ST ALBANS FENCING CLUB

EASTER….. EGGS….. & EPEE!!!!

That’s right – it’s epee night this Thursday, 18th April.

Lajos Fazekas, Level 4 Epee coach (as well as Sabre and Pentathlon coach), will join us for warm up and epee lessons.

There will be a number of dedicated pistes for epee, but foil and sabre can still be fenced as well, although there may not be a foil coach available.

In other news:

The results of the club ladder league were as follows:

3rd:  Alex ‘Flash’ Gordon

2nd: Cap’n Bryant

1st: Simon Caruana

Congratulations Simon on a well deserved victory!!

The winner of the previous weekly ladder was Jake.  Well done!

A reminder: our next beginners course is due to start at the beginning of May.   Any club member who gets a referral will get a discount off their membership fee – please ask for details!

St Albans Fencers – get ready!!

This week (Thurs 4th April) sees the start of a new club ladder league.

Last week was the final of the previous ladder, so come along to find out who made the most points fencing other club members over the last 3 months.

We also started a ‘weekly ladder’; in addition to running the ladder over 3 months we’ll periodically award a chocolate prize for the previous week’s top scorer.

So don’t worry if you miss a session, you could still be in with a chance for the weekly spot prize.

Also this week our beginners will have the stabilisers taken off their bikes as they join in with the rest of us.

Please help them with getting into the swing of the club, getting on & off pistes, and with any pointers you feel able to give on technique, tactics and refereeing.

Speaking of beginners, we’re now taking bookings for our BEGINNERS COURSE starting 2nd May.  Any existing member who introduces a beginner to the course will get £10 back on their fees.

See you at practice!!

It’s a long way to go for a match, but worth it when you get a good result.

St Albans won the épée 7 – 2

See our Facebook page for a video of David in action – coming from 3 – 4 down to level the match…. but can he take the victory?

The Foil was much closer…. too close for comfort!!

The match score was tied heading into the final bout:- this was the decider!  Gemma had a lot of pressure on her shoulders.

It was really close fought and went to 4-4 in the bout, and then into a minute of extra time, but it was so evenly matched that neither fencer could score a hit.

So it went to a final minute of priority – Gemma’s opponent won the toss and so had priority, which meant Gemma had 60s to score a point or she would lose.

And she did it!!!!!!!!!!  She kept her cool and got the all-important final hit, winning the bout and giving St Albans the win in Foil 5 – 4.

Once we’d resuscitated Simon, we headed for home, carried aloft by the jubilant crowd.

So that’s our first 2-weapon win of the year, and our 2nd overall victory! A great result, well done team.

Thanks to all those that made the effort to travel and compete: Giles, Simon and Gemma (FOIL) and David, James (c) and Matthew (EPEE).

We’ve got a break now until our next matches – dates for your diary are:

Tues. 14.05 away at Luton and

Thurs. 23.05 home to Bedford

Tonight some of our members are away for a 3 Counties match at Milton Keynes Fencing Club.

Good luck to the teams: Gemma, Simon and Giles (FOIL) and David, Matthew and James (EPEE).

In their absence, the club ladder league resumes for all three weapons.  Points make prizes!

A reminder that Fees go up on 1^st April.

If you pay quarterly, please remember to amend your standing order to reflect the increase in fees to £75.  Alternatively, monthly fees have now been introduced at £25.

Quarterly payment should reach the club by 1^st April (1^st July, 1^st Oct, 1^st Jan) and monthly on the 1^st of every month. Remember please the club is run by volunteers and paying promptly reduces the work load for our treasurer.

Please see fees for details or contact us if you have any queries or need the bank details.

Also a reminder that fencers MUST have current British Fencing membership in place to fence with us.  Without it, you are not insured and that means we cannot allow you to fence at the club.  Sorry, that’s the rules!

Membership is available through British Fencing – there are different levels of membership available; please speak to one of the committee members if you need any help or guidance.

A full house last night with another well attended épée night – these are proving to be very popular!

Here Joe gets a 1-to-1 lesson on wrist and arm hits from Coach Lajos…

see our Facebook page for a video of the action.  Please like and share!

With foil and sabre on the go as well, all of our electric pistes were in full and constant use all night.

Flash Gordon was taking on all-comers on the sabre piste

Next week, 28th March, some of our club members will be away battling Milton Keynes Fencing Club in a 3 Counties league match.  We wish them success!

Now the boring bit – a reminder on fees  🙄  The new club fee structure starts on 1st April so please make sure your standing order is updated to the new amount.  NB:  If you are paying monthly, it must be made on the 1st of each month.  Please see fees for details or contact us if you have any queries or need the bank details.