a good week. Last Thursday saw the return of Coach Liam from his travels and travails in Switzerland, coming third in the Master of Arm's event at the Fencing Master's World Championship. I'm sure we can all appreciate what an achievement this is!

The Open Air is on the Sun 12th Sept (see the news item further down the page) - it would be great to see you there.

Finally, the magic Mr Middleton is producing a show in Hammersmith for the next few weeks. Helen has sent round an email for those who'd be interested in going to see (and Tony has promised a few drinks!) on the following dates:
Tuesday 7th September, Tuesday 14th September or Friday 17th September.
Adult tickets are £15, consessions £12.

Other halves, friends and all welcome.

See you tomorrow!

Herts County Team Foil Championship

Herts County Team Foil Championship

SAFC entered four teams, representing half the entries (there were ten at one stage). After a brief AGM, at which all proposed resolutions were passed and after a few last minute changes, the pools commenced. Although Liam was organising the event, he kindly offered his services to make up team C- thank you, Liam!

After some gruelling bouts, only A and B teams made the cut to the semi finals, with team A drawing Ayot St Lawrence. This was a hotly contested match, with Zoe, Tony and David W working very hard, only conceding 45:42 at the very end. A great match to watch.

Team B (David and Gill Reid and Max) drew Watford A, but lost 45:13. Guys- if you need consolation, Watford A went on to win, 45-42 against Ayot St Lawrence.

One point that was clearly made during the day- it is quite possible to get several hits against the likes of Paul, Ben, Andy and Chris. Certainly the passing around of information about how the opposition fences from closely watching them helps everyone. They are not invincible!

Well done – EVERYONE. If it is not the taking apart that counts, then it is the taking part that matters.

Afterwards, many participants went to another place to watch another match of a different kind. I would dearly love to say I don’t know what the score of that one was, too- but I am sure everyone knows it already.