It might seem weird that this is big news for us - but we have kicked out paper and finally have a completely online affiliation system!
Fencing New Zealand requires all fencers to be affiliated, and we try to make this as easy as possible for fencers. Our new system makes it easier than ever before for fencers and supporters to join Fencing North and Fencing New Zealand, all through an online form with payment through paypal or by credit/debit card. When you sign up you will create a login to this site that lets you manage your membership information and easily renew each year with as little hassle as possible - and if you're logged in and entering events, some of your basic information will be autopopulated in the entry forms!
Memberships are open for the year and due by 31st March or before your first competition - you can sign up on our memberships page: https://www.fencingnorth.com/membership
Lame Care Guide
- Hanging up a lame after use will help air dry it and ensure it lasts longer
- When packing your lame, try not to fold it as this can break the metallic threads causing the lame to loose conductivity, instead lay it on a towel and roll it up.
- Washing the lame can help make it last longer:
- Check the label on the lame to make sure it can be washed; sometimes they will have symbols indicating this.
- If the lame label gives instructions on how to wash then always follow those, as the manufacturers probably know best.
- Hand wash the lame in the sink with some detergent, but make sure the detergent does not contain bleach as this will ruin the conductivity of the lame.
- Rinse thoroughly to get all of the detergent out, try not to ring it as this will break the metallic threads.
- Hang on a coat hanger to dry.
Jacket, Plastron, and Breeches Care Guide
- After training or a competition hanging out your whites to dry.
- To wash:
- If you have your name printed on the back, or country printed on the breeches turn it inside out to avoid fading over time.
- Machine wash on cold using a detergent that doesn’t contain bleach.
- Hang on a coat hanger to dry, avoiding the sun.
Mask Care Guide
- After training and competitions taking your mask out of you bag to air out will help to reduce the smell.
- Using an old pillow case or material bag to put your mask in in your bag will reduce sweat transferring from the rest of your gear onto your mask.
- To wash your mask:
- If it has removable padding, remove this and wash.
- If your mask does not have padding that cannot be removed hand wash with detergent, work the soap into the padding with your hands. Make sure to rinse all of the soap out.
- Let air-dry.
Weapon Care Guide
- There are three different types of weapons; foil, epee, and sabre.
- Whenever putting your weapons in your bag always try to keep separate from other gear as rust could transfer from the blade onto your whites (which is impossible to get off) and keep the sweat off the blades.
- If you don’t have a bag that has a separate weapon pocket you can use thin pvc pipes with some elastic on one end to protect your blades. (This is also helpful to protect your weapons during travel.)
- A good guide for troubleshooting problems that may occur with your weapons:
We are really excited to announce that we have bought 4 new sets of competition fencing gear! The first part of it arrived last week (see the image below).
So far we have 4x new sets of electric scoring machines and spools, and 2x new professional testing machines (one kindly donated by Daniel Chan from Mainland Fencing). We are also in the process of ordering 4x new lightweight pistes.
Part 1 of our order has arrived - 4x new boxes, 8x new spools & ground wires, 2x new pro testing boxes
So why did we get all this new gear and what are we going to do with it? It's simple - we want to provide fencers with the best competition experiences, and to do this we need to buy more gear! Over the past two years we have seen huge growth in fencer numbers, and as they grow we need to grow with them - it was obvious that we needed more gear for all the new fencers we have (and the fencers yet to come!). Lots of our competitions needed more gear to run than what we had - we would have to borrow scoring machines from other clubs and fence on the gym floors.
All the new gear we have ordered is the best quality - this means it is highly durable, you get a great grip on the pistes so chances of being injured are much lower than fencing on gym floors, and it is fully compliant with international fencing equipment standards. Now we will be using exactly the same high standard equipment at all our regional events as the gear used for national and international events!
As we are sure you all know - fencing equipment is pretty expensive - especially the gear used for competitions! We want to say thank you to all the fencers, parents, and volunteers who support us and our events - it makes it possible for us to provide the best competitions we can.
Congratulations to Daniel Garelja, Darya Kharitonova, and Christine Chen - they've been selected to represent New Zealand at the Cadet and Junior Commonwealth Fencing Championship in Cape Town, South Africa - this July!
Check the Fencing NZ site here for the full squad list: http://www.fencing.org.nz/news.php?cod=2581
The 2015 seasons is kicking off soon! If you want to compete in regional, national, or international events - you need to affiliate!
Last year lots of fencers found it easier to email their form to us and pay via Internet Banking.
This year we are formalising Internet Banking as a method of payment and we hope this saves you all time. All the payment details are on the affiliation form, which is available here: http://www.fencingnorth.com/useful-files/documents/138-fencing-north-affiliation-2015
Affiliations need to be paid before your first competition of the season. Our first regional competition this year is W Dawn on the 14th March, keep an eye out for some announcements about it soon.
FeNZ have given notice that their 2014 AGM will be held via Skype on the 1st March 2015 at 10am. We will organise a location for people to meet and join the meeting, watch this space!
For more information, see this page: http://www.fencing.org.nz/news.php?cod=2541