Preparing for foil competitions
Some people fence purely for their own enjoyment and for the social occasion of meeting and training with friends at the club. However, if you have been fencing for a while, say for about a year, you might like to consider entering a competition. Alternatively, if the coaches at the club feel you are ready for competition they may ask if you would be interested in being selected to compete for Camden Fencing Club.
To be ready to compete, ideally you should first speak to one of the club's coaches to ask for their advice on preparation. The competition days, while great fun, can be very intense. Depending on the number of entries you can find that you are fighting in ten or more matches in the poule rounds in the morning followed by a direct elimination round after lunch. So to get the most enjoyment out of competing you should make sure you are up to a good enough standard.
You might like to consider preparing for competitions by attending two coaching sessions during the week instead of just one. There are sessions that are primarily aimed at helping fencers improve and prepare for competitions. Ask the coaches or Ronald Velden at the club for more details.
There are different competition series that you can enter. The one that is most popular for Camden fencers is the Leon Paul series.
Competition organising committee
Camden has a competition organising committee to help co-ordinate entry and preparation for foil (and sabre) competitions. If you would like more information about competing you can speak to Karen Martinez (Eva's mum), who is the foil co-ordinator. You can usually her on either Monday or Friday nights at the club or by email at Karen Martinez
If there are enough Camden fencers attending an event then the organising committee try to get Camden coaches to attend the competition. In addition, the club is obliged to provide referees if more than three fencers are entered. All this means that those competing are asked to chip in to pay for the coaches and referees - usually an extra £15 on top of the entry fee. The entry fees vary but are usually £10 for each event.
A couple of weeks prior to a competition, entry forms will be made available so that the organising committee can gauge how many fencers are likely to enter.
The club is sometimes asked if parents can send their children and not go themselves to a competition; this is not a good idea. The adult who takes your child may have a child competing on another piste or in a different hall and will not be available to help or support your child and they will effectively be on their own. Unless the fencer is mature, and experienced at attending competitions, attending events on their own can be disconcerting and daunting.
The coaches and referees cannot be responsible for any individual as they have to divide their time between all CFC fencers.
British Fencing Association Membership
In order to compete in the Leon Paul, Premier or British Youth Championships, you must first get BFA membership. You should aim to organise this before attending a competition but some tournaments allow you to join on the day. If you visit the useful links section of the Camden Fencing Club site you can access the BFA site for information on joining. Once you have joined, you must take your membership card with you to any events you are competing in. The categories for membership are:
Junior Member (Over 13 but U20) £30
Benefits include:
Personal accident (cover limited for under 16) & civil liability insurance cover; the Sword magazine; attend BFA courses and obtain BFA awards.
Competitions:
All relevant British and International events, including County & Region events
Novices Championships
Winton Cup
All Open events
All relevant age group events at County and Region competitions, British Age Group Championships & Public School Championships including U20 Championships.
Musketeer Member (U13) £25
Benefits include:
Personal accident (limited cover) and civil liability insurance cover, attend BFA courses and obtain BFA award, the Sword magazine
Competitions:
County and Region events
British Age Group Championships, relevant age group events
Public School Championships
Membership Application
For individual membership of British Fencing please apply using application forms on the BFA website.
Equipment
When you first start to compete, you can borrow equipment from Camden Fencing Club by arrangement with the coaches. However, you will need to buy your own breeches and long socks. If you intend to continue competing, you should aim to buy your own equipment. You will need:
BreechesSocks (long white over knee)
Trainers
Plastron
Jacket (ideally front zipped to allow you to cool off between poules)
Lamé
2 foils (see sizes required below)
2 body wires
Mask
Refreshments during competitions
Usually there are light refreshments and sandwiches available to buy during competitions but do not rely on this. In many cases it may be best to bring your own picnic. Ideally, you should bring energy drinks and high carbohydrate snacks - bananas, chocolate and the like - to keep energy levels up through the day. Avoid fizzy drinks which may be high in sugar - they may give a quick burst of energy but will quickly burn out!
There is always a lot of waiting around on competition days and it is a good idea to bring some light-weight folding camping chairs. Please bear in mind that since the competitions are held in sports halls, soft-soled or sport shoes should be worn by those watching as well as those competing.
If you leave the hall to eat, do make sure someone is listening out for announcements. If your name is called to compete in a poule or direct elimination round and you are not available, you may be eliminated!
Leon Paul Junior Series Competitions
This series, which is sponsored by Leon Paul - one of the largest (if not the largest) fencing equipment suppliers in the UK - is probably the best known in the country for U9, U11, U13, U15 and U17 age groups for boys and girls. It is an excellent introduction to competition.
During the year, there are two team events - Bristol and London - and 10 individual events. You should aim to take part in four individual events during the year to obtain a ranking in the Junior Series. Competitors can attend more than four events but their best results from four only will be used in the Leon Paul ranking.
There are other competition series, such as the Premier Series, but Camden Fencing Club prepares fencers for the Leon Paul Series.
If your LPJS number is not filled in correctly, you will not receive the appropriate points for the event, and it might not be possible to correct mistakes at a later date.
Competition format:This format is the one that organisers will generally follow. However, this is not fixed and there may be variations depending on how the event is organised and the number of fencers. When you arrive at competitions, you should listen carefully for your age group to be called and the procedure for the poules round should be explained.
All fencing will be electric and generally, there will be two rounds of poules, the results of which will be used to seed for the subsequent direct elimination. In U9 competitons, there may be no direct elimination round but poules throughout instead.
Scoring and timing during poules:U9 & U11's; 5 hits, maximum of 3 minutes fencing. U13, U15, U17; 5 hits, maximum of 3 minutes fencing.
Scoring and timing during direct elimination: U9 first to 8 hits, maximum of 6 minutes with a rest after each 2 minutes. U11 & U13's; 10 hits, maximum of 6 minutes with a rest after each 2 minutes. U15, U17 & U19's; 15 hits, maximum of 9 minutes with a rest after each 3 minutes.
Maximum blade size: U9: Foil size 0, U11 & U13s: Foil size 3, U15, U17 & U19s: Size 5 for all weapons.
Points will be awarded for each event as follows (they will be published on the Leon Paul website::
First place = points
Second place = points
Third place = points
Fourth place = 21 points
And so on, down to 24th place.
British National Youth Championships
The Youth Championships are run by the British Fencing Association. To take part in the Championships, which are held once a year, fencers must qualify in their geographical region. For London, for example, the qualifiers were held on 12th November 2006 to take part in the Finals on 20th/21st January 2007.
Boys and Girls can compete in U10, U12, U14, U16 and U18 age groups.
Dates for the 2007 Regional qualifying competition will be announced later in the year.
According to information on the BFA website "Fencers may only enter the Regional event in the geographical region where they have their home address, or where they regularly attend a fencing club within the region. Fencers may only enter a qualifying event in one region in any season".
Qualification is calculated on 1 in 4, or part of 4, of those fencers actually fencing in the qualifying competition with a minimum number of 4. Please note that fencers who enter, but do not fence, are not counted in this total; this includes fencers eligible for byes.
Any fencer who reached The British Direct Elimination Final of 8 in previous year's Championships may claim a bye in next year's Championships at the same weapon, regardless of age group. Fencers claiming a bye must enter the Region Qualifying Competition, but need not fence. Wherever they finish in the Region Competition, they count in calculating the number of qualifiers but do not take a qualifying place, this includes finalists from the U10 events.