NEWS, NEWS and more NEWS!

Van Diemen Fencing Club

&

Collinsvale Fencing Club

van.diemen.fencing.club@gmail.com

0428 057 473

We welcome everyone, all ages, all levels, all shapes, all sizes.

We emphasize safety, fun and respect.

1) Van Diemen Fencing Club will be moving venue from August 14th.
We are meant to relocate to Tolosa Street Hall; the people with the permanent booking there are meant to be leaving, but the Glenorchy City Council don't know when, so we are TEMPORARILY moving to the Chigwell Barn, which is only 4.5Kms from the YMCA. I know Chigwell gets a bad wrap, and people aren't keen to travel to this venue, but it's the only option for the next couple of months, until we can have Tolosa St. Hall, which is an ideal venue. So please hang in there.

2) New Collinsvale fencing club!
Collinsvale will soon be home to the newest fencing club in Tasmania. Yet to be named, the club will be a sister club of VDFC and will introduce members of the community in and around Collinsvale to this wonderful sport.  Beginner courses will commence on Friday, August 10th, at the Collinsvale.                  For more information, please contact VDFC: van.diemen.fencing.club@gmail.com | 0428 057 473

3) Beginner Courses.
Yes, finally we have the dates!
 8 week beginner courses will be run at Collinsvale and Chigwell.
Collinsvale: Fridays, from August 10th. Ages 11-15, 5pm-6.30pm. Ages 16+, 6.30pm-8pm.
Chigwell: Thursdays, from August 9th. Ages 11-15, 5pm-6.30pm. Ages 16+, 6.30pm-8pm.


4) VDFC Elektrik Epee Tournament.
July 28th, 2012. @ Collinsvale Memorial Hall. 9.30am-5pm.
Open Epee, U20s Epee, U17s Epee. Possibly mixed - we'll see how many entrants we have.
One event: $15, two events: $25, all three: $30.
Equipment: Jacket, mask, fencing glove, chest guard, plastron, breeches or full length track pants, fencing socks with breeches, sports shoes, not street shoes.

5) Andrew Wilkie @ VDFC
Andrew Wilkie visited the club recently, he asked lots of great questions and was interested in the differences between the swords. Thank you to all the fencers who turned-out for this exciting club night. I think we made a good impression :-) Ornithos Photography took some wonderful shots on the night - we'll put some up here shortly.

6) New monthly fencing club!
Fencers Anonymous is a club running once a month, catering to those with serious fencing addictions.
The club will start with lots of fencing, followed by footage of recent fencing tournaments/screenings of popular fencing films. ALL fencers are invited, beginners to experienced, from any club. VDFC safety rules still apply.


7) New coach!
I am very excited to announce that our lovely German fencer, Karina, is working towards her first coaches accreditation! She is already very helpful at club, teaching students foil and helping with Epee. Karina has so much experience and knowledge, and she's so friendly too, we are very lucky to have her!


That just about wraps-up the news.  VDFC is about to turn ONE. Woo!  Thank you to all the fencers who've made our first year the epic year that it was!

Beginner Courses Start Soon, First VDFC Tournament in July, AND good news!

Hello!
This update is overdue, but it's worth it!

1) The next Beginner courses will commence in July: 8 week courses: Saturdays from July 9th, Mondays from July 11th.
Ages 5-10 ($90), 11-15s ($90) and ages 16 and over ($100).
E-mail: van.diemen.fencing.club@gmail.com for a registration form.

The junior course (5-10s) is the Junior Swordplay Certificate. The course concentrates on games designed to improve balance, agility, coordination and games to get students used to fencing moves. Students are gradually introduced to fencing bladework, using special flexible plastic training swords from Europe.

The 11-15s and the 16s+ courses introduce students to the offensive and defensive moves in Epee fencing, as well as covering some tactics, rules and safety. On completion of the course, students will be fencers, ready to fence at clubs and tournaments.

________________________________

2)

****FIRST VAN DIEMEN FENCING CLUB TOURNAMENT - EPEE****

On Saturday July 2nd, Van Diemen Fencing Club will host its first Epee tournament for 2011. This tournament is open to fencers from all clubs. $10 VDFC members, $15 non-members.
Safety gear required: full length trackpants or fencing breeches, 350N jackets, masks, gloves, chest guards.
Medals for 1st, 2nd, 3rd.
ROLECALL @ 10am, FENCING STARTS AS SOON AS SCORE SHEETS ARE FILLED-OUT.
Basic rules will be followed and safety gear must be worn at all times when fencing.

This will be a round robbin tournament - all fencers will fence each other and the final rankings will be taken from these bouts, there will be no DEs.

This tournament is to provide a friendly introduction to competitive fencing for the Van Diemen Fencing Club newest members.

Please feel free to come along and watch - fencing should definitely have started by 10.45am.
Fencers are invited to bring family and friends along to watch :)

Equipment is available for hire, $2 per jacket, $2 per mask, 50c per glove, 50c per chest-guard.

3)
I spoke with Elizabeth College's Tim Medwin today and, if I can confirm eighteen committed students studying between year 9 and year 12, we will be running Fencing as a sport option for EC's Athlete Development Program!
I'll explain:
Imagine 3 hours of training, one evening a week. $180 per student for the year. This program means fencing specific tutes, training classes, and also generic sports training in the newly decked out EC gym! $180! You pay more than $180 to join fencing clubs for the year in a lot of places!  I am so excited about this - this is such a wonderful opportunity for any enthusiastic fencers in yr 9, 10, 11 and 12!
BUT, we need 18 to enrol or it's a no go, so, I'm going to contact some local schools and start advertising extra hard to make sure we can get the 18. Did I mention at the end of the program, there is the opportunity to fly to Victoria as a team and have a tournament/train with the Victorians? :)

Ok, now that's out of my system.

Don't forget:

BEGINNER EPEE COURSES START IN EARLY JULY!

TO REGISTER, E-MAIL:

van.diemen.fencing.club@gmail.com

Venue Found!

I visited the perfect venue today! Mirrors both ends of the hall, a rail down the length, perfect size for tournaments and club nights!
The best part is that the venue owner is happy to let me hire it on the days and times I requested!

I'm just waiting to hear back on hire price and insurance info.
I'll announce the venue ASAP :)


P.S. The plan is for beginner courses to start on April 12th, but we'll have to wait and see.