Uncategorized
No Fencing This Wednesday!!!!!!
I have just received a phone call to say that the Park Centre will not be available this Wednesday (14th January) !!!!!!!!!!!!
Apparently, Sheffield Council is using it. It is after all their building and so there’s not much we can do.
Tonight (Monday 12th January), we do however, have a beginners session taking place at Birkdale in the Heeley Hall with about 20 beginners from 7:00pm till 8:30pm. After that the hall is free for anyone to fence, and there may be some space when the beginners are there.
Tomorrow (Tuesday 13th January) night from 7:00pm, we have use of the Heeley Hall at Birkdale for a club session.
Changes to Buccaneers club sessions in January!!!
On Wednesday 7th, 14th and 28th Birkdale Sports Hall is not available for us to use for our club!!!
Normally we use the Park Centre, Duke Street S25QP when Birkdale Sports Hall is not available, however as we regularly now have over 35 fencers on Wednesdays this will not be big enough for us. Therefore, in addition to the Park Centre for these dates, we have have also booked the Heeley Hall at Birkdale for Tuesdays. This is the same venue we currently use for our Fencing Beginners Courses. The dates and venues Buccaneers club sessions in January are –
Tuesday 6th January – Heeley Hall
Wednesday 7th January – Park Centre
Tuesday 13th January – Heeley Hall
Wednesday 14th January – Park Centre
Wednesday 21st January – Birkdale Sports Hall (as normal)
Tuesday 27th January – Heeley Hall
Wednesday 28th January – Park Centre
Can people get back to me and let me know which sessions they wish to attend, that will help a lot. Those who pay per month are entitled to one session per week in return for the monthly fee.
Adam
Foil Coaching Workshop – Saturday 11th October
Gamify Everything!
All fencers of all levels, just like all athletes, enjoy games! Structuring training activities into game based approaches can substantially improve competitiveness, focus, technique, enjoyment and many other elements of fencing capability. This workshop will showcase a range tried and tested exercises and approaches for individual foil lessons that are effective with all fencers right up to international competitors. There will also be some coverage of using this approach with group and pairs training activities. This will involve ‘sword in hand’ practice and coaches can bring a pupil with them.
The Workshop will take place on Saturday 11th October at the Park Centre, Duke Street, Sheffield S2 5QP and run from 10:00am to 4:00pm. Entrance to the hall will be via the fire door access on Coates Street. The Park Centre is a 15 minute walk from the train station and has a tall brick chimney which can be seen from some distance. The cost will be £25 for BAF members and £30 for non members payable by bank transfer.
To apply and find out more, go to – Foil Fencing Workshop – Saturday 11th October
Increase in club fees
Due to a range of increased costs, most particularly venue costs, the fees for attending Sheffield Buccaneers Fencing Club will go up from 1st September. We aim to keep costs as low as possible in order to ensure fencing is accessible to everybody and the aim will be to avoid any more increases for the foreseeable future. The use of available fencing equipment on club nights and at competitions will continue to be free. The new costs will be –
Attending a single session – £10
Attending on Wednesdays for 1 month – £35
Buccaneers Sabre Competitions
As part of our ‘End of the Month’ competitions on Wednesdays, we will also be running a sabre competition, this Wednesday. All local sabre fencers are welcome! We will be bringing back a very special trophy for this. This is the Sheffield and District Sabre trophy from 1939. So along with the names on it from the 40s and 50s, we can add new names now, every month. This trophy was given to me many years ago by the Sheffield coach and friend of mine Les Veale. Les was a great supporter of fencing in the area and also in the 80s and 90s played a major role in establishing and developing wheelchair fencing both in Britain and internationally.
Foil Coaching Workshop – Sunday 16th March
This workshop will feature the topic of – How to deliver flowing, controlled and coordinated individual lessons incorporating surprise and variety. and will be led by Adam Blight.
This is a workshop aimed at coaches and also, fencers have the opportunity of spending the day receiving fencing lessons from the coaches attending the workshop. Any fencers who wish to attend, which will be free, just let Adam know.
This workshop will explore, explain and practice a range of specific coaching skills and concepts which can enable the coach to introduce unannounced elements into individual lessons in a controlled way. Through being able to reliably introduce surprise and variety into a free flowing lesson the fencer can develop resilience, adaptability and creativity and also the need for verbal instruction can be minimised. The workshop will approach topic from the perspective of working with fencers of all levels from relative beginners to capable international competitors.
As an example, this video shows a warm up lesson with Adam Blight and David Alexander at the 2015 European Championships in Montreux, Switzerland. This is a free flowing lesson with a minimum of verbal instruction where the fencer faces an appropriate level of challenge and the coach maintains control.
The Workshop will take place on Sunday 16th March at the Park Centre, Duke Street, Sheffield S2 5QP and run from 10:00am to 4:00pm. Entrance to the hall will be via the fire door access on Coates Street. The Park Centre is a 15 minute walk from the train station and has a tall brick chimney which can be seen from some distance. The cost will be £25 for BAF members and £30 for non members payable by bank transfer.
To sign up for this workshop, go to – Foil Coaching Workshop – 16th March
British Youth Championships Qualifier – Yorkshire & North East Regions
8th February 2025
York Railway Institute, 24 Queen Street, YORK, North Yorkshire, YO24 1AD
Registrations closes 1st February 2025 12:00 AM
This event is classified also as Yorkshire Youth Championship for U10, U12, U14, U16 and U18 – only Yorkshire affiliated fencers.
Two rounds of poules for both regions together and split for Direct Eliminations will be separate for Yorkshire and North East. Seeding will be based on combined results from two rounds of poules.
This is closed event for fencers with BF membership affiliated Yorkshire or North East FOIL only.
Please refer to British Fencing website for rules and equipment requirements.
Provisional check in times below. Check in times will be revised based on final entry numbers and fencers notified by email.
10:00 – U10, U12, U14
12:00 – U16, U18
The Year of birth for the different age groups are –
- Under 12 – 2013, 2014
- Under 14 – 2011, 2012
- Under 16 – 2009, 2010
- Under 18 – 2007, 2008
Entry: bf.sport80.com
Organiser: Yorkshire Fencing
Organiser Telephone: 07500760057
Organiser Email: gemminix@gmail.com
In order to enter fencers who are not currently members of British Fencing will need to join. For this, go to – britishfencing.com/become-a-member/ . Select ‘Compete’ membership category. Under 14 membership costs £37 and Under 20 costs £48 for the year.
If there are any problems with either membership or entry contact me on 07761284378 or info@adamblight-fencing.com
Adam Blight
(Head Coach)
Temporary Change of Venue
Looking forward to getting back fencing on Wednesdays! There will be some dates when we will not be at Birkdale School but at The Park Centre, Duke Street, Sheffield S2 5QP. These dates are – 8th, 15th and 29th January12th February Hopefully this wont cause too much confusion.
Foil Coaching Workshop with Adam Blight
The workshop run on behalf of the British Academy of Fencing will demonstrate and explore individual lesson exercises in foil with a strong consideration of movement and it’s tactical implications. This will be a ‘sword in hand’ workshop open to BAF and non BAF coaches and also capable fencers who wish to receive lessons as part of the coaching practice. Recurrent themes in the different topics will be –
- Developing a good intuitions for – when to go, when not to go.
- Performing actions with – a good prospect of success.
- Performing actions in the context of tactically meaningful movement scenarios.
The day will work through the following topics –
Effective Simple Attacks – Following the mantra that – simple attacks are not simple, this practice will demonstrate a movement based approach to coaching simple attacks within individual lessons in a way which aims to ensure a fencer can develop – a good intuition for when to go and when not to go and perform simple attacks which have – a good prospect of success.
Movement Based Exercises – A series of predominantly choice reaction exercises where movement is a dominant factor and forms the basis for choice and decisions. The aim is that a fencer makes tactically appropriate decisions based on what is happening with the movement on the piste.
Pressing Actions – The use of pressing actions is a key component of today’s foil fencing. Exploring this topic will look at developing the capability for a fencer to effectively use and fence against pressing actions and for the coach to deliver lessons that enable this. In this topic the many different tactical and priority considerations are explored, and an approach on how to develop and deliver comprehensive pressing action based lessons and exercises is presented and practiced.
There will potentially an opportunity for club fencers to get the lessons from coaches taking part in the workshop and also learn more about fencing. To contact Adam, email:info@adamblight-fencing.com or mobile: 07761284378
The venue for this workshop is – The Park Centre, Duke Street, Sheffield S2 5QP. The Workshop will run from 10:00am till 4:00pm on Saturday 28th December. The cost for coaches will be: BAF Members – £25, Non BAF Members – £30. Coaches can bring a fencer and capable fencers can attend subject to available places. There will be a short break for lunch and those attending should bring something to eat and drink. Places are limited and there are already some good coaches signed up. Any coach who want to sign up for the course should go to – Foil Coaching Workshop.
Sheffield Buccaneers Fencing Club 