THE COACHES

We are the only Tasmanian fencing club with Australian Fencing Federation accredited coaches.
All of our coaches have their Registration to Work with Vulnerable People checks, AIS Community Coaching General Principles certification and have current First Aid and CPR training. Coaches Karina and Avery have also completed their Mental Health First Aid training with Mental Health First Aid Australia.

Coaches Avery Holderness-Roddam and Karina Halys offer individual and group lessons, taster sessions and demonstrations.

In 2021 Coaches Avery and Karina completed their next coaching levels in Epee (Avery) and Foil (Karina), as well as participating in an online Foil coaching seminar run by the Oceania Fencing Confederation on behalf of the International Fencing Federation (FIE).

In 2021, Coach Avery completed an online para-fencing coaching course run by IWAS Wheelchair Fencing.

In addition to Coach Karina completing her Level One refereeing course with the Australian Fencing Federation via Fencing Victoria in 2019, Karina and Avery both completed a refereeing seminar series run by the Oceania Fencing Confederation in 2021.

In 2017 Coach Avery completed an IOC and AOC Elite Epee Coaching course with Maitre Daniel Levavasseur.

Coach Avery launched Van Diemen Fencing Club in 2011 with the vision of creating a thriving fencing community in Tasmania. His primary sword is the Epee, which he began fencing alongside Sabre and Foil in 2000. He has won medals both nationally and overseas and opted to focus primarily on Epee in approximately 2003, although he has returned to casual Foil and Sabre training with Coach Karina and Ben, our Sabre coach-in training.

In 2011/2012 Coach Karina joined VDFC, bringing with her years of experience fencing Foil and Epee in Germany.
Coach Karina has been a huge benefit to the club and is currently working with a group of Veteran Foilists (amongst other students) who intend to compete interstate once state borders are less unpredictable.

Assistant Coach Finlay Semmens helped coach at our Tuesday Junior Club for several years, and he runs warm-ups and footwork sessions regularly at the Senior Tuesday sessions. Fin also helped to run fencing classes at New Town High School in 2018.

Assistant Coach Ish is very patient and helps us with the Junior Club on Tuesdays. He is clearly the favourite out of the coaches and he definitely motivates our young fencers to try harder.

Assistant Coach Ben has brought his wealth of Sabre knowledge with him from Sydney, where he trained in high school under the now National Foil Coach, Antonio Signorello. Ben is working towards his coaching accreditation as well as completing his PhD!

Assistant Coach Tim not only stays back with Assistant Coach Tash to make sure everything is packed up and in the van for Coach Avery on Saturdays, but he also runs leg-killingly good footwork sessions and is working towards his coaching accreditation.

Assistant Coach Emil coached Sabre and Foil at the Tasmanian University Fencing Club for over a decade before he made the move to VDFC in 2021. He completed his first Epee coaching level at the same time as Coaches Karina and Avery and now works with Ben to run the Sabre sessions on Saturdays.

Assistant Coaches Tash and Nat will be cutting their teeth on VDFC coaching from July 2021 when they help Coach Avery run the inaugural Women and Girls’ Learn to Fence course on Saturdays. Tash is learning all three swords and aims to eventually coach primarily in Sabre, and Nat has been coaching Foil at the Tasmanian University Club for several years now and is working towards her coaches accreditation too. They are both lovely role models and we hope that having more women in leadership roles will help encourage more women and girls to try this magnificent sport.

The coaches absolutely love teaching the skills of the sport to fencers of any level and they encourage you to have a go, regardless of your age or fitness level.

THE CLUB

We are a friendly and inclusive club with members past and present aged from 7 to 86+. We have both social and competitive members ranging from beginners to State reps and ex-National reps. We value diversity and seek to make the club a safe space for EVERYONE. In July 2021 we will run our inaugural LGBTIQA+ and Women and Girls’ Learn to Fence courses at our Saturday venue in Huntingfield.

Van Diemen Fencing Club always welcomes new members, from beginners to experienced fencers. We love travelling fencers who drop by too!

We run weekly sessions in Glenorchy (Tuesdays) and Huntingfield (Saturdays), as well as regular tournaments, Summer camps, State Squad sessions, social events and trips interstate for our fencers.

Sabre, Epee and Foil are all available to enjoy at the club.

In 2011, our Guest Coach was French Sabreur, Magalie LeDu.
In Feb-March 2015, our Guest Coach was Henry de Silva of the UK.

Since its launch in 2011, VDFC has built-up the fencing community in Southern Tasmania through the tireless work of its coaches and volunteers. The club has taken fencers interstate for tournaments since 2015, and had three fencers win medals at national tournaments in 2018-2019. Due to Covid making things a bit tricky we are postponing our interstate trips for tournaments for the time being but we’re training hard so we’re ready to fence interstate again once the time is right.

Coach Avery is very passionate about building the profile of the sport in Tasmania, and regularly runs sessions for schools and community groups.

In 2011 Avery was lucky enough to have the support and advice of seasoned mentors such as ACTFA's Hans Dimpel and Fencing Victoria's Pieter Leeuwenbergh; not to mention nationally respected armourer, Jeff Gray, who ensured the club's first Epees were in working condition and supplied the club's first scoring apparatus.

After one year the venue was too small for the growing number of members and, after searching for the perfect home for a while, Van Diemen Fencing Club took up permanent residence at the Tolosa Street Hall in 2014. This new venue was thanks to member Jeff Bronstein, who organised a meeting for himself and Avery with the GCC and Andrew Wilkie, who advocated for the club to have a new home.

In Term Two of 2019 the club launched a second location in Blackmans Bay and was thrilled at the positive response from the local community. In Term Four of 2020, the club moved the Saturday venue to the hall at Tarremah Steiner School up the hill in Huntingfield and we hope to remain there for many years to come.

VDFC played a large role in establishing the Tasmanian Fencing Association (TFA Inc) and is working hard towards acquiring a permanent venue so the level of training available to Tasmanian fencers can be increased substantially.

In 2023 the club launched their Monday sessions in Hobart at the previously Tas Uni Fencing Club due to the closing of TUFC.

“Hell hath no fury like a woman with a sword!”

— Fencing T-shirt

THE TEAM

Avery Holderness-Roddam, Founder and Head Epee Coach

Karina Halys, Head Foil Coach and Epee Coach

Georgie Holderness-Roddam, Miracle worker, mascot-puppy sitter, equipment maintenance, patient mother,

Robert Holderness-Roddam, Fencing jacket washer, document typist, patient father

Titia Bohlken, Trainee Sabre Coach (working towards her accreditation)

Daniel Muller, Trainee Foil Coach (working towards his accreditation)

Emil Kavic, Assistant Foil/Sabre Coach (working towards his accreditation)

Tim Harvest, Assistant Referee

Isaac Laredo, Assistant Foil Coach (working towards his accreditation)

Abi Yates VDFC event poster artist

Finn McKenna VDFC Club logo and badgesdesigner