Bulletin for the Week of Oct. 19, 2009

1. All about the Champlain Cup: Back in 1999, before there even was a Green Mt Division (we were part of the Northeast Division then), Vermont fencers decided we wanted to increase interest in and excitement about local fencing, so we started the Champlain Cup league. The Champlain Cup is a perpetual trophy (you might have seen it on display at the Middlebury Open or Ticonderoga Challenge). All season, from September through May, fencers earn points for the local tournaments they enter. You earn one point for every event you enter, win or lose. In addition, you get bonus points for high placement. The tougher the event, the more bonus points are available. At the end of the season, the winner in each weapon gets his or her name engraved on the Champlain Cup plaque. In addition, trophies are awarded to the top 3 in each weapon, the best youth fencer (born 1997 or later), the best veteran fencer (born 1969 or earlier), and the rookie of the year (a fencer with less than 2 years training, first full season in the league). The VFA has won more Champlain Cup awards than any other club over the years. Last season, all 3 top foilists, top epeeist, top sabre fencer, rookie of the year, best veteran and one of the two tied youth fencers were from the VFA.

Point standings are calculated by the AskFRED website. If you want to keep track of where you or your favorite fencers stand, here are the links:
Foil standings: www.askfred.net/Results/plist.php?list_id=1170
Epee standings: www.askfred.net/Results/plist.php?list_id=1169
Sabre standings: www.askfred.net/Results/plist.php?list_id=1171

If you click on "list rules" on any of these pages, you can see the detailed rules for awarding bonus points.

2. Calling all Level 2 and 3 students! Learning to ref is a very important part of learning to fence. You are not really a full member of the fencing community until you know how to ref bouts for your fellow fencers. Besides, learning to ref will make you a better fencer. After all, learning to ref really means learning to analytically observe fencing, a skill that comes in handy for making tactical decisions on the fencing strip. Most people can memorize the rules and pass the written exam with some effort and study. What intimidates most beginner refs is knowing how to describe what just happened between the fencers (who did what when), using the correct language - also known as "reconstructing the phrase". Foil and sabre refs do this out loud every time they call halt, while epee refs do it mentally so that they are prepared to explain why a certain controversial touch is being awarded or annulled. On Sunday, Nov. 8, there will be a unique opportunity to learn more about phrase reconstruction and to practice extensively under the tutelage of experienced refs in a noncompetitive setting. I encourage ALL Level 2 and 3 students who do not yet have a refs rating to attend the Referama Clinic at UVM from noon-5 p.m. There is no age limit, and youth fencers are welcome to participate in this. If you are bouting regularly at practice and perhaps beginning to get involved in tournaments (including youth tournaments), this clinic will help you feel more confident. If you are planning to take the official ref course in December, this clinic will provide the kind of hands-on practice that you will not get from the more academic ref course. You are welcome to participate in Referama even if you don't feel ready for the December ref course. It will be very helpful in planning and preparing the clinic for me to know who is coming, so please sign up as soon as possible at:

www.askfred.net/Clinics/whoIsComing.php?clinic_id=9934 .

3. Calling all teenage members of the Green Mt Division! Were you born between 1990 and 1996? Would you like a chance to get together and fence with all the other teen fencers in our division? (Of course you would...that was a obviously a rhetorical question). On Sat. Nov. 14 in Middlebury, we will hold the only all-teen tournament of the season. No annoying little kids, no fuddy-duddy old people (well, just a few refs and organizers), just teens. Here's the scoop:

Junior Olympic Qualifiers, Sat. Nov. 14, Mary Hogan School, Middlebury

Who can compete: All Green Mt Division fencers born 1990-96
Who should compete: Everyone who is eligible. Don't let the "qualifier" name scare you. Unrated fencers and first time competitors are very welcome. This is not just a tournament for those who are serious about qualifying and going to Jr Olympics. The more who compete, the more who qualify, so a big turn out is important, not to mention a lot more fun. Every now and then, a rookie competitor surprises everyone (including himself or herself) and makes the Jr Olympic team, which is pretty exciting. Loaner equipment will be available for fencers who do not have their own. However, all competitors do need to be members of the USFA, so if this is your first tournament, you will need to join by paying the $60 annual dues (either at the tournament or on-line beforehand). Once you are a USFA member, you will be able to compete in all tournaments for the rest of the season.

Seperate boys and girls events (USFA does not allow mixed qualifiers) in each weapon in two age groups: Junior (born 1990-96) and Cadet (born 1993-96).
Which events to sign up for: You may sign up for as many events as you are interested in. The event times listed on the AskFRED sign up page are provisional, so don't worry if two events start at nearly the same time. If we have enough fencers to run both, we will spread them out so it works. However, be realistic about your own energy level and how much fencing is enjoyable to do in one day. For most fencers, choosing 2 or 3 events is about right - more than that can get exhausting (especially if the events overlap and you have to dash from one to the other, fencing several bouts in a row without a break).
How to sign up for this tournament: Go to www.askfred.net/Events/whoIsComing.php?tournament_id=9524. If this will be your first GMD tournament, you will need to enter your information in the AskFRED database. If you have trouble figuring out how to do that, let me know and I'll help you. Important: unlike most GMD tournaments, this one has a registration deadline. You absolutely must sign up no later than Nov. 9 in order to participate. Best way to make sure you don't miss the deadline? Sign up today!

4. Thank you to Leslie and Dale of the Westford Sports Center for hosting a successful WSC Open. We had fencers there from New York, Massachussets, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Quebec and even as far as Maine, all of whom came because of the Green Mt Division's reputation for hosting fun tournaments. Full results are posted on AskFRED at www.askfred.net/Results/results.php?tournament_id=9676. Congratulations to the finalists:

Open Epee (29 competitors, C2 event)
1 Evans, Jason, Queen City Fencers
2 Rivait, Birk, VFA
3 Blondin, Jeremie, Académie d'escrime Badea
3 Parker, David, VFA - earned D rating
5 Crocket, Daniel, Queen City Fencers
6 Horak, Peter, Upper Valley Fencing Club
7 Harris, Keegan, Salle Catamount
8 Sewell, Ashleigh, Salle Catamount - earned E rating

Open Foil (32 competitors, B2 event)
1 Hogan, Benjamin, VFA
2 Flynn, Joanna, Salle Catamount
3 Fox, Viveka, VFA
3 Dunlap-Smith, Azaline, Down East School of Fencing -earned C rating
5 Whalen, Jared, Champlain Valley Fencing Club -earned D rating
6 Delamater, Abby, Pioneer Valley FA
7 Rivait, Birk, VFA
8 Parker, David, VFA

Y12 Foil (16 competitors)
1 Lambert, Lancelot, Académie d'escrime Badea
2 Yu, Abigail, VFA
3 Coupal, Maxim, Seigneurs de la Rive-Nord
3 Staats, Lloyd, Champlain Valley Fencing Club

Y14 Epee (11 competitors)
1 Jones, Caroline, VFA
2 Horak, David, Upper Valley Fencing Club
3 Yu, Abigail, VFA
3 Staats, Charlotte, Champlain Valley Fencing Club

Y14 Sabre (6 competitors)
1 Rounds, Connor, Capital District Fencing School
2 Horak, David, Upper Valley Fencing Club
3 Barry, Dominick, Capital District Fencing School
3 Robbins, Nick, WSC

Performance of the Week: Although David hasn't lost his primary love of foil, or his rather lonely standing as one of Vermont's few sabre fencers, he arrived as an epee fencer this weekend. In his pool, he looked a bit like a foilist fencing epee - although a good enough foilist that he beat 4 of his 6 opponents, including me. But he settled into more of an epee game as DEs progressed. In his second DE, against a C-rated fencer, he came from behind to tie the bout at 13 when time expired. He then kept his wits about him and scored the winning touch in overtime. His 3rd DE was against the wily veteran 1st seed (I have the habit of not giving names to protect the innocent, but I imagine most of you can guess who I'm talking about....). While he is normally an aggressive foil fencer, David transformed himself into a cagey epeeist for this bout. He would provoke his opponent into fleching from just a hair too far away, then use his quick footwork to retreat and riposte, accepting double touches as long as he held the lead. On a few occasions when his opponent hesitated, David was able to pick off some beautiful hand touches. David won 15-13 to get his bronze medal and his D rating - and says he has a new appreciation for epee and that it's "kind of fun".

Honorable Mentions: Because I was competing all day, I only saw a small portion of the action. I was on the receiving end of Zac's best bout in epee. He kept relentless, but controlled, pressure on me, forcing me into a full-out attacking game to barely survive our DE. I was also on the receiving end of the fury that is Charlotte - she decided not to give me a chance to attack her (a wise decision) and made the pace of our pool bout so fast that she had won before I could adjust to her attacking game. Birk on the other hand cooly knocked me out of epee by carefully managing the distance to use his reach advantage. Zach did the most sophisticated fencing I have seen from him in his first DE against a skilled fencer with very smooth and quick footwork. By varying his rhythm and distance, Zach was able to surprise his opponent a number of times and score 13 points. I saw Ashton fence with more intensity than I have seen from him before in his first DE against an aggressive opponent. Ashton was totally focussed and in command the whole bout, dominating the action not just physically, but by projecting a self confidence his opponent had to respect. I barely got to see Ben B fence at all, but he must have been doing something right, narrowly defeating one of his Jr Team mates to finish as the highest unrated fencer. Ben H added another undefeated day to his growing list, giving up only 4 touches in his entire pool, and not allowing more than 7 touches to be scored in any of his DEs. Meanwhile, young Caroline, newly emerged from the youth ranks and newly dedicated to epee, was quietly having her first undefeated event ever. I didn't get to see her fence much, but every time I looked over, her light was on and she was smiling. Another recent youth fledgling, Olivia had a very respectable middle of the pack finish in her first big foil open, showing improved skill at moving effectively from blade action to lunge. Isaac tried epee for the first time and discovered he really likes it, winning a couple of bouts and making everyone smile with his enthusiastic "ready ma'am!". Abby began her quest to become the first fencer to repeat as Champlain Cup youth champ. She went 5-2 in her pool and met both the fencers she had lost to again in DEs. The first she defeated handily, and the second she lost to by one point in a hard fought gold medal bout.

Coach's Soapbox: I had a conversation a few weeks ago with a highly experienced female veteran and coach from another division, who insisted that the current trend for holding mixed gender events was harmful to women. In her opinion, women fence differently than men and can't learn to play the "women's game" if they spend their time fencing men. She also thought their self esteem would be harmed by being overpowered by male opponents, and at the least, divisions should give seperate medals to the top females in a mixed event as a kind of consolation prize. On Saturday, 3 of the 4 open foil medals and 4 of the 8 youth foil and epee medals went to female fencers (Y14 sabre had only 1 female in it), and although the open epee medals all went to men, a woman made the top 8 and earned her E. Anyone fear for the self-esteem of the Green Mt girls? Maybe what we need is consolation prizes for the guys:)! As to there being a "women's game": women's fencing style may differ from men's, but only when looked at in broad stereotypes, which are not very helpful for generating tactics to use against the particular fencer in front of you. A good fencer doesn't have one game, but as many games as there are opponents, and is willing to adjust her tactics to suit whoever she is facing, male or female. That's why it's important to get as much experience as you can with as many different opponents as you can find. You have something to gain from participating in both mixed gender and single gender events.