HAPPY NEW YEAR

I hope this finds everyone in good spirits and relaxed from the holidays. Like all true addicts, we fenced throughout the holidays, only taking Christmas Day off (we have some standards!). There were 12 people fencing on Saturday, 1 January, and we had a great time (even if we had to fence foil). Lots of good things are happening for our club - we've been in the paper twice in the past month!

 

WE'RE FAMOUS (OR INFAMOUS, TAKE YOUR PICK)

The Mercury News has a weekly column titled "How I Stay Fit." I was the subject of the column on 26 December. Here's a link http://www.ralene.com/Mary/fencing/mrknews.pdf

The club was featured on the front and back pages of the Santa Cruz Style section of the Santa Cruz Sentinel on 8 January. Here's a link to it: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2005/January/08/style/stories/01style.htm

The UCSC campus radio station (KZSC) interviewed Eric Hansen last week, and he'll be the subject of an article in the campus newspaper City on the Hill in the coming weeks.

 

SPEAKING OF THE WEBSITE...

Have you looked at our website http://www.santacruzfencing.com. lately? Mark Hannah has done an incredible job of making us look professional and organized (not an easy feat some days).

 

YOUR VOTE COUNTS!

We need SSC members to vote on a track suit. We also need to know whether you're willing to pony up the money in advance. Once we get the track suits, Mark is going to have them silk screened with our logo (didn't know we had a logo, did ya?). Anyway, here's the track suit that's been proposed: http://www.newhorizonssoccer.com/soccer-warmups-prod.itml/icOid/382.

 

Reply to this email and tell me 1) do you like the proposed track suit? 2) if no, then propose an alternative 3) are you willing to pay for the suit in advance so we can get the volume discount?

 

Once we purchase the first batch of suits, we'll direct people who want their own suit to this site, let them purchase it on their own, and then we'll tell them how to get it silk screened. So if you don't buy now, you can buy in the future...but it'll be more expensive.

 

FOIL CLASSES STARTING IN TWO WEEKS

The beginning foil class will start at 6:30 PM on Monday, 24 January.

 

The advanced intermediate foil class will start at 6:30 PM on Wednesday, 26 January. The advanced intermediate foil class was a big hit - it benefited all levels of fencers.

 

Each class is $60 for six weeks and runs from 6:30 PM to 8 PM.

 

BIG TOURNAMENT IN TEN DAYS

Salle Santa Cruz is hosting C2MxE and C2MF events on Saturday, 22 January. The tournament will be held at the East Field House at UC Santa Cruz. 

 

The check-in time for the C2MxE will be 11 AM and the C2MF will be 2 PM.  We will have 6-7 strips with referees. There will be prizes for the top eight fencers in each event.

 

Parking is free at the university on Saturdays. 

 

Directions from San Jose: Take Highway 17 South to Santa Cruz. At the outskirts of Santa Cruz, take Highway 1 North (toward Half Moon Bay). On Business Highway 1 (Mission Street), travel approximately one mile north to Bay Street in Santa Cruz. Turn right on Bay and proceed up the hill to the main campus entrance. You will see signs for the East Field House on the right. If you are unable to find parking in the lot next to the East Field House, go back down Hagar Drive and park in the East Remote Parking Lot. Once you're at the East Field House, look for the signs leading you through the gate and down the stairs to the gym.

 

For you newbie fencers, this is the tournament for you! If you're thinking about competing, talk to Kevin and me so that we can start rounding up equipment - you'll need 2 body cords, 2 weapons, knickers, jacket, plastron, glove, and mask.

 

If you're not participating in the tournament, and you have some equipment you'd be willing to loan to the newbies, let me know.

 

SO I NEED VOLUNTEERS

I need people to help set up for the tournament at 9 AM on Saturday. We have to tape up the strips and set up the boxes. I could also use your help to take everything down...and I'm going to have pizza delivered at 6 PM for all helpers and directors. Let me know if you can come.

 

DIV II/III EPEE QUALIFIER TO SUMMER NATIONALS IS IN ONE MONTH!!

 

On Saturday, 12 February, we're hosting the Div II/III epee qualifiers for Summer Nationals.

 

Here are the events:

 

Veteran men's epee

Veteran women's epee

Senior Men's epee

Senior Women's epee

Team men's epee

Team women's epee

 

So you can see that we'll be busy! Here's an interesting fact - most of the people who normally run our tournaments will need to compete in this one so that they qualify for Nationals (which are being held in Sacramento this year). So we'll need to get some people who aren't going to participate in Summer Nationals to run this tournament. Please talk to me if you're sure that you're not going to participate in this tournament and can help run it.

 

The tournament will be held up at the UCSC gym again.

 

Here's another interesting fact - if you're over the age of 40, to ensure a place at Summer Nationals, just compete in the Veteran's events. That's it, and you're guaranteed a spot at the Nationals. If you're under 40, you have to place in the top 25% of the competitors. Since we're hosting the event, I encourage all of you to consider competing at this tournament since Sacramento is so close. You might be able to compete at Nationals!

 

I hoping that we field a couple of teams for the tournament as well. Start thinking about getting some club mates together for a team.

 

TWO ON TWO FENCING

Jeff Powell is performing magic on the boxes so that we'll be able to fence two on two some time in the next month. I'll let everyone know when it's ready, and we'll give it a try on one of the Saturday sessions.

 

DUEL IN THE DESERT HOTEL ROOM

I have two room reservations for the Flamingo hotel at $75 per night. The rooms are reserved for Friday and Saturday night, January 28 and 29. My sister has decided not to come, so I have an extra room. I could just cancel it, but since the room rate is so low, I figured I'd give everyone on this list an opportunity to grab it before I release it. Just let me know if you want it.