Change
All satellite events are now in the ranking

Why
The reason for the change is to allign our WC selection criteria to the ranking system. Presently we stipulate that fencers succed in Satellites before they fence in WC's. However, they do not win ranking points for this effort/expense.

Current system:

A - Flagship Domestic (Nationals and Irish Open), Merseyside plus nominated events.
B - Domestic comps (Souths, EoI, Vinnie, Derry, NIR Open, West, etc)
C - Novice comps (Inters, Student)

SA included System:

SA - Satellite events and Welsh Open (for WS, WF)
A - Flagship domestic plus Merseyside
B - Domestic comps
C - Novice comps

(Welsh open is kept as WF and WS have few satellite events) The points would be distributed as per the attached document. However, weightings in summary;

Satellite - 3
Flagship/Mersey - 1.5
Domestic - 1
Novice - 0.66

Example of change:
In 2009 Anna Smith gained 30 points for a L16 in the Welsh Open. That is the same as a semi-final in the Fed Foil. If the result were repeated in 2010, Anna would gain 60pts, the same coming 2nd in the NIR Open.

In 2009 Owen made the 1/4final of Amsterdam, winning 38points, the same as winning silver in the Vinnie Duffy. In 2010, were the result repeated, Owen would win 75pts, a few less than the silver at the Irish Open

It is impossible to allign all comps. However, I think this is an improvement.

Note: The best 6 results will still be used to calculate results.

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A group of Transition Year and 5th Year students have just completed an 18 week exercise programme called "Girls In Action". The programme, a joint initiative run by the HSE and Louth Sports Partnership, aimed to provide opportunities for teenage girls to participate in non-competitive activities. The Sacred Heart girls hip-hopped and salsa danced their way through Zumba Fitness workouts,did their best impressions of Musketeers during Fencing classes and worked to the core in Pilates sessions. The girls really enjoyed the programme and here are the pictures to prove it.

Full Details...

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A good w/e for Irish Sabre:

• Owen McNamee - L32 Venezuela A grade (25th)
• Steve Concanon - L16 Newcastle satellite. (15th)

A great result for Owen who had four poule victories, beat a member of the Japanese squad in the L64 DE, then a defeat to the world #19.

Steve's L16 is the second L16 this season in a strong British competition. It is also his second L16 at satellite.

Venezuela results in full:
http://www.fie.ch/Competitions/ResultsList.aspx?Key=E49098E23A3E1C9591FFA116CF86DA25

Newcastle results in full:
http://www.fie.ch/Competitions/ResultsList.aspx?Key=87D9878DB373466C8F39ACC7972FDECB

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Chris Mooney Silver medal in MS
Jack McHugh L8 MS

Chris Cooke Bronze in MF
Declan Gibbons L8 MF

Maria Treacy L8 WF

All WS L8

Full Results

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Thanks to a personal pledge secured by our President, Tom Rafter, the Federation is in a position to assist ambitious young fencers willing to travel overseas for suitable training camps.

There will be a total of €3,000 available per annum from the Federation on the basis of the fencers travelling spending at least €1,500 themselves. The Federation's contribution is being funded 50/50 between the donor and our own resources.

The number of fencers supported in this fashion will depend on the quality of the applications and their suitability. The applications will be adjudicated upon by the Selectors, but we would envisage that we could assist about five such fencers.

If you would like to be considered for this funding, please fill in the following PDF, FundingApplication.pdf, and return the IFF at the address on the left along with any supporting documentation, or fill in our on-line form.

Closing date for applications: 14 June 2010

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In conjunction with Coaching Ireland, the IFF has developed a Coaching Development Programme, with certification. Certified Coaches will be included on the Irish Fencing Coaches Register which will be published on this website. The first pilot course Level 1 will be held over 3 weekends during the early summer and those interested in commencing or furthering their coaching skills are cordially invited to take part.

For more information, please see our Coaching Section

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Daniel Corcoran with 1 victory against a Russian failed to progress today to the DE round. He was placed 35 out of 43 competitors in Mens Sabre.

Nuala McGarrity in Gdansk

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Congratulations to the Irish Combined Team which came 3rd in the annual match with England, Scotland and Wales on 24/5 April. We had 7 weapon victories: Womens Foil 1, Mens Foil 2, Womens Sabre 1 and Womens Epee 3. England had 14 victories, Scotland 11 and Wales 4. Next year this event will be held in Wrexham in Wales.

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It's with a great deal of regret that we have to announce the closure of Boyne Valley Fencing Club.

Unfortunately, membership numbers are well below what the club requires to be viable. The principle reason, we think, was the lack of a reliable venue since Christmas which hit both the January intake and retention of those who started in September. However, due to pressure from my career, I also acknowledge that I have not been able to dedicate as much time as wished to make the club succeed.

For those members that took out a full year's membership, we will offer a 70% refund. We will also keep you informed if we manage to secure a venue for the summer for both BVFC and DkIT Fencing clubs.

If you have personally bought equipment I will also try my best to find buyers should you wish to sell on.

John, Emma, Chris and myself would like to thank you for your support in trying to make the club happen. As discussed last week, the final training session will be 27th April.

Regards,
Marcos Simpson

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MF	ME	MS	WF	WE	WS
QUAD
Deaglan Gibbons ©	Colm Flynn ©	Stephen Concannon ©	Maria Treacy ©	Hannah Lowry O'Reilly ©	Aoife O'Loughlin ©
Ned Mitchell	Alex Kelly	Chris Mooney	Caoimhe Delaney	Lorraine McGill	Emma Foy
Chris Cooke	Aidan Clarke	Jack McHugh	J Jennings	Marianne van Dijk	Carrie McEneaney
IFF Representative: Colm Flynn
--::--
5-NATIONS
Conor Nagle ©	Colm Flynn ©	Stephen Concannon ©	Anna Smith ©	Olga Velma ©	Maoliosa Donnelly ©
Evgeniy Kazantsev	Yves Carnec	Chris Mooney	Sarah Steacy	Hannah Lowry-O'Reilly	Eimear Counihan
Chris Cooke	Alex Von Rakowski	Ali Mahdavirad	Caoimhe Delaney	Donna Donnelly	Aoife O'Loughlin
	David Cahill	John McCabe		Natalya Coyle	Emma Foy
Overall Team Captain: Conor Nagle
IFF Representatives: Tom Rafter, Nuala McGarrity

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Ulysse Coneys performed well at the European Cadets in Mens Epee this week in Athens. With 3 victories in his first round pool, he went straight through to the last-64 as 46th seed (out of 101 fencers). In his last-64 DE match he met 19th seed Russian Abramiuk and, although he fenced well was defeated 15-10.

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IFF Training Day (foil and epee) will be held at Rathdown School, Glenageary, Co. Dublin on Sunday 14th March, 2010 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Coach: Tristan Parris. Cost: 25 Euro to licensed fencers. Email applications to: stating foil or epee

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The results of the recent Merseyside Open which was supported by a good contingent of Irish fencers can be found on the MOFT 2010 website below.

http://www.moft.co.uk/

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Following qualification at Junior World Cups this weekend, Owen McConnell (ME), Raisa Greer (WE) and Brendan Cusack (MF) will join David Burnside (ME) at the Junior World Championships at Baku, Azerbaijan at Easter. Ulysse Coneys (ME) is the only competitor at Cadet level.

Link to Calendar

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Update of calendar - Five Nations 2010 will be held on 19 June, 2010 at the Hertfordshire Sports Village, de Havilland Campus, Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Venue is convenient to both Luton and Stansted. Estimated start time 1 p.m. finishing about 6.30 - 7 p.m. Therefore, travel possible on Saturday morning with only 1 night accommodation necessary.

Date has been set on a once-off basis at this time due to Commonwealth Fencing Championships.

Link to Calendar

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Document below gives details of the Boyne Valley Fencing Club's new 10 week beginner course starting on 2nd Feb 2010

Boyne_Valley_Fencing_Club_background.pdf

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Dan Corcoran achieved a L16 in his first ever World Cup at Kish Island A-Grade in Iran. This is the best result from an Irish male sabreur in recent history.

Andrew Fenwick equalled the result in Men's Epee.

Well done to both!

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In connection with the hosting of the 2011 World Championships by the city of Catania, Sicily, the organisers are running a competition open to all fencers to submit their ideas for a mascot of the Championships. The prize for the winner will be an expenses paid trip to the World Championships in Catania in 2011 together with a cash prize of 10,000 Euro.

For full details, follow the link ....
http://www.siciliascherma.it/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=39&lang=en&Itemid

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Delighted to announce that Louth Sports Partnership has allocated Boyne Valley Fencing Club funding to buy a full set of scoring equipment.

To date we have been gratefully using spools, box and leads from DkIT Sabre Club. However, this will really enable Boyne Valley to continue developing.

BVFC has recently completed its inaugural ten week introductory course, teaching children and adults the basics of Sabre Fencing. Feedback has been very promising - the vast majority of the beginners are continuing in the club and we have scheduled for a new course to run in January.

Boyne Valley Fencers make their first venture into competition at the Irish Open this week-end, preparation for which has been two friendly matches vs DKIT.

Emma Foy and John McCabe are also continuing to teach Sabre in a number of schools in the Louth / Meath area and are getting involved with Louth Sports Partnership training courses.

Marcos

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