ST ALBANS FENCING CLUB

Tonight is week 2 of our Beginners Course so we look forward to welcoming back our new fencers!  Please give them the usual SAFC warm welcome and if people can help with getting them kitted out that would be great.

We host Luton Swords for a league match.  Although SAFC have won the overall league this year, there is still honour at stake and it will be hotly contested for sure.

Good luck to the teams!!

We’re also arranging a friendly with Herts Uni Fencing Club:  we have a provisional date of Monday 2nd Dec; if you are interested in participating in this or next year’s league please speak to Cap’n Bryant.

EPEE NIGHT has moved to 28th Nov because of the tonight’s league match, but will move back to its usual slot for next month – with added cakes!  see below…

Join us for Christmas Dinner and drinks on Friday 13th December

Partners welcome, Fencing attire optional but no swords to be drawn at the bar please!

Further info, book your place and make your menu choices >>>HERE<<<

EPEE NIGHT & THE GREAT FENCING BAKE OFF – 19TH DEC.

19th Dec. is our last fencing for 2019 so we are going out with an ‘En Garde, Ready, BAKE!’

An important safety reminder from British Fencing: it is MANDATORY to use 800N gloves for sabre.

URGENT SAFETY NOTICE – SABRE GLOVES

Also a timely reminder that while fencing is inherently a safe sport, part of that is because we use the appropriate equipment.  Fencers are responsible for making sure all their kit is in good and safe condition for their own protection and the safety of others. If you are in doubt please speak to a committee member for advice.

See you at Practice tonight – going to be another busy one!!

It was almost standing room only on Thursday night with our Beginners Course starting and home league match against Milton Keynes Fencing Club…

MATCH REPORT SAFC v MK

MK set a new 3 Counties World Record by playing two league matches on the same night!!  As MK travelled to an away match at SAFC,  Watford travelled  to MK for an un-rearranged match.

With MK only fielding 3 fencers we began with Foil; Terry started well and gave us 2 wins, unfortunately Bird and Philip could only manage 1 each, MK just winning the Foil 5:4.

SAFC’s Epee team pulled it back with David and Richard each winning 2 out of 3 bouts and Cap’n Bryant winning all 3 of his to give us the Epee 7:2

So critically an overall match win to St Albans, final score SAFC 11: 7 MK

A great night’s Fencing,  MK fenced well and were good company, thanks for making the trip – hope your second match of the night went well!

And with SAFC having 1 match remaining – see below – we are currently overall leader and the league title is ours!!

SAFC v LUTON THURS 21.NOV

On Thursday we host Luton Swords for both teams’ final match of the year.

As the league table stands SAFC cannot be beaten for the overall title but there is still honour at stake – both teams currently share 2nd place for Foil and SAFC are 2nd for Epee with Luton in 3rd.

So it is bound to be a closely fought match – good luck to the teams!

EPEE NIGHT MOVES TO 28.NOV

Because of the match with Luton on 21st, Epee Night has moved to the following Thursday, 28th Nov.

It will resume its normal slot on the 3rd Thursday of the month for December, with added TGFBO – see below…

SAFC CHRISTMAS SOCIAL – FRI.13TH DEC

Join us for festive merriment on Friday 13th Dec @ 19.30 at the King William IV

Partners welcome but may not be suitable for those with friggatriskaidekaphobia

Please speak to a committee member to confirm your place (numbers are limited, first come first served).

19th DEC: EPEE NIGHT & THE GREAT FENCING BAKE OFF

It’s all go tonight!  We’ve got a home league match and a Beginners Course starting

3 COUNTIES LEAGUE UPDATE

Last Thursday our teams had an away match at Dacorum.

(SAFC team on right hand side of pic, from far right to left; Simon, JD, Terry, Bryant (c), David & Jeremy)

Dacorum took the Epee 6 – 3 but our Foil team put in a fantastic performance taking that 8 – 1.   An outstanding result which gave us the overall match win on combined scores: Dacorum 7 – 11 SAFC

And the great news is, that win combined with our previous win at Watford means…

…St Albans go top of the league for overall match wins!!

A fantastic achievement and we should all be really proud of that because it’s a result of a great team effort.  So a big thank you to all involved from Team Captain Bryant.

But it’s not over yet.  We have two more matches to go…

Tonight (Thurs 14.11) we host MK and next Thursday (21.11) we host Luton for our final match of the year.

Good luck to the teams tonight.

BEGINNERS COURSE STARTS TONIGHT 14.NOV

We are expecting 8 new fencers to join us tonight on our Beginners Course.

Some have already done a taster session so have been to us before, but most have not.  So please make an extra effort to welcome them and show what a warm and friendly club we really are.

If everyone helps a little with things like getting them kitted out, it would be much appreciated.  Remember, we were all Beginners once!

SAFC CHRISTMAS SOCIAL – FRIDAY 13TH DECEMBER

We’ve got a table booked for dinner at the King William IV pub (Ember Inns) for 19.30 on Fri.13th Dec.

Partners welcome.  Please speak to a committee member to confirm your place (numbers are limited, first come first served).

See you at Practice, don’t be late for the warm up as it’s going to be busy tonight!

BEGINNERS COURSE – STARTS 14TH NOVEMBER

Our next Beginners Course kicks off on 14th Nov.

Just £89 for 10 weeks, all kit and tuition included.

Full details are HERE

**Special offer for current members:  If you press-gang or otherwise entice an unsuspecting person onto the course, you will receive £10 off your own membership**

Help for an evening at the next beginners course

We’d like to draw up a rota of helpers for the next beginners course, one fencer each week able to help Andy run the beginners course. You don’t have to sign up for every week, if we’ve enough volunteers a single week will be great. Good way of refreshing your skills, helping the club and getting to know the beginners early on.

If you can commit to help even for just one week, please speak to Simon at the club or drop him a note via stalbansfencingclub@gmail.com

3 COUNTIES LEAGUE – AWAY MATCH AT DACORUM TONIGHT!

Tonight (7th Nov) some of our fencers are away at Dacorum (Hemel) for a league match.

It’s going to be a crucial one – we’re currently tied in first place for overall match wins with Dacorum (and Luton who we are due to face next week – see below)…

but we’ve got Barry on our side:

Our final two league fixtures of the year are both home matches, against Luton and MK on 14th & 21st Nov respectively.  Watch this space for further news!

Good luck to the teams tonight and see you at Practice!!

SAFC WIN AWAY AT WATFORD!!

“It couldn’t have been a more competitive match” said JD, SAFC Chairman.

Last night St Albans travelled to Watford for a 3 Counties league match.  We knew it would be tough, particularly the Foil as Watford are in 1st place.

Our Foil team of Giles, Terry and JD gave a great performance and pushed them right to the wire… it was tied at 4 bouts all and the final match went to 4 – 4!!!  But Watford got the deciding hit and so just edged the Foil 5 – 4.

But we faired better in the Epee with David, James (c) and Jeremy winning that 6 – 3, and that coupled with the close result in Foil gave us the overall match win!!

Final Score:  Watford 8 – 10 SAFC

Thanks to those that competed last night and in the league so far, we’re doing really well: last night’s result puts us into joint 1st place in overall matches (with Dacorum and Luton), with just 3 matches left to play for 2019.  It’s an incredibly tight league this year!

>>LEAGUE TABLE & MATCH RESULTS<< 

Next week’s away match at Dacorum on Thurs.31/10 has been postponed due to halloween and half term:  not Brexit!    New date TBA

Our next scheduled matches are both at home:  Luton on 14/11 and MK on 21/11.

And speaking of Brexit and 3 Counties, here’s Barry with some Bee Gee Tips

BEGINNERS COURSE – STARTS 14TH NOVEMBER

Our next Beginners Course kicks off on 14th Nov.

Just £89 for 10 weeks, all kit and tuition included.

Full details are HERE

**Special offer for current members:  If you press-gang or otherwise entice an unsuspecting person onto the course, you will receive £10 off your own membership**

HOUSEKEEPING

Please don’t forget to sign in ON ARRIVAL – NOT LATER and pay any nightly visitor fees due.

It’s very quick and easy, please don’t put it off, because until you have signed in you cannot fence.

The club is run by volunteers and chasing payments and BF membership details is an unwelcome and unnecessary burden on those that give up their personal time to make the club run smoothly.

So, please help us with that.  Also can everyone help with the electric pistes – getting them out at the start and putting them away at the end of the evening.  We all use them…. so get involved.  Thanks.

See you at Practice!!