Blog
Revamped Website!
It was time for a fresh website! We’ve cut down wording, updated details and images, and we hope it’s more user-friendly when viewed on mobiles.
Let us know what you think!
Cheers,
Coach Avery
2025 AGM - Tas Fencing Assoc.
The TFA AGM will be held on Tuesday, August 26th, 2025
Location: 148 Tolosa Street Hall
Time: 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Come and fence at the Glenorchy club session from 6:10 pm until 7:20 pm, then stay for the AGM!
Nominations are open for the following roles:
Senior Vice President
Junior Vice President
Public Officer
General Members
More info on the TFA site here: https://www.tasfencing.org.au/events/305179
State Epee Championships 2025 - Info
August 9th will see Tassie’s fencers coming together to test their skills at the 2025 Tasmanian Epee Championships.
See the TFA website for key information: https://www.tasfencing.org.au/events/305183
Term Three Information
Please see below for the Term 3 Details - correct at July 22nd, 2025.
Term Three!
We’re back!
Monday club resumed last night with 21+ fencers!
We welcomed newcomer Skye, who started learning Foil with Coach Daniel and Julia, Matt and Titia focused on their Sabre skills, and the rest of the fencers trained their footwork through the theme of “Exploiting Distance”, followed by a lot of bouting on and off the electrics.
Thank you to everyone who came along and made a great night of it!
Monday Session Times Change for Winter from June 2nd
Winter times for North Hobart change to 6 pm - 8 pm from June 2nd, 2025.
We have been given the option to change our North Hobart session times back to 6 pm - 8 pm for Winter, and the member poll was very clear that the earlier session times are what the majority of members want.
So, from Monday, June 2nd, 2025, our North Hobart club sessions will be held 6 pm - 8 pm until further notice.
Tonight's The Night!
Don’t forget to bring:
Sturdy, full-length pants with a bit of stretch (trackpants are a good choice).
Comfy, clean sneakers (no mud please!).
Drink bottle (you’ll need it!)
See you there!
Three Sleeps!
Our Tuesday club session resumes in THREE SLEEPS!
We are SO excited to kick off a fabulous year of fencing events, including beginner courses, tournaments, social events, and a huge celebration for our fourteenth birthday, and Tuesdays are the first session to resume!
Make sure you’ve washed your fencing gear, checked that everything’s packed, and have a drink bottle ready to go!
New to fencing, or haven’t fenced for a loooong time? It’s okay - we have gear for you to use!
Tuesdays:
Tolosa Street Hall
148 Tolosa Street
Glenorchy
Ages 8 - 11: 5 pm - 6 pm
Ages 12 and over: 6:10 pm - 8 pm
Bring: full-length, sturdy pants with some stretch, comfy sneakers, and a drink bottle.
Guest Epee Coach Naiara Aldana!
We are so excited to have this incredible opportunity for members seeking Epee lessons from a highly experienced international fencer!
Naiara will be here during Term One and she is offering 20-minute lessons for $40.
This is a fantastic opportunity to develop your fencing skills with an experienced international level fencer who has trained at Maestro Enrico di Ciolo’s club in Pisa, Italy, for twelve years.
Naiara is friendly and encouraging, and has years of experience fencing at FIE tournaments.
So we can make the most of having Naiara here, please email or text Coach Avery to discuss booking lessons with Naiara during club sessions.
Let’s level-up our fencing this term!
14th Birthday Celebrations - June 28th 2025
146 sleeps until we celebrate our fourteenth birthday! We actually started our beginner courses in May of 2011, but our official launch was on June 28th, 2011.
We’re still finalising the range of fun activities we’ll provide on the day, but there will definitely be fun for fencers and newcomers alike, including Come and Try sessions, a disco footwork session, and of course birthday cupcakes!
Watch this space for upates!
Term 1, 2025 Club Membership Registrations
We’re all set for a big year of skill-sharing and fencing fun!
The online registration form is below. Please only complete the form once for 2025 - if your details change, please let Coach Avery know immediately via email.
2025 Member Registration Form: https://forms.gle/UzPHcBayDBtPBLQYA
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:
Sydney International Fencing Camp, Jan 3 - 11 (Epee and Foil)
Hi folks,
Several of our fencers and one coach are attending this camp in January 2025.
The camp is suitable for everybody - they’ll sort attendees into skill levels to ensure everyone receives the best possible fencing development.
https://susf.com.au/sydney-international-fencing-camp/
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.
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