The Wits Fencing Club attended the National Senior Championship last Sunday at the Soweto Community Hall where they made it to the second of three rounds and won four bouts overall.
WITS FENCING: The team at the National Senior Championships
The Wits Fencing Club attended the National Senior Championship last Sunday at the Soweto Community Hall where they made it to the second of three rounds and won four bouts overall.
Andrea Cabanac, club chair of the Wits Fencing Club, told Wits Vuvuzela that the team has about 30 members, most of whom are beginners. Cabanac said that despite the team’s beginner status their rankings have been good considering that they’ve been playing against experienced players.
“We often find ourselves fencing against people in the national team or fencers who have been fencing for more than five years in total,” she said.
The Wits Fencing Club has participated in one provincial ranking tournament and two national competitions this year. Their participations in these events enabled them to be placed higher on the national ranking competitions and the National Championships.
Cabanac said that the National fencing team selects the top four on the ranking list to attend certain international events, typically the African Championships, All Africa Games, Commonwealth Championships and World Championships.
For lower ranked fencers, the ranking list measures their status in the National fencing arena and is a good self-motivational tool. “This year is the first year we have participated in provincial and national tournaments under the new leadership of the club,” Cabanac said.
Cabanac said that a team’s participation in these events expands the team’s skills and expertise in the sport. Cabanac said that the team has been invited to join Olympia and TUKS fencing clubs for additional training to qualify for the Wits Fencing Club. Cabanac said that the highlights of the National Senior Championship was securing Wits Fencing Club as the host of the fourth Gauteng Fencing Association (GFA) closed championship which will take place on October 22 and 23 at Wits University in the Bozzoli venue .
leanne@witsvuvuzela.com
