Hisham Abdelaziz put on a great referee seminar for referees and aspiring referees from several clubs in Iowa and the Midwest. He took us through USA Fencing’s standard refereeing topics and rules on Friday evening, and on Saturday he observed the referees officiating bouts in all three Olympic disciplines (foil, epee, and saber). Those who passed the written exam and did well in the practical portion can now referee at local tournaments!
January NAC Results
Cheryl and Kalina competed at the North American Cup in Kansas City last weekend (and made it out of the city alive and relatively on time!). In Veteran Women’s Epee (ages 40+), Cheryl finished 39th, and in Vet-50, she was 10th place! In Cadet Women’s Epee, Kalina ended 46th!
Full results: https://www.fencingtimelive.com/tournaments/eventSchedule/5DBF919C0C4D4299A4D1806EFC6F41E7#today
Coming to RDF Jan. 17-18: Referee Clinic with Hisham Abdelaziz
FIE referee Hisham Abdelaziz will run a referee clinic at the club on January 17-18. The Friday session is from 5-9 pm (please arrive 15 minutes early to get settled and take care of housekeeping items) and consists of lecture and discussion. This session is also available online. The 9 am-12 pm Saturday session will be observation for those who want to try to earn a rating. Those who aren’t interested in earning a rating are still welcome to attend and/or fence so that we have folks to referee!
More information is available on askFred.net: https://www.askfred.net/clinics/22fe0c4d-0966-4bee-8b8e-b0ea1f93df17
We strongly recommend looking at USA Fencing’s resources and information on becoming a referee: https://www.usafencing.org/become-a-referee
If you’re interested in taking the written exam (passing it is required in order to earn a rating), you have a 48-hour window to take it as many times as you want, so we recommend taking it once shortly before the Friday evening seminar, ask questions about concepts you didn’t understand during the seminar, and then you’ll have another shot at it afterwards.
Four Days of Fencing at the TCFC Winter Camp
A small group from RDF attended the annual Twin Cities Fencing Club Winter Camp this year: Kalina, Jack, Ava, James, Javy, and Sarah all participated in drills, bouting, games, and activities. We rented a big house that we shared with several fencers’ family members and some fencers from Lincoln, which lets everyone have their own space but also a common area and a kitchen. James’ family showed us how to make fresh spring rolls and pad see ew, Suzana was the dessert queen, coaches Kevin and Brad headed up taco night, and another night we ordered pizza and played around on a ninja warrior course and had a nerf battle (despite having spent 6 hours in the fencing gym already that day and being unable to navigate stairs without groaning)! All the fencers worked hard, and they gained a lot of experience fencing new/different people and thinking about fencing a little differently! Thanks to all the parents, organizers, and coaches from all the clubs who make the camp possible every year!
December Youth Tournament Results
We saw lots of great fencing at RDF during our December Youth (and Cadet and Junior) tournament last weekend, both from our fencers and a great group of kids that traveled in from Lincoln, NE! Parents and families did a great job being appropriately supportive, and the kids displayed good sportsmanship by cheering each other on, helping each other with equipment/water/snacks, and giving each other pointers in between bouts. We also had several kids step up to help referee!
In Y10 Epee, Natalie was 2nd and Quinton finished 3rd. In Y12, RDF kids James won the big gold chocolate coin, Tristan was 2nd, Liam tied for 3rd, Kai was 5th, Colton finished 6th, Javy was 7th, Oscar came in 8th, Lilly was 12th, and Robert ended 14th! Kalina won Y14, Tristan and James tied for 3rd, Ella finished 5th, Javy ended 6th, and Cole was 7th! In Cadet, Kalina was 1st, and Jackson was 3rd! Finally, in Junior Epee, Jack won gold, Ava took silver, and Kalina tied for bronze!
Full results: https://www.askfred.net/tournaments/19c4096d-7e8b-4c77-a237-3e830f5f37d7/results
Can’t wait to see everyone again at the next tournament!
Holiday Hours
We’re closed Dec. 24th-30th! Enjoy your holidays and break!
We’ll be back to regular hours starting Tuesday, Dec. 31st!
November to Remember Results
Two RDF fencers traveled to Lincoln, NE for the November to Remember, a tournament for those with ratings of D & under. (Here’s an explanation of the system for earning ratings.) Then Jack’s dad also decided to become an RDF fencer in order to fill out the ranks of the saber event, so we had 3 fencers on the way home! In the epee event, Jack tied for 3rd and renewed his E rating and Kalina finished 9th! In saber, Jack also tied for 3rd, and John was 6th.
Full results: https://www.askfred.net/tournaments/71796511-9746-436f-9153-fd180ecf6fbb/results
November NAC Results
At the North American Cup in Louisville, KY, Kalina tied for 176th in her first national-level event in the Cadet age group. She also fenced Y14 the next day and finished 80th.
Full results: https://www.fencingtimelive.com/tournaments/eventSchedule/25C7B11215AA40298E2A5132EA233367#today
AFM SYC Results
RDF fencer Ella was in California this weekend and fenced at the Super Youth Circuit tournament hosted by AFM. She fenced well against lots of new opponents and finished 48th in Y12 Women’s Epee!
Full results: https://fencingtimelive.com/events/results/678358775478433FAC032FD76E196806
Jack-O-Lantern Tournament Results
Javy, James, and Kalina fenced at DMFC’s Jack-O-Lantern tournament in West Des Moines today! James spent more time making clean, solid actions than he has in prior events and won Y14 Mixed Epee after a close 15-14 bout with Kalina (2nd), and Javy also really stepped up his game, tying for 3rd!
Full results: https://www.askfred.net/tournaments/f67b2cb4-d08b-4448-a2f5-cc5835bc8d4e/results
red door fencing 