All the tournament talk fit for the piste!
PHOTO: Whetting your appetite: Gold Medal Final at CCFC 2024 Escrime Sundae Tournament
Contents
In November Fencing News you will find:
(including Beginners Invitational)
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Welcome fencing beginners!
If you are getting this email for the first time, you are likely one of our beginner fencers!Welcome to Capital City Fencers’ Club!
Hooray for beginners! This month we have lots of beginners in the gym:
- Our October Beginners are now joining regular practices on Mondays and Wednesdays
- Our November Beginners have started their Wednesday evening classes.
- Our Newcomer Beginner Clinic is a partnership with the Inter-Cultural Association of Victoria. This youth class is sharing the gym with our Skills and Drills Saturday crew.
It’s great to have you all here!
We hope you are enjoying fencing so far, and we look forward to seeing you at Beginners Invitational (see below)!
And after your class, we hope you continue to fence with CCFC
For ICA Newcomer Youth who are younger than 13 years old there are two other options. We recommend Saanich Recreation which has classes for fencers aged 10 and up, and OSM fencing with fencers as young as 5 years.
Thanks to our coaches who make these classes happen, the regulars who help the new fencers learn the ropes, and Rob who fixes all the gear that is now in pretty constant use!
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Let’s Talk Tournaments
There are tournaments to suit every fencer.Have a look through the list and sign up for one or many!
Confused? There is a primer of fencing registration basics at the end.
In the beginner program? Scroll on down to the info on Beginners Invitational!
Nan-Sang Ho Legacy Open
An annual event hosted by UVIC Fencing Club
Who should go?
Foil and Epee fencers who are 16 years and older*
This event is unsanctioned (you do not need a CFF license)
(Note: The Newcomer Clinic and Skills and Drills Saturday will proceed on Nov 23 as usual for those not at UVIC … or who want BOTH!)
Date
November 23, 2024
Event start times:
Mixed Epee
Event starts at 10:30 am
(you must be present and confirm registration by 10:00)
Mixed Foil
Event starts at 11:30 am
(you must be present and confirm registration by 11:00)
Location:
UVic CARSA’s Performance Gym
REGISTER for Nan-Sang Ho Legacy Open
CCFC Beginners Invitational
Who should compete?Fencers who are in the CCFC beginner class now!
Fencers who completed their beginner fencing class in 2024, and have not yet participated in a tournament.
Unsanctioned: No CFF license required.
Who should volunteer?
CCFC club members who want to learn to run a tournament. Youth are especially encouraged to take a leadership role running this event. Beginners not feeling ready to compete.
Who should come watch?
Friends and family, club members, and beginners not quite ready to compete.
Weapon:
FOIL
Date, time, location:
Saturday November 30
Royal Oak Middle School
Be at the gym by 9:45 AM and plan to stay as late as 3 pm
Tournaments can be unpredictable in length.
If we finish the event early enough there will be extra fencing for every fencer!
Pizza Lunch included — please register early to make this work!!
Cost:
Free for beginners at CCFC and our friends in other Victoria clubs
How to register:REGISTER for Beginners Invitational
TFF Cadet Junior #1 – December 8
Who should go?Youth foil, epee and sabre fencers with CFF licenses.
Event Age Definitions:
Cadet: born 2008-2011
Junior: born 2005-2011
Date, time, location:
Sunday, December 8
12460 Harris Road, Pitt Meadows, BC V3Y 2J5
Cost: $42.50 plus admin fee per event upon registration and travel.
The club aims to reduce overall cost with our
** CARPOOL PLAN **
This will be a one-day road trip to Vancouver taking the earliest ferry out and likely a late ferry home. We are hoping there is enough interest for a CCFC Youth Carpool!!
The club supports carpooling to one or two events per year. We aim to send coaches where possible to support the youth fencers through the event. We aim to keep travel to tournaments as low-cost as possible!
CCFC carpool funding policies
- day trips outside Greater Victoria
- there is more than one youth CCFC member attending
- we have enough notice to advertise and include as many youth as possible
- we keep the number of cars to the minimum
- we have enough coaches and volunteer adults available to travel/drive
- we must have two adults present and follow safe sport protocol.What expenses do we cover:
- Ferry fare for car, driver, and coach
- Ferry reservation fee
- gas moneyYouth fencers pay the ferry walk on fee and the competition fee, and for any food they buy en route.
Want to join a carpool on December 8? Willing to drive and be a volunteer adult?
Sign up for carpool! Sign up for carpool / need more info
If you are ready to sign up for the tournament you can do so here: Register for TFF Cadet / Junior #1
Escrime Sundae 2025
BE CLUB ROYALTY! BE THE FIRST to REGISTER!Escrime Sundae 2025 is set for Saturday April 5, 2025 at Royal Oak Gym
Details are still to come but we already know:
Events include Senior Mixed Foil, Epee and Sabre, PLUS Novice Foil!
The events are unsanctioned
There is Ice Cream. We have so much ice cream! The ice cream is sanctioned (1)
CLICK HERE to be the FIRST TO REGISTER for the 2025 ESCRIME SUNDAE TOURNAMENT!
A newbie’s guide to online tournament registration
If you are new to tournaments your first stop is to sign up for the Beginners Invitational!
Come compete in a fun event designed to help you learn how fencing tournaments work! Or, come volunteer to learn how to run a tournament.
This is a friendly, low-pressure event for competitors and volunteer officials alike.
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A Newbie’s Guide to fencing registration
Registration
Most tournaments in North America are arranged using Ask FRED.
To use AskFred you will need to set up a user account. Once you have an account it is quite simple to register for events. You can search for events by location, weapon, age category, etc.
Sanctioned and Unsanctioned tournaments
Sanctioned tournaments require fencers to have a CFF/BCFA license. If you do not have one, you can obtain one suing the “Become a Member” button on the BCFA website. Select “Competitive Provincial Membership” and “Competitive National Membership” options. Memberships must be renewed each September.
This is a new system and a bit squirrelly at the moment. If you have a CFF license it is wise to print out your registration and bring it to tournaments.
Unsanctioned tournaments do not require a license.
Age categories
Fencing competitions have age categories.
Fencing Canada provides the (somewhat confusing) details here:
https://fencing.ca/competition-age-categories/
CCFC regular membership age limit is for 13 years and up. This is the Senior category.
Some CCFC members might want to attend youth events. These are often held by OSM in Victoria and TFA in Pitt Meadows. Example: Cadet is for fencers at least 12 years old and under 17 years and Junior is for fencers at least 12 years old and under 20 years old.
Choosing the right event
Unsure where to start? Talk to one of the coaches at practice! Generally any of the the local OSM, UVIC and CCFC events are all a good place to compete! 🙂
Generally we promote events we think will interest many of our members. Want to attend more events? Willing to travel farther? You can find more events on AskFred!
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Important dates!
- No fencing on Monday, November 11
- No fencing Wednesday, December 4
- CCFC AGM Wednesday December 11 (at start of practice).
- Annual Gift Stealing Night: Wednesday December 11 (not to be missed!)
Info on AGM and Gift Stealing Night will be sent out later in November.
Halloween Photos!
Thanks to Grace for sending these photos from Halloween Fun Fencing Night to me!
END NOTES
(1) The ice cream is not actually sanctioned. However I like the idea of an ice cream competition at the Escrime Sundae.
Capital City Fencers' Club 