July 25, 2005

The Games of Texas in Waco and few thoughts from Summer Nationals

I can't believe it! We went down to Waco for the Games of Texas this weekend and brought back some seriously good results. The Games are a tournament at the end of the season, when a lot of competitors are off on vacation, but always a fun experience. The truely diehard competitors always come out for it, and if its a tournament that is a little small sometimes, there are always enough good fencers there to make it a tough event. And our fencers did so well!

We had four competitors travel down, three competed in Men's Sabre (TJ, Wes and Mitch - all in their first tournament), and one in Women's Sabre (Kate). TJ had a good showing for someone who has been fencing barely 3 months. Wes and Mitch both fenced extrodinarily well for their first event, and ended up well positioned after the first round. They both won their first direct elimination bouts, and made the round of 8! Mitch even almost beat Ray Sexton, one of the most experienced and toughest competitors our region can offer, loosing 14-15 in what was a VERY well fenced bout. Because of their great performance, Wes and Mitch both earned an "E" rating - the first rankings ever earned by CEFC fencers! In the Women's event, Kate fenced the best pool she's had so far, and won her first DE bout - the first one she's done. Its obvious the extra training she's been putting in has paid off. I am confident that all four of these competitors will continue to have great performances for some time to come!

Also, a couple of weeks ago, I was in Sacramento, California for the USFA Summer Nationals as a referee. I had the opportunity to referee a number of really exciting bouts in all the weapons, and was promoted to the next level of referee ranking - a 4!