Fw: FenCen Champs results

[Vik Manuge]

Attached are the results, at last, of the Fencing Central Championships/Pacific Open Foil #1.  (Number 2 is being competed in Melbourne this weekend 5, 6 May 2007).  Vicci:  pls forward to William Braddell

 

The competition appeared to go well with minimal fuss or difficulties.  This was due, in a large part, to the good work put  in by HVFC Organising committee prior to the event and to (yet another) 2-day effort by Mihai Ifrim and Jeremy Peters who were Floor Controllers for the competition.  Many thanks to  everyone involved in organising before, during and after this competition.  Thanks too to those who were involved in billeting and transporting the visiting fencers and a special thank you to Wayne Cui and Grace Qiong for all the work  they did negotiating with Coach Li  from Shanghai Finance  University to have the SFU foilists attend the competition. 

 

Press coverage through the local regional newspapers was good.  Hutt News had a front page article and photograph and featured the competition on 3 other pages 2 days after the event.  Councillor Jamison and his wife attended the Gala "Foil Team Final" on behalf of  the Hutt City Mayor.  Councillor Jamison and his wife both said they had found the Teams Match a very exciting event to watch.  The fencing was good and the presence of the Shanghai Finance University Foilists at our competition gave NZ fencers an opportunity to compete against top-class foilists. 

 

I was delighted by the support and enthusiasm of the fencers who attended.  The only difficulty which I experienced (other than having to deal with blocked toilets and drains in the women's changing rooms) was that of budgeting for the event.  That was because of the large number of fencers who did not register by the due date for entries.  Five days after the entries closed I had received only 13 of the 22 eventual entries for the Men's Foil event.  We also had late entries in most other events.  This is only an issue when we depend on entries to pay hall hire and numbers and costs of medals.  Maybe it highlights the need for individuals to be more responsible about planning their lives and letting others know of  their plans?  Maybe it highlights the need for a competition-capable, fencing-specific venue?  With such a facility in each Region we could cater for people who want to roll out of bed in the morning and make a decision on whether they want to compete or not.  My wish is for it to  be as easy  as possible for fencers to compete in an event, while  at the same time making it as stress-free as possible for organisers.  To my mind other than getting a venue set up and tidied away afterwards, budgetary constraints are the biggest issue.  

 

I enjoyed being involved in the competition and want, again, to  thank everyone who assisted.  I'd like  to thank  the competitors for the very pleasant atmosphere and to congratulate them on their fencing.

 

Regards

Susan GT