Term One 2025 Details

Term One is fast approaching and Coach Avery finally has the details organised.

If you have any friends who’re keen to have a go at fencing, NOW (well, in a couple of weeks) is the time! We’ll have beginner courses on Mondays (7 pm - 8:30 pm), and on Saturdays (1:30 pm - 3 pm).

See below for the dates and fees for club membership.

Beginner course details will be posted shortly.

Sydney International Fencing Camp 2025

Where do we start?

Bill Ronald OAM OLY and his team put together an incredible eight-day fencing camp for Foilists and Epeeists this year. Maestro Enrico di Ciolo, Maestra Virginia di Franco, and their three assistants (Nicol, Tommaso, and Giulio) came all the way from Italy to work with the athletes and coaches to help everybody to improve their skills.

Our Head Epee Coach Avery Holderness-Roddam attended for the coaching professional development program, and our fencers Abi, Quincy, Noah and Tim attended as athletes.

Each day was action-packed and there was so much knowledge-sharing.

Our fencers gave 100% and truly rose to the occasion.

Coach Avery attained his Oceania Fencing Confederation Epee Coach Level 2 qualification.

The five Tasmanians returned on Sunday feeling tired and excited to share their skills with the Tasmanian fencing community when club opens in February.

L-R: Avery, Nicol, Tim, Quincy, Tommaso, Giulio, Noah and Abi.

2024 Brian Sibson State Foil Championships

Saturday, November 23rd, saw twelve Tasmanian Foilists come together at Tarremah Steiner School in the South of the state to compete in the Novice and/or Open Senior events.

DT’d by Karina Halys, and with volunteer referees (Emil, Daniel, Isaac and Tim), volunteer score-keeper (Jacqui), volunteer and photographers (Alma - 8 years old - and Avery), the tournament ran smoothly and had a lovely, friendly atmosphere.

The tournament’s namesake, Brian Sibson, stayed for the whole day both spectating and providing valuable coaching insight. Everybody shared a delicious cheesecake to mark his October birthday belatedly.

We had the pleasure of meeting friends and loved ones of some of our fencers. :)

Our Novices all fenced so well, with only a couple of points between places after their pool. Both semi-finals were close - won 10-9! In the end, Tom emerged as the 2024 Novice Champion - in spite of having begun fencing at the start of this term!

There were eleven entrants for the Mixed Open Seniors event. Three of our novices entered, putting up a good fight. After several hours of energetic and sometimes very tense fencing, Karina emerged as the 2024 Open Champion, having beaten Noah in their Finals match, and prior to that narrowly beating Quincy by one point in their Semi-final.

Final results:

Mixed Novice:

1st: Tom Galpin

2nd: Willem Harrison-Narraway

3rd: Newton Jones

4th: Vienna Rule

Mixed Open Seniors

1st: Karina Halys

2nd: Noah Clarke

3rd: Isaac Laredo

=3rd: Quincy Green Carlos

5th: Daniel Muller

6th: Tim Harvest

7th: Ashley Collison

8th: Titia Bohlken

9th: Newton Jones

10th: Vienna Rule

FOR PHOTOS FROM THE EVENT, VISIT OUR FACEBOOK PAGE AT THIS LINK:

Club Facebook Page

October Update!

It’s been a busy few months for the club!

Quincy attended his first National event - the National Cadet (U17) Champs in Sydney.

Quincy attended his first Open Nationals - AFC #1 - in Perth.

Tim attended his first Fencing Victoria B-Grades Seniors Epee in Melbourne.

Coach Avery collected a pre-loved Tarago from Sydney. This will make transporting club equipment much easier!

Noah, Tim, Quincy, and Titia have been training hard to prepare for AFC #2 Nationals in Melbourne at the end of October.

This will be Tim and Titia’s first National tournament!

Abi, Quincy, and Noah have registered to attend the Sydney International Fencing Camp in January 2025 as athletes, and Coach Avery has registered to attend for coaching development.

Term Four details are out - if you didn’t receive an email please contact Coach Avery so he can send you one.

Tim Harvest (left) fences Victorian David Lee  at FV B-Grade Senior Epee, October 2024.

September/October Snaps

Some snaps from September & October; club footwork, Quincy at AFC #1 in Perth, Tim at Fencing Victoria B-Grades Senior Epee in Melbourne, and Max’s new Quokka friend, Floreat.

Tas Epee Championships!

On June 29th, Tassie’s competitive fencers will gather in Huntingfield to fence in the 2024 TFA Inc State Epee Championships.

Caterogies:

  • Open

  • U20

  • U15

  • U12

  • Veterans (40+)

  • Novice - U15

  • Novice - Open

Fencers can only fence in one age category, for example, if a fencer is eligible for U15 and they want to fence in U20, they must select which event they will compete in. This is in line with other states. and prevents the tournament from running late due to fencers attempting to compete in multiple categories that are being fenced at once.

1 x category: $25
2 x categories: $40

Entrants must also be financial members of the Tasmanian Fencing Association to enter:
U18: $20
18+: $40
Enter here: www.tasfencing.org.au

2024!

Happy New Year everyone!

2023 was a big year and we’re gearing up for an even bigger year in 2024!

Coach Avery had been busy planning sessions, ordering medals, making a display at the Kingston Library, and lots more!

Term One details are up and registrations for our Term One beginner courses are open!

The club resumes on the following dates:

Tuesdays: Feb 13th

Saturdays: Feb 17th

Mondays: Feb 19th

See the ‘Fees’ page for term fees.

Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram for regular updates. :)

We can’t wait to see everyone!

Best wishes,
The VDFC Team