Just a reminder that the club is closed for March Break, and resumes normal training March 19th.  For those wanting training, there are camps in GTA and in Ottawa - and you can purchase day tickets. For those vacationing, stay safe and bring the sun back.  For those resting, study hard.
Congratulations to all our athletes over the last weeks in various competitions, international to provincial.  We had some amazing successes in what I call the dessert of competition.  But everyone was invited to the main meal.  We must always remember success lies not the podium or even selection but in the things that challenge us where we are in that moment of our lives.  If you see yourself learning and being made better as a result for the future (whether in fencing or life), then you have succeeded.  Be proud, shout it out loudly on that!

Remember, there is only one world champion, one Olympic medallist and therefore the vast majority of fencer, by that definition, have lost, but they are not losers - the process of pushing towards makes them all successful regardless of the final prize.

This is the reason we compete - to be better ourselves.  Everything else is secondary.  Don't miss the main meal because you want to eat the dessert at the end of it.  
Darren and Robyn

Due to yesterday's very odd weather and storm (what a wild night), I cancelled pre-elite as many travel from KW/London and Mitchell.  I am offering to those students this Saturday morning as a make up training with the usual Saturday morning group.  You can come for 10 and we end at 12.  ~Darren

Greetings from Barcelona and a very successful Junior World Cup

Darren returns late Tuesday and there is NO training Tuesday evening. Coach Scott may open the club for bouting.


1. For those travelling Friday to the OWG and PanAms. Please watch for emails if there is a change of time, otherwise continue as normal.

2. Trainings are as normal W/Th/Sat and Sunday.

3. March Break Future Champions Camp in Ottawa/Gatineau is March 13-17 with a different format this year.  We are working with the Quebec Federation and having a real tournament with European fencers in attendance as well as for the entire camp.  It is hosted in Gatineau (the other side of Ottawa) and there are lots of AirBB opportunities and hotels.  It will be a fantastic camp with lots of different than usual fencers from Europe, Quebec and the US.  And a visit to Ottawa is always fun.https://futurechampionscamp.com/camp/ottawa-fencing-camp/
4.  Future Champions Camp in Italy (Olympic Centre in Tirrenia near Pisa): It is late because of the Olympics but the dates for those interested are:  August 24-29th

We are back to it this week.  The coaches hope all had a restful and festive holiday season.  
Join Robyn, Scott and myself in welcoming Alecs Tudor to our coaching staff.  Alecs is a former national team fencer, the headcoach at University of Waterloo fencing, a national level referee and in his day job, a elementary school teacher in the Hamilton Board.  He is a new father to Lucia and husband to Vanessa.  We've known and trained Alecs for years, and he will be helping to give lessons.
There are quite a few announcements this week as Darren is away from Monday in Milan for a week long set of meeting for all things fencing (there are quite a few things happening there and some very exciting possibilities for our fencers), returning late Sunday.



Schedule:

• Tuesday:  All training starts at 7
  
• Wednesday:  Training as normal for pre elite, ran by Blake Degroot.
• Thursday: All training starts at 7.
• Sat: NO Training
• Sunday: Training as per usual, 10 am start lead by Coach Tudor.
  

Looking AHEAD:
1. The Second Ontario Youth Circuit Event is up for registration:
https://ontariofencingassociation.wufoo.com/forms/20232024-ofa-circuit-youth-2-and-cadet-2


2. March Break Future Champions Camp in Ottawa/Gatineau is March 14-17 with a different format this year.  We are working with the Quebec Federation and having a real tournament (included) with European fencers in attendance as well as for the entire camp.  It is hosted in Gatineau (the other side of Ottawa) and there are lots of AirBB opportunities and hotels.  It will be a fantastic camp with lots of different than usual fencers from Europe, Quebec and the US.  And a visit to Ottawa is always fun.


3.  Future Champions Camp in Italy (Olympic Centre in Tirrenia near Pisa): It is late because of the Olympics but the dates for those interested are:  August 24-29th. Please let head coach know of your interest as soon as possible.

There are quite a few things to pay attention towards as we rush into the holiday season:


1. ANNUAL Club Hannukamas/Christmakah PARTY is Sunday 17th December starting at 10 am.  We have a fun in club tournament (parents can come to watch), the athletes do a white elephant gift exchange (always a fun time) and then have pizza (yes, it's easy) and drinks.  This one is on the club.  However, we do ask that if you are more than 4 people, that you pay for persons 5 to ?.  We should finish around time for the beginners to start.
​
The white elephant gift exchange is a time honoured SFO tradition - Each person participating (only athletes, no siblings) brings a wrapped present.  This can be bought, regifted, found in the house or whatever.  Each person draws a number and can do one of the following: Choose to open a wrapped present, or steal an unwrapped present.  If a present is stolen, then that person who lost the gift can select to steal or to take one unwrapped present and open it.  There are two steals per round.  It can be hot and heavy in the negotiations and the strategies are intense!  

Please note, if you forget to bring a present, you cannot play.

Holiday Closure:
The club closes for the holiday break on Thursday 21 December and reopens on Wednesday January 3rd (the 2nd is Darren's birthday).  There will be some short training times open (likely half days) in the interim but Darren is NOT planning on running a formal camp in that period.  Stay tuned for the announced times.


Holiday Camps Elsewhere:  please refer to the TeamSnap memo for details


All training this week at SFO is as usual, except Saturday morning (Dec 6) due to our hosting the Men's High Performance Camp.

Congratulations to the SFO athletes who were selected, via ranking to the 2024 Ontario Winter Games. 16 athletes were selected per gender.

A reminder to those selected that you MUST attend the OFA HPDP camp held in December.  The women's camp is at Mountain Fencing Club in Markham and the men's camp is here in Stratford (Dec 9). Please double check and register accordingly on the OFA website as the camp is mandatory and worth 100 points.  If you do not attend, then it is highly likely that you will be jumped in the rankings.

The camp will likely shift places and in the case of declines, the spot moves to the alternates.

Women's Foil: Ellie Davies, Xanthe Marchanton, Maggie Sousa and Elly Stock-Bateman.  1st alternate is Nora Henley.

Men's Foil:  Spencer Orr, Cohen Bernard, Quintin Vollmer and Dylan Shi.  1st alternate is Parker Lambert.

Hearty congratulations to all our athletes who participated this past weekend in the largest Ontario based tournament in St Catharines at Brock University.  As the late starts, late nights testify - this is a big event.  We had several historic highlights including a complete sweep of the junior men's podium, and a total of 13 podiums in 8 events. [Photos here]

All the athletes who participated, not just those on the podium, in the event showed improvement and are moving in the correct direction.  Swords are made in the crucible of fire and are made sharper and stronger by the process of that fire and the hammer blows therein. Athletes welcome the fire and its lessons.

A few years ago, a psychologist at University of Waterloo was asked by Robyn what is the most important skill or lesson she thought needed to be taught to kids - her answer without a pause was resilience.
Thank you especially to Coach Robyn who provided excellent support/advice while Coach Darren was in various eliminations and both were run off their feet.


Weekly Announcements:
1. We are back to our usual schedule with all trainings, including Saturday morning, as normal this week.
2. We have the Dave Davies Cup, team dinner at Jobsite and then movie night coming on Dec 2.


Let's keep it short and sweet this week.

Another busy weekend for SFO athletes in Toronto and London.  Congratulations to Spencer Orr (gold, cadet); Cohen Bernard (silver, u15), Quintin Vollmer (bronze, u15) and Joshua Kim (bronze, u11) in Toronto and to Scott Bell, Lucas Ridgen, Gordon Ye and Blake Degroot for the gold in men's senior teams in London.  
Equal and hearty congratulations for the many personal bests (Parker Lambert, Xanthe Marchanton, Elly Stock Bateman, Nora Hanley, Maggie Sousa, Suha Choi, and Isaac Hoyles) and especial congratulations  to new to Ontario and general fencing competitions Hwan Sin, Isaac Chen and Quinn Pottle-Tschudi!  Everyone had significant accomplishments and are moving in the correct directions.


This remains the last of the October's heavy competition weekends for Coach Darren as he travels Wednesday with our elite High Performance Athletes to Orlando, Florida (I know, tough) for the North American Cup.  As such, please note the following schedule changes:


Wednesday:  Only Pre-elite classes
Thursday: 7 pm start
Saturday: No elite training
Sunday:  11 am start for all.


Also, apparently the 31st is a big night for many of our athletes and as such we will cancel training so there can be lots of groovy ghoulie time.
Finally:

The club armoury is closed for all fencers. No tape, no glue, nothing to be used.

You will need to fix your equipment at home going forward. Any person going up to the armoury will be reminded to not do so, and it is now off limits.  Only coaching staff can use the armoury. 

Darren and Robyn

Happy Thanksgiving to all who choose to celebrate.
There are quite a few changes to the schedule this week as we move into a heavy tournament rotation, please pay attention:


1. Thursday and Sunday are shortened training for the elite as the club is open on 7-9 Thursday by Coach Scott and 11-4 by Coach Robyn on Sunday.  Coach Darren is in Quebec City supporting our athletes who are fencing in the first Canada Cup of the season.  If you have lessons on Thursday, they are also cancelled.  No training on Saturday.


2. Registration is up for the Ontario Cadet and under circuit in Toronto on the 21-22 Oct  and will be supported by Coach Darren.  

October, already?  Wow.
There are quite of few things to communicate this week:

1. This weekend is Thanksgiving Weekend and SFO is closed for ALL classes on Sunday 8th October for Thanksgiving weekend.  Saturday training is also cancelled with the exception below if we go.



2. If you are interested in going to the free training on Saturday 7th October (230-4 pm) with Maestro Barrera at Vango Toronto, please let Darren know by tomorrow end of training.  We will see numbers and gauge interest/rides.


3. Eurofencing orders should be submitted by Thursday end of day.  The gear will NOT be in country for the Ontario tournament and depending on how efficient I am with the customs/customs are with fencing gear.  We will also ask for payment upfront, or at least a down payment.


4. For those planning on fencing in the Toronto Exhibition Place tournament, please note the following:  1. All masks must be double strapped at the back (e.g, no club masks can be used as they are single straps); 2. Chest protectors must have the foam outside padding attached (e.g, club chest protectors which we lend do not have this for obvious reasons of laundering).  Your child will not be able to fence without these things by the organizers.  If you are hard pressed, let me know and we can point you in the direction of the purchase of these from Canada.