Fencing North East News

This weekend was the turn of the Region's veterans to bring some home some great results! At the National Veteran Age Groups in Milton Keynes, Carole Seheult of Durham won a Bronze medal in the Cat. 4 Women's Epee and Duncan Rolwands from Gateshead came 5th in the Cat. 1 Veteran's International event in Lille! For Carole this is a step nearer to World Veteran Championship selection that happends in the Autumn and hoping to secure a place at the National's in Gloscester in March.

Two of our Region's rising stars have been selected to represent Scotland at this year's Junior Commonwealth Fencing Championships being held in Jersey in February! Abbie Harvey from Newcastle Fencing Club and Stuart Scott from Laszlo's Fencing Club in Durham, have been spotted by the selectors due to their family eligibility. Both fencers compete for Great Britain and regularly compete internationally!

It is not only our fencers that have been selected, Chris Farren from Durham is travelling with the England team as official coach and Duncan Rowlands from Gateshead will also be refereeing!

The North East is not new to Commonwealth fencers. Since 1998 the Region has had a steady stream of medals, both junior and senior at every Commonwealth event! In 2010, England Team Manager and Regional Fencing Officer, Beth Davidsonson brought home the highest level trophy that can be achieved at the Commonwealths - The Wilkinson Sword, which is the overall team trophy and was reclaimed from Canada!

At the National Fencing Championships this weekend in Sheffield, fencers from the North East took on the best fencers in the UK and achieved some of the best results for the Region!

On Saturday, Olwyn Fitzgerald from Newcastle took the women’s foil title in the wheelchair discipline, beating Paralympic hopeful Justine Moore. On the Sunday Olwyn made it the double by regaining her gold in the women’s epee event. Olywn is relatively new to the sport of wheelchair fencing, only starting 2 years ago with Newcastle Fencing Club.

The first of the bronze medals came in the men’s epee with Matt Henderson from Newcastle achieving his best national senior result, beating Commonwealth and World Championship team fencers. Previously, Matt’s best result was a bronze medal at the 2010 UK School Games when they were held in the North East.

The last medal for the Region came to Durham fencer Kira Roberts, achieving a bronze in the women’s sabre event. Kira who trains at the new world class fencing facilities at Durham University had to beat international junior silver medallist Ailya Itzcowitz from London to get into a medal position but then met last year’s National Champion Chrystal Nicoll in the semi-final, losing 15-7.

North East Region officials selected for London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics! Posted 17th Nov 211

Announcements were made from LOCOG (London Organising Committee Olympic Games) this week of those officials, referees and technical team selected for the London Olympics and Paralympics.

Chris Farren and Duncan Rowlands were selected to referee for the wheelchair fencing events at the Paralympics next August.

Next weekend sees the Men's Foil Olympic test event taking place at Excel Centre in London which the armoury team from Sunderland Harlequins, Rob Kirby, Heather Finlayson and Colin Garner as well as Steve Jackson will be part of the technical crew. Regional Development Officer Beth Davidson will be a team leader in the call room.

As the country was celebrating Halloween, members of the Regional Fencing Centre in Durham were celebrating the official first training day in their new fencing salle! Head Coach, Prof. Laszlo Jakab was honoured with cutting the ribbon to the first training session as fencers waited in anticipation!

For Laszlo, this has been 8 years planning and waiting process which has seen floods, delays and has had many cold winters to contend with but this first floor, air conditioned and dedicated fencing salle has been designed to provide the best facility for fencers in the Region and the UK.

The Regional Fencing Centre offers access for training everyday with dedicated weapon, age-group and ability sessions including wheelchair fencing. The programme also offers training for coaches, armoury, refereeing and volunteering, developing the Region's expertise in the sport.

This facility is part of Durham University who also provide scholarships for fencers studying at the University [Web Link] and host to the British Fencing National Academy -SUNEE [Link]

For further information about the Regional Fencing Centre Durham, contact Carole Seheult, e-mail: c.seheult@btinternet.com Tel. 07810810380

OWEN PUGH AND NEWCASTLE FENCING TIE UP SPONSORSHIP DEAL Posted 31st Oct 2011 Iain Aberdeen

Local civil engineering Group Owen Pugh has agreed a five year sponsorship deal with Newcastle Fencing Club. Announcing the deal at the start of the National cadet and junior fencing championship event hosted by Newcastle Fencing at Gosforth High School, Club Coach Iain Aberdeen said, “we are delighted to have Owen Pugh as a sponsor helping to give us the financial security to accelerate the development of the club. Newcastle fencing has an extremely strong squad with substantial numbers of young athletes coming through. This sponsorship will allow us to offer access to fencing to a much wider group, with a particular focus on wheelchair fencing and local schools projects..”

“The Owen Pugh Group is proud to be associated with the ongoing success of Newcastle Fencing” said Group Chairman John Dickson. “It is great to see the enthusiasm, energy and discipline of so many people used to such great effect. We are especially pleased to be part of the effort to widen access to what is undeniably a minority sport. Newcastle Fencing has a great track record of developing top class athletes with six members currently part of national squads.”

The Owen Pugh Group comprises five trading companies operating in the Civil Engineering industry undertaking earthmoving and demolition, drainage and groundworks, plant-hire and haulage, quarrying and inert waste and drain cleaning and CCTV surveys. The Group is headquartered in Dudley near Cramlington and employs 305 people.

Asha Edwards of Laszlo's Fencing in Durham achieved a silver medal at the Camden Leon Paul Junior Series this weekend narrowly loosing 15-13 to Emma Kurtis in the final.

Durham Phoenix Fencing Club Achieves British Fencing Sword Mark! Posted 17th Oct 2011

After a detailed process and achieveing ClubMark, Durham Phoenix Fencing Club based in the City has been awarded British Fencing's SwordMark which awards clubs who have achieved standards in welfare, operations and development plans

Three medals for North East fencers at the UK School Games! 5th Sept 2011

This weekend saw four of our regions junior fencers competing in the UK School Games at the EIS in Sheffield, 2nd - 4th September. Alex Craig [England and Laszlo's Fencing], Lara McClelland [Ireland and Laszlo's Fencing], Sam Ridley [England and Newcastle FC] and Stuart Scott [Scotland and Laszlo's Fencing] were selected by their Home Nation to fence in this individual and team event, in their chosen weapons.

In 2010, Alex Craig and Matt Henderson achieved a combined a bronze, silver and two gold medals. This year was even better with a Alex achieving bronze in the individual foil and gold in the team. Sam Ridley taking gold in the team epee gold and Stuart Scott silver in team sabre!

The Street Sword project for Darlington has been granted the Inspire mark by the London 2012 Inspire programme at Darlington Dolphin Centre by Charles Allen, Chair of Nations and Regions at LOCOG. Children from the Longfield area who were involved in taster sessions, helped demonstrate to Charles Allen the basics of fencing.

The London 2012 Inspire programme recognises innovative and exceptional projects that are directly inspired by the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Street Swords is about taking fencing activities to socially deprived areas in Darlington and focussing on young people who are considered as having challenging behaviour and targeted by social and welfare authorities. The project is in partnership with Darlington Youth Services and Sport Development teams, incorporating coach and leadership development, as well as learning how to fence!

Based at the Darlington Dolphin Centre, the Street Swords club is open to all those over 11yrs of age. Community outreach work is where the targeted work takes place and is an opportunity to identify talent and commitment to the programme, either as a fencer or leader!

Seb Coe, Chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games said: ’The Inspire programme is ensuring the legacy of the 2012 Games starts now as projects like Street Swords are enabling people in Darlington to make positive life changes.’ Project designer and Regional Development Officer Beth Davidson says 'It is fantastic that Street Swords has been recognised and connected to the legacy of London 2012! The project has been about challenging and challenges, socially, physically and in attitude!'

Street Swords meets at Darlington Dolphin Centre on Tuesday nights from 7.30pm. Web Page For further information, contact Beth Davidson Regional Development Officer. Tel. 07812078957 E-mail

17 year old, Alex Craig took top prize at the Hartlepool Sports Council Personality of the Year Award! Alex previously won the Rising Star Award in 2008 so it was an amazing achievement to be the overall winner for her National and International achievements!

Alex is currently the British Youth Champion, currently ranked 2nd in the Cadet age group and bronze medal winner at the UK School Games.

Hannah Nesbitt from Newcastle Fencing Club was the first to be awarded a bursary from the North East Region - England Fencing Committee. The bursary is for supporting Hannah in her National Academy SUNEE training.

The bursary is the first of its kind in the UK and has been set up to support the Region's young fencers to access National Academy training.

The next round of new applications will be decided in September and is open to fencers who are a member of a NE fencing club and are between the ages of 14 - 20yrs.

Fencers from all over the world decended to Gateshead this weekend to compete at the Cole Cup International competition at Gatehead Leisure Centre as part of their European tour of ranking competitions in this Olympic year! Argentina, Israel, Turkey, Austrailia, Finland, Spain, Switzerland, as well as GB fencers were represented over the two days of competition.

There were some great performances from North East fencers! In women's sabre, Kira Roberts from Laszlo's Fencing and Durham University took silver, narrowly loosing to Maria Belen Perez Maurice 15-12 in the final. Ellie Collier of Laszlo's Fencing and Jennie Tillot of Newcastle University finished in the last 8. Helen Dack from Northumbria University in the women's epee achieved 10th place. Stuart Scott of Laszlo's Fencing only narrowly missed out getting into the last 16, loosing to Tom Nicholls 15-14!

Newcastle Fencing Club and Newcastle University has been granted the Inspire Mark; the badge of the London 2012 Inspire Programme. The London 2012 Inspire programme recognises innovative and exceptional projects that are directly inspired by the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Seb Coe, Chair, London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games said: “Newcastle Wheelchair Fencing Project is encouraging disabled people to fulfil their potential. I am proud that with the help of partners such as Newcastle Fencing Club and Newcastle University are delivering on our vision to use the power of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games to boost participation in Wheelchair Fencing.”

Nine-time Paralympics gold medal winner and Director of Paralympics Integration Chris Holme MBEs presented Inspire Mark certificates. During the visit there was a fencing demonstration and a questions session with Chris Holmes and a demonstration of wheelchair fencing with the current British Champion; Olwyn Fitzgerald.

Chris Holmes said: “ I have recently visited the Newcastle Fencing Club and seen first hand the excellent work being carried out there. The club is a fantastic example of what can be achieved when people are passionate, driven and determined to celebrate and open up their sport to all. Newcastle Fencing Club has rightly been awarded the Inspire mark by London 2012 I encourage people from across the NE to find out more and get involved with this wonderful project.”

The Newcastle Wheelchair Fencing project aims to provide fencing coaching to over one hundred and forty disabled people in the North East in the run up to the Paralympics in London 2012. The sessions will take place in schools, health settings and community venues to make the coaching as accessible as possible and will led by award winning fencing coach Iain Aberdeen who has worked with fencers of all levels from beginner to international squads.

Iain Aberdeen said: “This is the latest in a series of collaborative events between Newcastle University Fencing and Newcastle Fencing Club. The wheelchair fencing campaign will use the power of Olympic and Paralympics games to inspire the next generation of fencers in the North East. We now have four wheelchair fencers training with us in the Newcastle area, which is good start and through this project we aim to increase this’.

This week has seen a number of our fencers competing at the European Veteran Championships in Henin Beaumont near Lille in France. Carole Seheult, Duncan Rowlands, Anton Pollard and Beth Davidson were all flying the flag for the North East and Great Britain!

Duncan Rowlands competing in the Cat. 1 Sabre had a poor start in his pool but was able to put in some fantastic performances in the latter stages to move to last 16 stage only loosing to Olasagasti from Spain 10-8.

Carole Seheult in the Cat. 3 Epee improved in the pools and finished 23rd overall. Anton Pollard in the Cat. 2 Epee had to battle in an entry of a 170 competitors finally being knocked out by Veryzer, finishing 59th.

In the Cat. 1 Sabre, it was Beth Davidson competing in her first individual European Veteran Championships who made it further and reaching the final, with her only loss of the day to Tanzmeister from Austria and the only British Cat. 1 competitior to medal at the Championships!

North East fencers achieved 3 Golds, 4 Silver and 6 Bronze medals at the Scottish LPJS. Full Results

Under 11 boys - Jack Bell (Team Newcastle) - 5th
Under 11 girls - Sadie Abel (Lazslo's) - 1st GOLD
Under 13 boys - Thomas Dickson (Team Newcastle) - 5th
Josh Holmes (Team Newcastle) - 7th

Under 13 girls - Madeleine Whitfield (Lazslo's) - 2nd
Ellie Hind (Team Newcastle) - 5th
Under 15 girls - Jen Vineberg (Team Newcastle) - 3rd

Under 9 boys - Peter Errington (Salle d'Escrime du Nord) - 3rd
Under 9 girls - Charity Weeks (Lazslo's) - 2nd

Phoebe Hughes (Durham Phoenix)- 3rd
Madeleine Hulls (Salle d'Escrime du Nord) - 6th
Tina Cummins (Lazslo's) - 10th
Hannah Baldwin (Salle d'Escrime du Nord) - 11th
Jane Brown (Salle d'Escrime du Nord) - 12th
Megan Thomson (Salle d'Escrime du Nord) - 13th
Kay Errington (Salle d'Escrime du Nord) - 14th

Under 15 boys -
Bradley Milburn (Lazslo's) - 2nd
Joseph May (Lazslo's) - 5th
Oliver Hopkins (Northumbria) - 8th
Thomas Hughes (Durham Phoenix) - 15th

Alex Craig (ENG), Lara McClelland (IRE), Sam Ridley (ENG) and Stuart Scott (SCO) have been selected by their home nation to compete at the UK School Games in Sheffield in September.

The UK School Games is an Olympic style event to give our top juniors the experience of a multi-sport championships, with each home nation battling it out across 10 disciplines!

Last year it was held in the North East in which two of our fencers managed to take home medals, one of which is Alex Craig who is looking to improve on her bronze medal in the women's foil event!

Iain Aberdeen and Sam Ridley get top honours at Newcastle sport awards! 18th March 2011

Newcastle Fencing Club coach Iain Aberdeen received the Stan Calvert Award for coaching at the Sportnewcastle dinner, presented by Judith Rasmussen Regional Director of Sport England. Sam Ridley also from Newcastle Fencing Club recieved the "Rising Star" award!

North East Veterans Represent Great Britain at European Championships Posted 26th May 2011

Four Regional fencers will be travelling to France next week to compete in the Veteran European Individual Championships, taking place in Henin-Beaumont near Lille. Beth Davidson, Anton Pollard, Duncan Rowlands and Carole Seheult, will be taking part in what is the largest European age group competition.

Beth Davidson currently holds the Europan team title last year so training hard to make it the double and Duncan Rowlands aiming to improve his 8th place in Hungary into a medal position!

The majestic Old Town Hall in the heart of Durham City was the venue for a Great Britain vs Germany veterans team match that has been a bi-annual occasion for over 20 years! The German delegation were welcomed to the City by the Leader of Durham County Council Dennis Morgan and the German Consul General Wolfgang Mossinger, exchanging gifts to the visiting teams.

As well as showcasing the historical venue, visitors also had a taste of Durham with specially commissioned beer from Hill Island Brewery of Fowlers Yard, and a gala dinner of locally sourced food provided by the Cathedral caterers, Undercroft!

Throughout the day the match was very close with GBR ahead with two teams to go but the German Men's Foil and Women's Epee were too strong closing the result at 32 - 22 overall!

North East fencers gained 4 medals in different age groups at the British Youth Championships, held at the Sheffield EIS. The Gold medals were awarded to Matthew Dickinson of Team Newcastle in the U12 Boys Epee and Alex Craig from Laszlo's Fencing in the U18 Girls Foil. Bronze medals went to Asha Edwards from Laszlo's Fencing in the U14 Girls Foil and Sarah Gourley from Team Newcastle in the U16 Girls Epee.

Will Germany 6th U18 Epee, Stuart Scott 10th U18 Boys Sabre, Hannah Fetherstone 5th U12 Girls Epee, Abi Harvey 9th U18 Girls Epee, Jess Lewis 10th U16 Girls Sabre

Olwyn Fitzgerald takes North Tyneside Sports Award posted Iain Aberdeen 21.4.11

At the annual Sport North Tyneside Awards hosted by, television presenter and broadcaster, Roger Tames at North Tyneside Council’s headquarters, Olwyn Fitzgerald wins Disabled Sports Personality of the year. The awards celebrate the sporting achievements of individuals and clubs across the North Tyneside area.
Olwyn, who only started fencing eighteen months ago, is the current National Women's Epee champion, the Number one ranked British fencer and a member of the Great Britain Wheelchair Fencing Squad. Olwyn trains alongside some of the North East’s top under twenty fencers each week under the guidance of the coaching team at Newcastle Fencing Club.
Olwyn said “I feel very privileged to win this award and feel the support of the non disabled fencers at the fencing club has allowed me to achieve the success I have had in such a short space of time. It is great to train at a fencing club that is as integrated as Newcastle Fencing Club with such supportive fencers and coaches”
Olwyn who trains with Newcastle based coach Iain Aberdeen, for in excess of ten hours per week, is showing her true potential as a top British fencer and is looking forward to competing next month at the World Cup and Paralympics qualifying event in Lonato, Italy.

On the 2nd April, the North East achieved a great result of 2nd place at the Winton Cup Regional Fencing Championships held in Sheffield, only narrowly being edged out by West Midlands. This is the best position for the North East region at this event and an improvement of 7th place last year!

The Women's Sabre team was unbeaten again achieving a 100% record at the Winton Cup.

The Team
MF – Stuart Henderson, Paul Maxwell, Simon Freer
WF – Alex Craig, Fliss Moon, Lara McLelland
ME – Matt Henderson, Anton Pollard, Nick Zissler
WE – Helen Dack, Lucy Ridsdale, Jade Clarke
MS – Chris Farren, Ben McGukin, Stuart Scott, Mike Turner
WS – Kira Roberts, Ellie Collier, Beth Davidson

Fencing North East is seeking young leaders in the Darlington area who are interested in becoming fencing coaches and teach other young people in the town as part of a Sport England funded project called ‘Street Swords’.

Street Swords aims to bring the sport of fencing to the Borough of Darlington, focussing on areas that have a high incidence of youth offending and social deprivation. The programme of taster and beginners sessions will develop the basic skills of fencing that will progress to competition and hopefully establish a Street Sword club.

To be a Street Sword coach requires no previous knowledge of fencing, only some experience in coaching sport. They have to be able to communicate with others and enthuse those young people to become involved in fencing. Selected Street Sword coaches will be trained and accredited to NGB British Fencing standards, supported and mentored by the Regional Development Officer and National squad manager, Beth Davidson. They must be committed and have leadership qualities.

The 1st coach training course is the 27th April and 3rd May at Eastbourne Sports Complex, Off Hunden’s Lane, Darlington DL1 1LJ. (Google Map)

Application Details

The training and equipment for Street Sword coaches will be fully funded. Some voluntary work is anticipated during the training period but further funding will be available after the coach is qualified.

This project has also been supported and funded by England Fencing, Darlington Borough Council and The Co-operative, for equipment and coach training.

For those interested or require further information, contact Beth Davidson, NE Regional Development Officer. Tel. 07812078957. E-mail Beth Davidson

10 regional coaches achieved their Level one or two qualifications at Teesside University after completing a British Fencing course ran by Regional coach Malcolm Tooley. .

Level 2 Foil

Gary Mills, James Docherty, Paul Maxwell, James Emmerson, Mark Mew

Level 2 Epee

Alan Bootland, Andrew Dixon

Level 2 Sabre

Stephen Hannah, Beth Davidson

Level 1 Foil

Ashleigh Bentham

In other coaching news, Chris Farren from Laszlo's Fencing Club was selected as the England coach for the UK School Games in September at Sheffield.

North East fencers Alex Craig, Stuart Scott and Sam Ridley have been selected to compete at the European Cadet Championships in Klagenfurt, Austria at the end of February. Alex and Stuart from Laszlo's Fencing Club and Sam Ridley from Team Newcastle, are now preparing for the championships with their coaches Laszlo Jakab and Iain Aberdeen, with support of the conditioning coaches from Northumbria and Durham universities

Iain Aberdeen from Newcastle Fencing Club is a finalist for the Sportscoach Uk awards - in the Performance Development Coach of the Year Category. The other Candidates are Jan Crabtree ( Netball ) and Dr Christoper J George( Rowing). The winner will be announced on 30th November in London.

Iain has also been appointed as the SUNEE (Sport Universities North East of England) National Academy Regions Coach.

Durham student and Laszlo's Fencer, Kira Roberts followed her Commonwealth medal by winning the Weissherbst international tournament in Hambourg this weekend! Kira had to beat a strong field including Nagy from Hungary in the semi-final!

Fellow GB fencers, James Honeybone and Mike Clark took gold and silver in the mens sabre event.

Two Commonwealth trophies come to the North East with the success of the England Team at Melbourne in the fencing Championships. The first was for Durham University student and Laszlo's Fencer, Kira Roberts who was part of the women's sabre team who took Gold, beating Australia in the final. It was not until the last day that Team Manager, Beth Davidson, could collect the Commonwealth trophy for England as the the Nation who finished at the top of the medal table.

This is the first time the Wilkinson Sword trophy has come to the Region and will remain here for the next 4 years until the next Commonwealths in 2014.

While the Delhi Commonwealth Games is hitting rocky ground with teams wondering whether to travel to India, two North East fencers are travelling to Melbourne Australia on Friday to start their preparations to take part in the Commonwealth Fencing Championships.

Like the main Commonwealth Games, the fencing Championships take place every four years. Regional Fencing Development Officer and current Gold and Silver medallist Beth Davidson has had to leave her swords behind and take on the greatest task of managing the England team in their quest to improve their 2nd overall team position and take the Wilkinson Sword Nation trophy. Helen Dack from Newcastle, studying at Northumbria University, is representing Guernsey for her second Championships of her career.
For Beth, the challenge of managing the England Team is a proud moment but is not able to defend her Commonwealth Veteran titles due to the rules of the competition.

Team Newcastle fencer Sam Ridley secured his place as one of the top young talents of British Fencing with a Gold medal performance at the Manchester Cadet International competition this weekend. Sam who fenced strongly all day won the final against fellow GB Squad fencer Pinkerton 15 - 11

Regional fencers Matt Henderson and Alex Craig both representing England, were double medal winners at the UK School Games taking place at Sunderland Tennis Centre on the 3rd, 4th, 5th September. Alex Craig from Laszlo's Fencing was the first to secure a bronze medal in the women's foil event then Matt Henderson from Newcastle Fencing Club did one place better by winning the silver in the individual men's epee. In the team events on the last day both Alex and Matt did the double by claiming gold medals in the team events!

The Games not only demonstrated that we have some of the best junior fencers but also some of the best volunteers! For 3 days, local fencers representing most of the clubs in the Region contributed hours of time being score-keepers, team attaches and ambassadors, to support the athletes and visitors at the venue!

A demonstration by members of the GB Wheelchair Fencing Team, led by Paralympic coach Laszlo Jakab was shown prior to the individual finals.

In other news, congratulations to Hannah Featherstone from Newcastle Fencing Club for winning the Gold medal in the youth D category of the British Modern Pentathlon Championships 28th - 30th August. Nick Zissler from Newcastle Fencing Club and Durham University, took the Silver medal in the Senior Mens event.

National Gold and Silver Medals for North East Fencers! Posted 26th July 2010

Some great results from the National Fencing Championships held in the Sheffield Arena on the 24th+25th July for North East Fencers!

For the first time wheelchair fencing was included within the senior Championships and Olwyn Fitzgerald from Team Newcastle took advantage and gained her first National Gold medal in the epee event. Kira Roberts from Laszlo's Fencing/Team Durham took the silver in the Women’s Sabre elite event, losing only to the British no. 1 in the final.

Women's Sabre :
Kira Roberts 2nd. Laszlo's
Beth Davidson 15th.Laszlo's
Jenny Tillot 20th.Team Newcastle

Women's Epee
Jade Clark 18th. Team Northumbria
Abbie Harvey 25th. Team Newcastle
Helen Dack 29th. (Sarnia) Team Northumbria
Lucy Ridsdale 54th. Laszlo's
Hannah Nesbitt 83rd.Team Newcastle
Fawn Lamb 85th. Team Northumbria
Marie Matheson 88th. Team Newcastle

Men's Epee :
Sam Ridley 19th. Team Newcastle
Andrew Dixon 83rd.Team Newcastle
Aiden Dickinson 97th.Team Newcastle
Matt Henderson 104th.Team Newcastle
Will Germany 116th.Team Newcastle

Medals for the North East at the England Youth Championships! Posted 24th June 2010

Well done to all those fencers from the Region who gained some great results at the EYCs on the 19th and 20th June.

U11 Girls Epee Hannah Featherstone (Team newcastle) - Bronze
Sarah Harvey (Team Newcastle) - 11th

Thanks also to Duncan Rowlands (a Director of England Fencing) for organising the 44 referees, of whom here were three North East representatives - Helen Dack (Team Northumbria), Abbie Harvey (Team Newcastle) and Sam Ridley (Team Newcastle).

On the same weekend, England Team Manager and Regional Development Officer Beth Davidson, led the England squad to an overall victory in the 5 Nations, reclaiming the Wilkinson Sword for the second time!

On Friday 30th May, Beth Davidson of Laszlo's Fencing along with her team, took the gold at the Veteran Team Championships in Macedonia! The team had to beat Italy, France and Russia, only narrowly loosing to Germany to retain the title for Great Britain.

This achievement adds to a growing collection of gold medals including National and Commonwealth in two age groups!

Duncan Rowlands also from Laszlo's Fencing, gained a 4th team position by beating France in the quarter finals.

Durham Phoenix has achieved the first Club Mark in the Region! Coach Chris Morton, was delighted when England Fencing announced the award which was nearly a year since starting the process!

Matthew Dickinson from Newcastle Fencing Club, took 6th place at the Challenge Wratislavia U11 competition in Poland this week. From an entry of 78, Matthew was unbeaten until the quarter finals when he lost to Artur RYSZKIEWICZ 12 - 10 in a very tight fight, in what was Matthew's first international event! Website link to results

In other international events at the weekend, Team Northumbria fencer Helen Dack competed in the Channel Island Senior Championships and achieved 2 silvers and gold, winning the epee final 15:4 as well as being awarded the Master at Arms for the 2nd year running. For Helen, this is the 3rd year in a row that she has won the epee, equalling previous winners!

Beth Davidson and Duncan Rowlands were crowned British Veteran Sabre Champions in Gloucester this weekend.

Members of Laszlo's Fencing Club in Durham, Duncan and Beth had to succeed against both current World Veteran Champions to gain their first title at this event.

Well done also to Alison Crosby who finished 24th and Carole Seheult who finished 25th in the epee event.

Touché Posted 7th March 2010

Durham Phoenix Fencing Club received a grant of £250.00 from Camerons Brewery in Hartlepool for equipment.

This grant will enable the club to continue to grow at the grass roots level and encourage those that may be interested in taking up fencing. The club works within 4 clubs in the North East as well as some 8 to 10 schools in the Tyne, Tees, Wear and Durham Areas. Many of the North East’s International young fencers began their fencing career at the Durham Phoenix and the hope is that this will continue.

Camerons marketing manager Yousef Doubooni said “We are happy to make this donation to the Durham Phoenix Fencing Club in order for them to purchase new equipment for their members. We try to support as many local causes and events in the north east and given that one of our employees is associated with the club we were keen to support this. We wish all members of Durham Phoenix Fencing Club success in the year ahead”.

Three of the members from Northumbria Junior Fencing Club, Jake Donaldson, Margaret Polito and Jamie Morgan, are going to Ethiopia for voluntary work to support local children to continue in school! Members of the fencing club for 6 years, are part of a trip with Ryton School.

Four fencers from Newcastle Fencing Club competed in the Ashton Leon Paul Epee competition this weekend.

Gold medals were won by brothers Aidan and Matthew Dickinson in the Under 17 and Under 11 Epee events.

Bronze medals went to Hannah Nesbitt and Rudi Dillon in the Under 13 and Under 15 Epee events.

Chris Farren and Ellie Collier were crowed sabre champions at the Merseyside Open. In the finals, Chris had do beat Keith Bowers from the Royal Navy and previous Laszlo's Fencer, to take what was his 10th successive title. Ellie breezed to her second Mersey title beating Stephanie Land from Edinburgh.

Jade Clark from Durham gained a silver medal in the Women's Epee and our very own Regional Chair, Marie Matheson came 27th!

Laszlo's Fencer, Jess Lewis takes the silver medal at the Slough Open. Jess was only beaten by the narrowest margins of 15 - 14 against Joanna Chen from Cardiff City club. This is a great achievement as she is competing in a senior competition at only 13!

Regional referee picked for European Championships. Posted 8th February 2010

Chris Farren from Pittington and member of Laszlo's Fencing Club, has been invited by the European Fencing Championships Executive Committee as a referee for European Cadet Championships in March in Athens.

In other refereeing news, Helen Dack from Team Northumbria passed her level 2 epee exam at the Slough Open this weekend.

In recent FIE referee examinations that took place in Budapest, Chris Farren from Durham and Laszlo's Fencing Club was successfull in passing the highest level in sabre refereeing. He was one of four referee candidates to be nominated by British Fencing to attend the assessments at the Budapest Junior World Cup.

Along with Duncan Rowlands, Chris is our second referee in the Region able to judge internationally and will be joining Junior Team Manager, Beth Davidson, as part of a GB squad for Logrono World Cup on the 23rd January.

Newcastle University would like to congratulate Aidan Dickinson on being selected for the GB Cadet Mens Epee Squad for the competition in Dinant and Abigail Harvey for selection for the GB Junior Women's Squad for Gothenburg. The following fencers on the Team Newcastle Junior Performance Programme have been selected for International Squads so far this season.

Abigail Harvey GB Cadet and Junior GB Womens Epee Squad
Matt Henderson GB Junior Mens Epee
Sam Ridley GB Cadet and Junior Mens Epee Squad
Andrew Dixon Cadet Mens Epee Squad
Will Germany Cadet Mens Epee Squad
Aidan Dickinson Cadet Mens Epee Squad
Alex Farmer SVK Cadet and Junior Mens Epee Squad

Team Newcastle's Junior Performance Programme aims to support young talent through a combination of fencing coaching and support services such as performance lifestyle management, physiotherapy, nutritionists and sports psychology.

There a still a few places left on our Christmas training camp 29th, 30th and 31st December at West Denton where most of these fencers will be training in addition to other regional fencers and modern pentathletes.

For more information please contact Iain Aberdeen, Director of Fencing by email at iainaberdeen@aol.com

Under 17 Boys - Nominated event

2nd. Sam Ridley Team Newcastle
5th. Andrew Dixon Team Newcastle
8th. Will Germany Team Newcastle
26th. Aiden Dickinson Team Newcastle

Under 15 Girls

1st. Hannah Nesbitt Team Newcastle
2nd. Sarah Gourley Team Newcastle
3rd. Josey Amery Barnard Castle
4th. Sarah Lumley Team Newcastle
5th. Lucy Herron Church High School
6th Eliza Hughes Team Newcastle

Under 12 Boys

1st. Rudi Dillon Team Newcastle
2nd. Matthew Dickinson Team Newcastle
3rd. Akin Akingbade RGS Newcastle
4th. Thomas Dickson RGS Newcastle
5th. Matthew Cheng RGS Newcastle
6th. Matthew Clark RGS Newcastle

Under 12 Girls

1st. Ellie Hind RGS Newcastle
2nd. Emily Cowell Church High School
3rd. Sarah Harvey RGS Newcastle
4th. Ilisha Purcell RGS Newcastle
5th. Emma Lees RGS Newcastle
6th. Kate Ford RGS Newcastle

Laszlo Jakab and Sutera Ritrawe win coach of the year award! Posted 5th Nov 2009

At the recent County Durham Sports Awards held at The Ramside Hall Hotel, husband and wife team Laszlo Jakab and Sutera Ritrawe, won the Coach of the Year Award for their contribution to coaching in County Durham. They were shortlisted against coaches from all sports in the area and were awarded for their dedication to fencing and providing opportunities for all to participate.

Olympic javelin thrower, Steve Backley presented the award to Sutera on the evening in Laszlo's absence due to coaching commitments in Poland with the British wheelchair fencers.

Beth Davidson appointed as England Team Manager for 5 Nations! Posted 30th September 2009

It was officially announced this week that England Fencing appointed the North East's Regional Development Officer, Beth Davidson, as the Team Manager for the 5 Nations tournament in Belfast on the 21st November.

Beth has been Assistant Team Manager at two 5 Nations in 2007 and 2008 and previously captained two Senior Commonwealth Championships for England, achieving team gold and silver medals.

Abi Harvey won Bronze at the Manchester Cadet International losing 15 -13 in a hard semi final fight against the British Number one.

Matt Henderson won Bronze at the Shropshire Open losing 15 - 13 to a fellow GB Under 20 squad member.

Regional Fencer Selected for Junior European Championships Posted 27th Oct 09

Duncan Rowlands, who trains at Laszlo's Fencing in Durham, has been selected by British Fencing to be one of two GB referees at the Junior European Championships.

These championships are taking place in the city of Odense, Denmark between 31 October and 6 November 2009, where Duncan will take his place alongside some of the top referees in Europe.

BFA 'Award of Merit' for Regional Coach! Posted by Iain Aberdeen 25th Aug 2009

Iain Aberdeen, professional fencing coach and Director of Fencing at Newcastle University has been awarded an "Award of Merit" by the British Fencing Association in their "Annual Honours". The National Governing Body for Fencing in Great Britain has awarded this in recognition of his services to fencing. Iain has been active in promoting fencing at a regional level for many years and has coached England individuals and teams at National and International events as well as managing and coaching the Great Britain Mens Cadet Foil team for the season 2008 / 09. Iain coaches some of the most promising fencers in the North East with many of them representing Great Britain at international level at the under 17 and under 20 age groups. Iain has also developed numerous community, school and club fencing sessions across the North East for fencers of all abilities. Iain also directs the highly successful High Performance Fencing Camp held at Newcastle University with fencers from the UK, Malaysia, Germany, Italy and Belgium attending in 2009.

A prestigious international junior fencing training camp organized by Luxembourg Fencing Federation and the International Charity Fund For Fencing Future is scheduled for 5th – 11th September, 2009 in Luxemburg.

About 70 junior fencers from 30 countries are expected to participate in “For Future of Fencing” training event. The training session, featuring epee and foil fencing, coached by some of the worlds most successful coaches will put the fencers through their paces whilst the fencers train with rivals from across the world. The camp is aimed at the top under 20 fencers from each nation to come together to raise the standard of fencers from across the globe.

Team Newcastle’s Head Coach and Director of Fencing has also been invited to attend the Pro Olymp camp as a coach and will hone his coaching skills alongside the worlds best fencing masters.

Team Newcastle fencers Sam Ridley and Andrew Dixon have been selected by the organinsing committee to be two of the four Great Britain fencers attending. The two fencers who train at the North East Regional Fencing Centre – NEWCASTLE have just finished a weeks training at Newcastle Universities International Performance Fencing Camp are looking forward to train against the best in the world.

Regional fencer qualifies as an international referee Posted 15th August 2009

Duncan Rowlands travelled all the way to Plovdiv, Bulgaria and successfully passed the Federation Internationale D'Escrime (FIE) refereeing exam for epee in June.

Duncan is the first person from the North East to join this exclusive group, with only 23 British referees currantly with FIE licences.

If you are interested in obtaining qualifications in refereeing, please contact Regional Fencing Development Officer, Beth Davidson.

Regional fencers from laszlo's Fencing Club in Durham, were crowned National Team Champions this weekend in the womens sabre event taking place at Sheffield's Institute Of Sport. Angela Bilardi, Kira Roberts, Ellie Collier and Beth Davidson had to beat teams from London, Bristol and finally Truro to take gold in a very high tension final! For Kira, this was her second medal, adding it to her bronze in the individual!

Great results also came from Sam Ridley and Matt Henderson who achieved last 32s in a field of 111 fencers in the senior men's epee event!

On the 12th July, Beth Davidson and Duncan Rowlands representing England and who train at laszlo's Fencing in Durham, achieved a total of 3 gold, silver and a bronze medal at the Veteran Commonwealth Championships in St. Helier in jersey.

Top honours went to the North East Fencing Development Officer, Beth Davidson who became Commonwealth champion in the individual and team womens sabre events as well as going into the history books as the youngest veteran champion! In the final, Beth had to beat Jane Hutchison who is the current World and European Champion, coming from behind at 6-9 to win 10-9.
Duncan Rowlands achieved a bronze in the individual and silver in the team sabre events.

Cumberland Open GOLD, SILVER and BRONZE Posted by Iain Aberdeen 22nd June 09

Team Newcastle Junior Performance Programme fencers dominated the
Cumberland Open Mens Epee competition in Carlisle Saturday 20th June
2009.

The competition which was a senior open event in the British Fencing
Calendar was won by Sam Ridley after beating teammate Matt Henderson
15 - 14 in a close fought final. After being 11 - 7 ahead at the first
break Sam managed to pull the score back and eventually take the last
hit against Matt. Another teammate Andrew Dixon lost to Sam in the
Semi finals finishing with a Bronze Medal.

All the fencers are supported through Newcastle University through the
Junior Performance Programme. This programme managed by Director of
Fencing, Iain Aberdeen, supports local fencers who show potential to
be on our GB Fencing Teams. The programme provides physiotherapy,
nutrition and hydration advice, strength and conditioning, video
analysis, training and competition programmes, coaching as well as
team clothing.

After two years the programme has had four out of the five fencers
reach Under 17 GB Squads in Mens epee, Womens epee and Mens foil the
other fencer has only been on the squad two months and has already
started to climb the selection rankings. One of the fencer Matt
Henderson also represented GB at Under 20 competitions as well as
taking the highest GB mens epee result at the World Championships in
Belfast in April.

The squad will be looking for up to three more fencers to join the
squad over the next few months.

This weekend saw some fantastic performances from regional fencers at the Cole Cup international fencing competition at Gateshead Stadium.

Kira Roberts from Durham University and coached by Laszlo Jakab, took the gold medal in the women's sabre event on Saturday, defeating fellow Brit Katie Hendra in a nail-biting final by 15-14. In the semi-final, Kira had to defeat her Durham University team mate Angela Bilardi in a close match with the final score of 15-12.

The other gold medal came in the sabre team event on the Sunday, with Durham University Alumni Chris Farren, Didier Nohlmans and Mike Turner beating all other rivals to take top honours!

Photos by Simon Welsh

Matthew Dickenson from Durham Phoenix and Monkton Stadium club came 5th out of 38 in the U10 catagory British Youth Championships in Telford!

In a hard faught fight, Laszlo's Fencer Duncan Rowlands narrowly missed a bronze medal in the catagory 1 men's sabre at the Veteran European Championships in Hungary this week!

The championships were being held in the beautiful resort of Balatonfüred at Lake Balaton in Hungary, where in the quarter finals Duncan met his final opponant from Spain and was leading all the way. The Spanyard pulled the score back to 9-9 all but in the final hit Duncan attempted a attack in preparation but the referee was not convinced and awarded the hit to his opponant!

North East Regional fencers have been some of the strongest performances from the GB squad competing in Belfast at the Junior + Cadet World Championships this week!

Day one saw cadet women's foilist Alex Craig take 20th place and day two was cadet women's sabeur Beckie Hopkins who was in 29th place and an outstanding performance from Matt Hederson in 31st place in the cadet men's epee event out of 103!

Kira Roberts from Durham University will be fencing in the junior women's sabre competition on the 9th April.

Medal success at the Arnold Leon Paul Epee (GB Epee development competition) 15th March 2009

Regional fencers from Newcastle Fencing Club were bringing home the medasl at the weekend! Well done to all and coach, Iain Aberdeen.

Sam Ridley Gold Under 15 Epee boys
Katie Louw Gold Under 17 Epee girls
Andrew Dixon Bronze Under 17 Epee boys
Daniel Lawson Bronze Under 11 Epee boys

North East fencers take Commonwealth Medals! Posted by Beth Davidson 10th March 2009

North East fencers, Kira Roberts and Rebecca Hopkins representing England, became Junior Commonwealth Champions in the women's sabre team event at the Commonwealth Championships in Penang in Malaysia, beating Scotland 45 - 35 in the final.

For Kira, this is her second Commonwealth Gold as she took the individual title earlier in the competition!

Another amazing result was from 15 year old, Alex Craig to took a silver medal in the individual foil and bronze in the team events!

Well done also to:
Jennie Tillot who came 7th in the individual women's sabre and fences for Newcastle University.

Official Commonwealth Fencing Website

Learn, Improve, Win! If you want to get the edge over your opponents then this British fencing training DVD is for you. Presented by an Olympic, World class and North East Regional coach Laszlo Jakab, it is packed with expertise and information presented in an easy and logical way over six chapters. With instruction for both right and left-handed fencers. Shot in High Definition using multiple camera angles including ‘top shots’, low angles, close-ups and ‘point of view’ shots so you really can understand the moves, and using slow motion replays to stop you searching for the rewind button....See trailer of DVD

Contents:

Chapter 1 - History of Sword Fencing, Kit & Clothing, Weapon assembly.

Chapter 2 - Footwork, Principles, Guard Positions, Fencing Distance.

Chapter 3 - Bladework, The Lunge, Attacks, Transportations, Parries.

Chapter 4 - Parry-Ripostes, Counter-Ripostes, Reprise, Remise & Redouble.

Chapter 5 - Feints, Beats, Glides, Tactics.

Chapter 6 - Your First Tournament.

Sam Ridley from Newcastle Fencing Club was the star of the North East, as he won the
National U16 Boys Epee title, beating Andrew Harding (Scotland Central)
in the Final by an emphatic 15 hits to 8.

Medals were hard to come by for other North East fencers in these
disciplines but a silver medal was earned in Under 18 Girls Sabre by
Rebecca Hopkins (Laszlo’s, Durham) who was representing Yorkshire,

The North East Region was well represented and congratulations go to
the following fencers for their performance in qualifying and taking
part in their national age group Finals.

Teesside Fencing Club has been launched at Skelton Youth Club near Saltburn, meeting on Mondays from 6.45 till 9pm. Club coach Paul Maxwell, has been working with the local youth services to establish the club at new sport facilities at Skelton, who have been very generous with financial and personnel support.

The club aims to work with the area's Youth Forum, to deliver a series of courses for local young people, as well as developing new projects to introduce fencing to areas and groups that have fewer opportunities to engage in sport.

Paul hopes to hold the club on two nights a week at different venues so more people can try fencing and don't have to travel as far!

On the 14th January, a Disabled Fencing taster day was held at Durham University Sports Centre. Potential athletes, coaches and disabled organisations were invited to see the facilities and try wheelchair fencing for the first time, with expert coaching by resident National Paralympic fencing coach, Prof. Laszlo Jakab.

Further sessions are to be organised in the North East region to talent spot potential Paralympians. If you are interested in taking part in these or want to discuss fencing, please contact Beth Davidson, Regional Fencing Development Officer Tel. 07812078957 or email here

Alex Craig 14yrs from Hartlepool, wins the girls event at the Gateshead British Selection Circuit junior competition that took place on the 11th January 09. Alex beat Francesca Pioli in the final and took top spot with an entry of 34 fencers.

Alex is currently preparing for the Junior Commonwealth Championships in Malaysia in February, representing England and later to qualify for the Junior World Championships in Belfast in April.

A member of Laszlo’s Fencing and coached by Laszlo Jakab, is sponsored by Asda and receives funding from Sports Aid.

22 RIDLEY Sam TEAM NEWCASTLE
41 DRINKLE Connor
45 SAUNDERS William DURHAM PHOENIX
46 TURNBULL Grant EMMANUEL COLLEGE
47 DICKINSON Aiden MONKTON
48 WRIGHT Oliver EMMANUEL COLLEGE

Girls Under 20
1 CRAIG Alex LASZLO'S
22 HENDERSON Jenny NEWCASTLE FENCING CLUB
29 LAMB Fawn TEAM NORTHUMBRIA
31 MCCLELLAND Lara NEWCASTLE FENCING CLUB
32 HARVEY Abigail TEAM NEWCASTLE
32 LOUW Katie NEWCASTLE FENCING CLUB
34 DICKSON Chloe DUNFERMLINE FC

Posted by:
Iain Aberdeen
Director of Fencing
Newcastle University 18th December 2008

THREE members of the Team Newcastle Junior Performance Squad have been seleceted to represent Great Britain in Gothenburg at a European Selection event in late February.

Well done to Matt Hendersn, Andrew Dixon and Sam Ridley.

Matt Henderson has also qualified to represent Great Britain in the European Cadet Championship in 2009.

Congratulations also go to Abbie Harvey, the fourth member of the Junior Performance Squad, for her recent selction for the GB girls team for a selection event in Grenoble.

Junior Commonwealth Championships, Malaysia 16 - 21 February 2009
18th December 2008 Posted by: Beth Davidson, Regional Fencing Development Officer.

8 north east fencers have been selected to represent their home nation at the Junior Commonwealth Championships in Malaysia in February next year. I would like to wish all those fencers and their coaches the best of success at these championships!

England: Alex Craig - Womens Foil. Jade Clarke - Womens Epee. Kira Roberts - Womens Sabre. Rebecca Hopkins - Womens Sabre.

Scotland: Lucy Ridsdale - Womens Epee. Louise Creechan - Womens Sabre. Harriet Stilley - Womens Sabre

North East Region hosts first Fencing Development Officer Posted: 27 November 2008

Beth Davidson has just taken post as Regional Fencing Development Officer for the North East of England.

Funded by Sport England, this four year role is responsible for implementing the development and delivery of fencing in the region, working in partnership with Northumbria and Durham universities and North East Regional Committee.

One of the many aims is to introduce 2500 new participants into the sport while establishing a strong and sustainable infrastructure between schools, clubs and elite centres in the region, creating opportunities for all fencers to compete at appropriate levels.

Coaches, referees and volunteers will be supported with greater access to local skill development courses and opportunities to have a greater role in fencing.

Beth is no stranger to the fencing community. Her introduction to fencing was through a development project in Lincolnshire 13 years ago and since then she has represented Great Britain and England in two World and Commonwealth Championships, manages the GB U20’s sabre team and is the women’s sabre weapon captain.

Beth Davidson
Regional Fencing Development Officer
6 North Street East
Newcastle
NE1 8ST
Email: Beth Davidson Mob: W - 07812078957

North East Region Fencing Association

Marie Matheson – Chair Email: Marie Matheson