The dog days of summer
The heat is on, but that doesn't mean that we aren't busy fencing our way through the summer swelter!
As many of you know, the USFA memberships required for participation in sanctioned events and most clubs renew every year in July. This year the USFA is increasing the cost of the memberships, but if you get your renewal in before the 31st of July, you can still get the lower pricing from last year.
So it's totally worth doing that!
If you participate in the Thursday night classes at NKYFA, you must have a current USFA membership.
Return of intermediate lessons
For those that remember all the way back to before the pandemic, we used to have a short class between beginner classes and the general club activities. This was a place to refine some concepts, give some expanded one-on-one lessons, and prepare newer fencers for the wider world of fencing awaiting them.
We are now revisiting that model and are excited to have our first graduating class of fencers moving from the beginner lessons through to the advanced floor!
usfa membership and tournaments
USFA Memberships are required for all sanctioned fencing tournaments. Memberships renew in July and must be current for the following fencing year. You can follow the button below to the USFA Membership page to get your first membership or to renew your existing membership.
RETURN OF THE BOTTERELL!
A classic southwest ohio tournament is back from retirement!
Thanks to the efforts and enthusiasm of VP Evan McNicholas, Treasurer Jessica Betteridge, and Secretary Nick Aguilar, the Greater Cincinnati area will see the return of the Botterell, the premier Cincinnati Fencing Club tournament that has been in retirement since it's last running in 2012.
February 11th, 2023 will see the return of this classic local event, hosted in Ludlow, KY by NKYFA along with CFC. It will be an Epee tournament with events in Mixed Div 3 and Mixed Open, link to ASKFred.net.
RESULTS
OPEN MIXED EPEE
Evan McNicholas Upgraded to B2023
Nicholas Bampton Upgraded to C2023
Sawyer Reece Cornett and Brian Conn Upgraded to C2023
Also a big round of applause for Guy Manaugh (5), Nick Aguilar (9), Joe York (12), Anthony Betts (13), Zach Miller (14), Reed Demangone (15), Calliope Manaugh (16), Mengyao Lyu (18), Loyd Briski (19), Luke Schnur (20), Alice King (21), Sam Tluchowski (22), Elizabeth Foreman (23), Brennan McCoy (24), and Cecelia Charlton (25)!
Congratulations to everyone on a fanstastic performance, a well run and friendly event, and a great day of fencing!
D & Under Mixed epee
Reilly Jones Upgraded D2023
Dylan Wright Upgraded E2023
Matthew He Upgraded E2023 and Reed Demangone
Also, let's hear it for our team mates!
Andy Brownfield (5), Calliope Manaugh (8), Joe York (9), Zach Miller (11), Sam Tluchowski (13), Luke Schnur (14), Mengyao Lyu (15), Alice King (17), Emma Abrahamson (18), Elizabeth Foreman (20), Riordan McIntosh (21), Brennan McCoy (24), and Cecelia Charlton (25)!
A great morning of fencing and a fresh start to the 2023 fencing year with so many new fencers trying out tournaments and many others at their first time doing epee!
a peek back at 2011 the last botterell
UNTIL NOW!
Class at Clifton Rec: Monday evenings
Monday evenings we are running both our beginner classes through the Cincinnati Recreation Commission and our continuing programing for members intermediate level and on. Anyone interested in getting involved with that class can contact Dick Males to be added to the waiting list for the upcoming sessions.
Advanced classes and open floor fencing, doors at 6:50pm and class begins at 7:05pm. Floor drills usually take about 20-25 minutes and then open floor fencing until 8:45pm.
For those club members that are interested in getting some extra fencing in, we will be continuing our engagement with NKFA. Nate Westcott will be running classes for both groups on Thursdays going forward and we have been invited to continue attending on those days.
MASK UPDATE!
Following the guidelines laid out by the USFA and the conventions being used across the country, along with an agreement with our partner club in Northern Kentucky, we are moving to a fully voluntary masking policy.
At this point, masks are not required at any point, though we have them available for any that want them.
FOLLOW MEDICAL ADVICE
With masks going away, we are still encouraging everyone to follow their medical professional's advice regaurding vaccines, risk factors, and preventative measures to preserve health.
If you are feeling unwell in any way, please, take the week off, get better, come back stronger.
KEEP PROPER DISTANCE
This used to be about 6 foot social distancing, now it is once again about fencing!
Distance is the crucial key to the art of fencing. Being in the distance that your game requires while denying your oppenent the same is what the sport is about at a fundamental level.
GROWING THE CLUB
With restrictions falling away as we move forward, we are excited to see numbers returning to the gym floor that rival our attendence prior to the pandemic.
We are all so very excited to be seeing interest returning to the sport, especially now as our ability to incorporate larger group numbers to our programming.
Our Bluegrass friends
Throughout the pandemic, we have partnered with the fine folks down in Ludlow, KY to help their students get back on the piste and to give our members a place for the serious business of fencing! It has been a fantastic partnership and a testament to the small family that is fencing and the wonderful partnerships that exist between our groups.
Nate Westcott is running floor drills and holding open floor fencing for the members of NKYFA along with those that have membership with the Cincinnati Fencing Club on Thursday nights, doors opening at 7pm and the floor open until everyone is too tired to go on!
Map and directions below.
looking back, wistfully
I've been going back through old files, photos, and the like; riding on waves of nostalgia. I've pulled out some photos going back to 2014 when we were meeting at McKie recreation center while the Clifton rec was being renovated!
These are trying and difficult times for everyone, but it's important that this club has been around for a very, very long time. It is entirely thanks to the people in these photos, the instructors like Kim, Dale, Dick, Adam, and Nate; the officers of the club like Mike; the members of the club, both new to the sport and old to the club. We will bounce back. We will, together, overcome the challenge that is this disease and the necessary hardships that we endure so that we may all endure.
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy a little look back!
Competetive Fencing and Upcoming Tournaments
If you are excited to learn more about competition fencing, if you are looking for upcoming tournaments, or if you are looking for results from previous tournaments, then it is time to get acquainted with AskFred.net.
AskFred is a database open to the fencing community to organize tournaments, keep results and data about fencer's careers, and give a unified place for clubs to advertise their upcoming events!
For information on upcoming tournaments follow this link to see all tournaments "near" Cincinnati (AskFred is a little broad in it's definition of near): AskFred.net.
Check out this link for a search of tournaments with a limit of a 100 mile drive.
USFA Rating Chart
Academy of Fencing Masters Blog is a great resource for information by fencers and parents of athletes, talking about all the stuff that we all wonder about. Wonder no longer, start learning today!
The following link will take you to askfred.net for the explanation of how the ratings given out during a tournament are determined. USFA Ratings.
Also, this article goes into all the nitty-gritty of earning your ratings: