Cheryl traveled to Seattle, WA for a veteran (ages 40+) tournament and finished 12th after a close defeat. She was pleased with the fact that she used a skill she’d been working on in lessons at the tournament – always a good feeling!
Full results: https://www.fencingtimelive.com/events/results/3649BBE85839434C8D5FA6F9B61EF504
Five of our fencers had a blast at the Twin Cities Fencing Club’s annual Winter Camp between Christmas and New Year’s! We spent four days working in the gym with friends old and new, and we came back with lots to continue working on at home.
Six fencers, plus coaches Kevin and Sarah and some fencers’ family members traveled to St. Paul, MN for the annual Twin Cities Fencing Club Winter Camp. We rented a big old house where everyone had space to socialize or chill out away from the group as needed.
Huge thank you to Suzana (Kalina’s mom) for helping us get food, shuttling people around, and taking care of miscellaneous things that came up! We’re also grateful to the leaders of segments of the camp, those working in the background to make it all happen, and all of the athletes who came and fenced with us.
Fencing-wise, the goal of the camp was to create a foundation for successful fencing, which means a lot of work on some core skills that will us to “survive” longer in bouts and from which we can build the rest of our game. The pandemic had us fencing a much smaller group of people than usual, and it was great to practice with a variety of unfamiliar fencers! We also spent some time on developing a warm-up routine, building some muscles we may have been neglecting, and thinking about how to handle some of the psychological aspects of a competitive environment. We saw noticeable improvement in all of our fencers and we think they got a lot out of it.
In addition to the fencing, we enjoyed getting to see old friends, making new friends, cooking, eating, playing games, going rock climbing (because all day in a fencing gym wasn’t enough physical activity, apparently), and hanging out together!
The Des Moines Register covered the Duel in Des Moines a few weeks ago and here’s the finished product from reporter Rachel E. Stassen-Berger and photographer Kelsey Kremer: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2022/09/26/des-moines-fencing-red-door/7877299001/
They did a great job on the article and took lots of cool pictures! It’s always fun to introduce new people to fencing and we appreciate their interest in our sport!
Summer National Championships in Minneapolis have begun! Here’s when RDF is competing:
Sat. 7/2: Div 1A WE – Sarah
Tues. 7/5: Vet 50 WE – Cheryl
Thurs. 7/7: Div 2 ME – Daniel, Jack
Fri. 7/8: Div 2 WE – Ava, Sarah; Y14 ME – Jack
Sat. 7/9: Div 3 ME – Jack
Sun. 7/10: Y10 WE – Kalina
Mon. 7/11: Div 3 WE – Ava
Follow the competition with Live Results here: https://fencingtimelive.com/tournaments/eventSchedule/1284FEA0552D485AB5148798185B8CA1#today
Live Video: https://www.youtube.com/user/USAFencing/videos
Our vendor, Embark Ink, has opened the gear store again and orders are due June 22! There are several new items that fencers have requested – check it out here: https://embark-rdf-107802.square.site/
Looking for RDF gear? The store is back – featuring NEW warm-up jackets – and orders are due Wednesday, Dec. 8. Check it out here: https://embark-rdf-107802.square.site/
Based on feedback from people who signed up for the tournament, it’s important that we are able to open it to fencers from outside the Iowa Division and that people have the opportunity to earn/renew their classification (rating). Rescheduling for October is our best chance at doing this, due to USA Fencing’s policy of division-locking of sanctioned events continuing through September.
We’ve submitted a request to DMPS to rent a parking garage. We went and looked, and two levels have sufficiently high ceilings and the concrete is in satisfactory condition. We think this is the best way to get good airflow but also minimize the chance of weather-related cancellation. We have also talked to our referees and while some will not be able to participate, there is enough interest in refereeing that we think we’ll be okay there.
On the plus side, this gives everyone more time to practice!
We’re doing another gear order through EmbarkInk! Order deadline is March 8 and gear will be available for pickup at the club starting March 24 (so you can have it for the Equinox Epee tournament). There are also a few new items!
We’re please to announce that we’ve opened an online store where you can buy RDF-branded t-shirts, sweatshirts, and hoodies just in time for the holidays! The order deadline is Sunday, Dec. 8, 2019, and items will be available for pickup at the club during our regular hours starting on Tuesday, Dec. 17.
red door fencing 