The Tasmanian Epee Shield 2012

The Tasmanian Epee Shield, May 12th, 2012

Sponsor: John Halys of Hove and Halys Chartered Accountants

Photographer: ChloeR Photography

Clubs competing: Van Diemen Fencing Club, TUFC & YMCA.

On May 12th Van Diemen Fencing Club held the inaugural Tasmanian Epee Shield.

We had six entrants for the Mixed Junior Epee and fifteen entrants for the Mixed Senior Epee.

Fencers came from both Northern and Southern clubs and the tournament had a lovely, friendly atmosphere.

The Van Diemen Fencing Club beginners fenced incredibly well, especially as they only finished their beginner course last Thursday.

Below are the results, with stars near our beginners :-)

Open Mixed Epee:
1st - Jack Aylward - VDFC
2nd - Isaac Laredo - TUFC
3rd - Chris Roach - TUFC
4th - Rhys Manning - YMCA
5th - Avril Holderness-Roddam - VDFC
*6th - John Cantwell - VDFC
7th - Andrew Goodly - VDFC
8th - Andy Jones - VDFC
9th - Karina Halys - VDFC
*10th - Gregg Ransley - VDFC
*11th - Chris (Douggy) Eaton - VDFC
12th - Karl Manning - VDFC
13th - Liam Hills - TUFC
*14th - Jeff Bronstein - VDFC
15th - Georgie Holderness-Roddam - VDFC

Junior Mixed Epee:
1st - Nathaniel Zeckendorf - VDFC
 2nd - Emalisa White - VDFC
*3rd - William Campbell - VDFC
*4th - Jordan Lawson - VDFC
5th - Meg Robb - VDFC
6th - Zack Licitis - VDFC

VDFC would like to say a big thankyou to John Halys of Hove and Halys Chartered Accountantd who provided the medals and pins (for all entrants) .

Hove & Halys

Accountants & Auditors - Hobart, TAS

29 Salamanca Pl, Hobart TAS 7000, Australia

(03) 6223 4456

 ChloeR Photography (check her out on Facebook) took some lovely photos on the day:

Club Update, March 22nd, 2012

Van Diemen Fencing Club is based at the YMCA in Glenorchy: 

8a Constance Avenue, Glenorchy.

You can contact the club 10am-9pm, 7 days a week:

0428 057 473

van.diemen.fencing.club@gmail.com

www.hobartfencingclub.com.au

 

Hello all!

Long time no update.

 

We now have squad training monthly, see previous blog update for a list of 2012 dates.

The March one went really well, we're definitely close to having a smooth format for training.

 

Junior club (7-10s) is now up and running. 

Tuesdays 5-6pm. 

New members are required to have 4 x individual lessons before they join junior club.  

Contact Avril Roddam for information and to book a lesson.

AFF #1 - Open Nationals - Melbourne

This weekend VDFC members Jack Aylward and Avril Holderness-Roddam will be competing in the first National tournament for 2012. 

Jack will be entering the Open Men's Epee and Avril will be in the Open Women's Epee.

Good luck Jjack! (Avril writing this so it would be weird if I wish myself good luck...) ;)

 

Farewell to Magaly Le Du

Our lovely French Sabre coach has returned to France. We will all miss her but if we're lucky she will visit again in the future :) 

Don't forget adult (11+) club is Tuesdays, 6-8pm @ YMCA in Glenorchy.

Cheers,

Avril Roddam

Head Coach

Van Diemen Fencing Club

Successful Beginner Courses!

Tonight was the first night of beginner classes for the May 3rd to June 21st Beginner Epee Fencing course.
Apart from a few students away sick, we had a good turn-up and everyone seemed to have fun :)

For info on the next beginner course, please e-mail Van Diemen Fencing Club at: van.diemen.fencing.club@gmail.com

Cheers,
Avril :)

Van Diemen Fencing Club at the Celebrate Clarence Expo

Saturday February 27th, Van Diemen Fencing Club held a display a the Celebrate Clarence Expo.

We provided foam sabres and masks for people to have a go.

We had kids, parents and grand parents having a stab (excuse the pun) at fencing and we had more than enough positive feedback to decide to hold beginner courses on the Eastern Shore in the near future.

 

We had a display about our club, and about fencing in general. We had posters from Commonwealth Fencing Championships, posters from fencing suppliers, photos of all ages fencing and photos of a recent fencing taster for 5-8 year olds.

 

We had thongs hanging at different heights for target practice.

 

 

 

We also ran a free raffle with six prizes of one introductory fencing lesson. The man in charge of the Archery stall next door drew the six winners from a sabre fencing mask. Georgie very kindly held the mask :) The winners will be contacted on Monday.

We all had a great day and enjoyed meeting some of our future members!

Cheers

Avril
Club President

Interview on Huon FM.

We just had a great interview with Tim on Huon FM. It would be great to run some beginner lessons down that way so if you're from the area, please send us an e-mail and if we get enough interest we'll do it.

Venue: Meeting with the YMCA next week to hopefully organize a room then we'll be ready to start lessons!

Cheers,
Avril

January 2011 Update!

Hello :)

I hope you are having a happy 2011 so far! 

We are in the process of booking a venue so soon we can announce dates for the first Bronze Certificate Epee courses!

So far we have had a lot of interest in the Adults and Primary Schools aged courses, but we're hoping to run a course for high-school ages, so if you know of anybody in high school who might be interested in fencing, please be sure to let them know!

I am actually away until January 15th, so I will answer your e-mail as soon as I'm back.

Regards,

Avril Holderness-Roddam

President, Van Diemen Fencing Club

WELCOME! - Dec 2010 Update.

Hello :)
Time for the December Update!

I now have enough people to hold the first adult Bronze Certificate Epee Course in February 2011.
If you are interested, or have younger people inerested, please e-mail the club and I will send you details. We have classes designed for several age ranges.

The club launch is in mid February, I'm calling the venue to book the date this week.

Completely unrelated, Scullduggery Fencing Club (run by Mark Scully) in Launceston has invited all fencers to compete at their tournament this Sat Dec. 18th.  President of the TUFC, Isaac Laredo and I are going to travel North to compete. Next year there will be more opportunities for clubs to meet and compete in friendly competitions and in the State Champs.

If you are intrsted to see what fencing is like at a National level, check out http://www.ausfencing.org/, they have a list of state orgs. and links and current news.

Bed time for me now :)

Another update when exact dates for courses are organised.

Cheers,
Avril Holderness-Roddam,
President, Van Diemen Fencing Club.

Update for Nov. 2010.

Time for an update

I have been receiving quite a few e-mails from people interested in fencing for themselves or their children. If you find the club through this blog, I would love it if you could let me know in the e-mail so I can see which marketing tools are working best.

The main questions have been about prices and classes.

From mid to late February 2011 we will be running Bronze Certificate Epee Courses for various age groups.  These will run over eight weeks. Adults Courses will cost $100 for the eight weeks (this includes equipment use) and on completion, students will be qualified to compete at clubs and in State tournaments.

We will have several age groups for kids and we are still planning these. The lessons will be shorter for the younger age groups and will be around $85. We are discussing maybe doing it differently for kids, and having colour ribbons to work their way through. So once they learn the very basics, for example, they would get a red ribbon, once they learnt certain drills and moves, they would earn the next ribbon up. This approach is used in Britain and is very popular with the young students.

I am also in the process of approaching schools about th possibility of offering fencing as a sport in 2011.

So there we are :) 

Also, the Celebrate Clarence Expo is possibly going to be held on February 27th 2011 (it was cancelled earlier this year) so we are looking forward to having our stall there!
________
P.S. We are also putting flyers for the club in bags at a Santa Photography centre in the city. This will hopefully lead to, at least awareness of the sport and at best more students :)

New Club Logo!



I am very pleased to announce that we have a club logo, designed by Rex Smeal (rexsmealart@gmail.com).
It will be featured on our neswletter, t-shirts (in the future) and promotional products and documents.

FENCING IN TASMANIA

With three clubs currently, Fencing in Tasmania is about to expand with a fourth fencing club, Van Diemen Fencing Club, opening in early 2011. Fencing in Tasmania until now has concentrated on children and younger adults. In 2011, fencing in Tasmania is going to change, with the Van Diemen Fencing Club provding programs for Seniors, dsadvantages youth and people with disabilities.

With old grudges between the North and South pushed aside, fencing in Tasmania will also become more exciting with Tasmanian fencing tournaments planned around the state. The first being on November 13th at Oatlands. It has been organised by the Tasmania University Fencing Club. E-mail van.diemen.fencing.club@gmail.com for more info.

Tasmanian epee fencers Mark Scully, Anthony Pisano and Avril Holderness-Roddam are planning to attend 3-4 National Open Fencing Tournaments in 2011. They are currently seeking sponsorship.

In summary, Fencing in Tasmania is about to enter an exciting time. So why not join in?! :)

Cheers,
Avril Holderness-Roddam, Tasmanian Fencer and Coach.