Bulletin for the Week of Feb. 8, 2010

1. Reminder of schedule for this week and next:

Mon 2/8 and Tues 2/9: all classes and practices as usual
Wed. 2/10: No Level 3 class. However all Junior Olympians and Level 3 fencers are invited for open fencing at the Bridge School.
Thurs 2/11: No fencing in Charlotte

Mon 2/15 and Tues 2/16: Level 1/2 classes as usual, taught by guest instructors Deb and Gretchen in Middlebury, and Ray and Tim in Charlotte.
Wed. 2/17 and Thurs 2/18: Level 3 classes as usual (I will be back). However, no rental equipment (dry gear) will be available in Middlebury on Wednesday, as I won't get it back from Ray until Thursday.

Best of luck to the Green Mt Division Junior Olympic team as they head to Memphis this week! The majority of the team are VFA fencers: Ashton Alvarez, Ben Brisson, Zoe Granizo-Mackenzie, Olivia Hern, Lucas Hilker, Ben Hogan, Chris Hogan, Caroline Jones, David Parker, Charlotte Treadwell, Zac Young, Ethan Yu. Joining them are Skyler Crossman from RIFRAF, Ambrose Granizo-Mackenzie from LFH, Megan Lind from SC, and Sarah Looby and Charlotte Staats from CVFC. Maddy Pomicter also qualified but won't be able to go this year.

2. Used equipment fire sale! I have accumulated a lot of used equipment over the last few months and would like to find new homes for it.

FOR SALE $5 each
XS child's jacket (would fit a 7-8 or smaller 9 year old), cotton, right handed
XS child's knickers (would fit a 7-8 or smaller 9 year old), cotton
S child's jacket (would fit an 8-10 year old), cotton, right handed
S plastic chest protector - excellent for a child who finds hard hits from his or her larger classmates to be painful
Underarm protectors - I have 3 available, 1 S (child or smaller teen) and 2 M (teen or woman). All are heavy cotton and can be used by righty or lefty. These are required for USFA competition and highly recommended for practice. They go under your jacket and give an extra layer of padding on the area hit hardest and most often (shoulder and chest).

Let me know soon if you are interested in any of this stuff. I'd like to get my closet cleaned out!

Speaking of which, I have sold the VFA's 3 sets of electric sabre equipment to Dale Rodgers. Since Meredith went off to Japan, it was getting very little use. There are more sabre fencers at WSC who might actually use it, and we can use the money for other equipment. I'm sure if any of you want to occasionally try a little sabre, you'll be able to borrow/share with the WSC.

3. Fund Drive update:
I will be taking the t-shirt design to the printer tomorrow. Thus far, I have received pledges of sponsorship or gift certificates from the following:

Brisson Restoration Inc.
Forth Œn Goal Sports
The RehabGYM
Burlington Integrated Professional Services
Chittenden County Chiropractic
Julie Lamoreaux, Realtor
Nop¹s MetalWorks
Teeny Tiny Spice Company of Vermont
Voice Over Vermont
The Cambell-Mohn Family
The Flynn Family
The Gamble Family
Ann Bliss Editing
Bistro Sauce
Distinctive Paints and Interiors
Fleet Feet Sports
Gailer School
Joyce¹s Noodle House
McDaniel Chiropractic Center
The Parker Family
The Schuppe Family
The Yu Family
Otter Creek Bakery
TK Ryan Inc.
Town Hall Theater
Vermont Book Shop
Village Wine and Coffee
Wheldon Coal Plumbing & Heating
The Yindra Family

If you know of any sponsors who are not on this list, I need to know by the end of the day or they will not be included on the t-shirt. The front of the shirt is a brushstroke painting by reknowned artist (and CVFC fencer) Paul Rossi. Speaking of reknowned artists, our own Adam Glazer is working on a new armpatch for the VFA using the lunging fencer logo that's on our sweatshirts and website (designed a few years ago by Dzeraldina Zigic). He's come up with a couple of variations, my favorite of which is a distinctive triangular patch in which the logo is set into a large V. If you want to have input on design, colors, etc., ask Adam to show you his mock-ups.

As the sponsorship part of the drive winds down, it's time to crank up the raffle ticket sales. Sheets of tickets are available from me. Take them, cut them up and sell them, and bring me the money and ticket stubs. Don has yet to reveal what the grand prize will be, but so far several restaurants have donated gift certificates. What makes our raffle fun is that we usually have a lot of prizes to give out, and a lot of winners. So if you would like to donate a prize, let Don or I know.

4. Register now for upcoming tournaments, and avoid paying the $10 late fee! If you are going to JOs, register for the Upper Valley Open before you leave or you may miss the 2/15 discount deadline.

Sat. Feb. 20, Sharon Academy. Upper Valley Open. Open foil and epee, E foil and epee. E events are restricted to E and unrated fencers, and are great for rookies looking for their first tournament experience, as well as fencers trying to earn or improve their rating. For event times, directions, and to register, go to www.askfred.net/Events/whoIsComing.php?tournament_id=10285

March 6-7, Middlebury Union Middle School, 17th annual Middlebury Open. Open, unrated, veterans and youth events - something for everyone. Not to be missed. Foil on Saturday, epee and sabre on Sunday. Also a raffle, t-shirts, souvenir programs and great food. Pretty much a festival of fencing! For event schedule, directions and to register, go to www.askfred.net/Events/whoIsComing.php?tournament_id=10288

5. Thank you to Leslie and Dale for hosting a large and exciting Groundhog Open yesterday. Congratulations to all the finalists and those who earned new ratings!

Open Epee (35 competitors, C2 event)
1 Parker, David, VFA - earned C rating
2 Horak, Peter, UVFC
3 Granizo-Mackenzie, Ambrose, LFH
3 Rivait, Birk, QCF
5 Schuppe, Ray, VFA
6 Jijina, Marc, QCF
7 Hogan, Chris, VFA
8 Fox, Viveka, VFA

Open Foil (34 competitors, B2 event)
1 Hogan, Ben, VFA
2 Yu, Ethan, VFA - earned C rating
3 Whalen, Jared, CVFC - earned C rating
3 Gavilli, Lorenzo, Lagardere (CAN) - earned C rating
5 Flynn, Joanna, SC
6 Parker, David, VFA
7 Fox, Viveka, VFA
8 Harris, Keegan, SC
Also, by finishing 12th, Maddy Pomicter earned an E rating.

Open Sabre (9 competitors, E1 event)
1 Lermontov-Salmon, Lucas, WSC
2 Parker, David, VFA
3 Tait, Trevor, WSC
3 Damon, Chris, WSC

Y12 Foil (17 competitors)
1 Horak, David, UVFC
2 Yu, Abigail, VFA
3 Roberts, Jacob, WSC
3 Sheinfeld , Parker, WSC
5 Quatt, Jake, VFA
6 Robbins, Nick, WSC
7 Staats, Lloyd, CVFC
8 Pomicter, Nicholas, VFA

Y14 Epee (13 competitors)
1 Jones, Caroline, VFA
2 Horak, David, UVFC
3 Yu, Abigail, VFA
3 Podraza, Eric, VFA

Performance of the Week: When you are the underdog, you have to be creative and totally focussed. You have to take calculated risks, seize the initiative whenever you can, and be ready to exploit any mistake your opponent might make. How about those New Orleans Saints....I mean, how about that Ethan Yu? Ethan was seeded 7th going into DEs. To earn his C, he faced one B-rated fencer and #2 seed in the competition. Having seen (and been on the receiving end of) her powerful marching attacks, he was determined never to give her the ball. He was relentlessly aggressive, keeping her on the defensive for most of the bout and winning 15-9. After that, he still had energy to bump off the #3 seed as well, making some really beautiful one-tempo ripostes and attacks in preparation (and being Ethan, one or two counterattacks as well).

Honorable Mentions: The Ironmen of the day were David and Ray, who fenced in all 3 events - and in David's case, hauled in 2 medals. Now that David's earned his second C rating, I'm placing my money on him to take the Champlain Cup Leaders Sword this season (the cool replica rapier that goes to live each year with whoever earned the most Champlain Cup points in all 3 weapons combined). Ray's best event was epee, where he went 5-1 in his pool, won his first DE in overtime and his second one (against a fellow D) 12-4, before falling to David. Charlotte fenced a brilliant pool, proving once again her ability to go hard right out of the starting gate (no warm up period for this girl). She went 6-0, beating 3 seasoned and higher rated veterans (myself once again among them). Unfortunately, after a bye, her first DE was with her Jr Team training partner Chris, who was also having a good day (including beating a C rated fencer he had never beaten before in his pool). Chris was wise to Charlotte's tricks, and as the older and higher rated team member, it was a point of pride not to let her beat him. His 15-12 victory put him in the top 8 for the first time in a big open event. After losing to Charlotte in pools, QCFC coach Dan Crocket, ever one to stir up a friendly rivalry, said to me "the kid's good...but I bet she can't beat me in a DE." Well, Charlotte didn't get the chance to try, but her even younger team-mate Caroline did. Seeded 26th going into DEs, Caroline pulled off the upset of the tournament by knocking out 7th-seeded Dan 10-9. Knowing Dan, he's at home now plotting his revenge on my Junior Team girls! In the meantime, Caroline went on to win the youth epee event. Maddy earned her E the hard way, in an open event full of rated fencers. The key to her success was her 5-4 victory over Ray in their pool, which seeded her high enough to place 12th (ratings in a B2 event go down to 12th place). Another demonstration of how 1 point can make a difference! Although he did one Y12 foil event last season, this was Eric's first experience with electric epee. It took him a few bouts to hit his stride and figure out what worked, but once he did, he bumped off the #3 seed (an older and more experienced Canadian fencer) to earn the first medal of his career. This was the 2nd tournament ever (after last year's Middlebury Open) for David D, Silas and Jake and the first one for rookie fencer Alex. They all did a great job in the youth events, bringing lots of energy, smiles and good sportsmanship into every bout. Jake fenced an outstanding pool, winning all of his pool bouts, before losing in DEs to a more experienced competitor. Nick got off to a rocky start in a challenging pool, but came from behind to win his first DE. Abby has become the unofficial team captain of our youth fencers, coaching and encouraging them, and setting a great example with her fencing.

Belated congratulations to Ben Hogan on winning the Nor'easter Open in NH last weekend, and to David for finishing 6th in a strong B foil event, including defeating a longtime nemesis who has knocked him out several times in the past.