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News Archive 2010 - 2011 Season

Summer BBQ and Awards

On Sunday 26th June 2011 at Crawfordsburn Country Park we had a fantastic turnout of 70 members, family and friends at our 'Annual' Summer BBQ and Awards. The weather was great, the food was superb and the fun was fantastic. Everyone seemed to have a good time and what a nice way to end a superb season with the Top fencing club in N.Ireland. A special mention to the Parents Group who helped out on the day and the committee members present. Also WELL DONE to ALL Grosvenor Fencers and our two coaches for such a successful and enjoyable season. We look forward to next season as we continue to take fencing to new heights. Gallery

Carrickfergus Castle Tournament

Well done to all our members who took part in the Carrickfergus Castle Tournament. Over the two days there were some great fencing performances by our members in all six weapons, some of the highlights were:

In Men's Foil strong displays from Stephen Brown - 3rd, Chris Jordan - 3rd. In Ladies Foil continuing improving and impressive performances by Tasha Montgomery - 3rd, Lydia Roets - 3rd. In Men's Sabre Jake Wylie continues to improve with an impressive 8th place. In Women's Sabre Harriet Connor finished well with a 2nd place. In Men's Epee Stephen Brown - 8th and Gerry Boyle -12th did well. In Women's Epee Fiona Haldane finished with an excellent 2nd place. Gallery to follow.

UK School Games Teams

Congratulations to our six members who have been selected to represent N.Ireland at the UK School Games in Sheffield on 1st - 4th September 2011. In Men's Foil: Chris Jordan, Tony Eve, Stephen Brown, Kristofor Gywnne. In ladies Foil - Kirsten Beggs. In Ladies Sabre - Chloe Lopez-Colclough. Well Done to you all.

Summer Fencing Displays

2nd Date Added

We have been asked to put on a fencing Display and Public taster session by Belfast City Council. We did this last year and it was a fantastic success and turned out to be very enjoyable for all those taking part with Shane Lynch from Boyzone dropping in on the day. [Read More]

End of Season Awards and BBQ

UPDATE: BBQ will be held on large grass area on left immediately after the turn off for the scout centre. Please feel free to bring camping chairs to sit on.

After the most successful season ever in the history of our club we will be having our annual end of season Awards and BBQ at Crawfordsburn Country Park on the 26th June between 1pm - 4pm. There will be awards for all age groups in various categories and family and friends are very welcome. We will even have our Midi Fence kit with us so if any friends feel like it they can have a go themselves. There will be games on hand for the more active minded to get involved in and of course the BBQ. It all promises to be a fun filled day (regardless of weather). Further details and entry [here]

Lagan Junior Open - NIJFS

On Saturday 7th May 2011 Grosvenor Junior Fencers again demonstrated why they are Tops in Junior Fencing in N.Ireland and why Grosvenor is the Top Fencing Club. This was the final event of the 2011 N.Ireland Junior Series and for the second year in a row our fencers comprehensively achieved top placing's in the different age groups in which they were entered.

In Girls U14 Lucy Taylor our only member in this group took Gold on the day and Gold overall.

Boys U14 Samuel Gourley took Gold on the day and Gold overall, Stewart McClune Silver on the day and Silver overall and Ryan Simpson Bronze on the day and Gareth Reid Bronze overall.

Boys U12 Jonathan Little Gold on the day and Gold overall, William Girvan Bronze on the day and Silver overall.

Boys U10 Michael Reid, our only member in this young age group won Bronze on the day and Silver overall.

Well done to all our Fencers who took part. [Gallery]

Grosvenor Training Day & Coach Development

There will be a combined Training Day for all of our fencers as well as a coach development training day on Sunday 15th May 2011. This is a very special opportunity and open to everyone to attend. We will be focusing as normal on coached fencing for everyone but we will also be developing some of our more experienced juniors and adult volunteers in coach development as part of our overall club fencing objectives. If anyone needs more info. contact club email. Entries should be in ASAP. Entry Gallery

British Youth Championships

Congratulations to all our fencers who attended the BYC Finals in Sheffield. Everyone did very well and will have gained a lot of experience from attending the event. Best overall results came from Tony Eve 12th and Stephen Brown 16th in Boy's U16. Results. [Gallery]

B.Y.C Finalists

Grosvenor Fencing Club wants to wish ALL it's many members attending the BYC Finals in Sheffield Good Luck and ENJOY YOURSELVES.

N.I Junior Foil Series

The final event of the NIJFS will take place at Sullivan Upper School on 7th May 2011. Online entries close 4th May. [Details]

N.Ireland Nationals 2011

Grosvenor fencers had an excellent day at the N.I Nationals on Saturday 16th April 2011. This was the first major competition we have hosted in our New Sports Hall and from a Club management and fencing performance perspective it was a complete success. [Read More]

Easter Holidays

The Club will only be closed on 25th & 26th April. Reopens on Wednesday 27th for everyone. This will be the Last Training Opportunity before the BYC Finals.

Glasgow Open Win

Congratulations to our Coach Clarke Little who won the Glasgow Open on Sunday 10th April. With 69 in the event Clarke put in some great performances winning every single match and beating the Merseyside Open winner in the final. Well done Clarke.

Irish Nationals

On Saturday 9th April some of our Junior fencers traveled to Dublin to take part in the Irish Nationals. Kristofor Gwynne, Tony Eve and Stephen Brown all performed very well finishing 9th, 12th & 13th respectively. Each of them will have gained valuable experience from the event. Also we had Fiona Haldane taking 5th place in Women's Epee and Gerry Boyle finishing well in Men's Epee. Well done all. [Gallery]

BYC Kit Check

For all our members attending the BYC's later this month we have arranged for the armourer to come into our club on Monday Night (11th April) to check All kit that you will be taking to the finals. As their are 17 members who've qualified we recommend you bring in your kit as promptly as possible at the start of the night. This is to help our members as all kit must comply fully with BFA regulations or it will not be permitted to be used at the finals in Sheffield. Foil's and Body wire's will be the most tested items at the event.

Grosvenor Fencers Keep Up The Winning

Grosvenor Junior Fencers continue to dominate local Foil Fencing. After winning everything they competed in fully in last years Junior Series and with 17 of them qualifying to go to the BYC Finals in Sheffield they again took the spoils in the NIJFS event in Bangor. With Gold, Silver and Bronze in the Boy's U14 age group and our 1 Girl entrant taking Gold in U14 and also a Gold in Boy's U12 and a Bronze for our youngest fencer in the U10 age group it's clear to see why we are the largest and fastest growing club in N.Ireland. A special mention for our two coaches David Jackson & Clarke Little who are doing fantastic work with our Junior's to get these results with Clarke supporting our Juniors at all their events so far this year. We also had just 2 members enter Men's Epee, they took the Gold and Silver. WELL DONE to all our members who entered and made the effort to take part. [Gallery]

Note: Next Junior Event is N.I Nationals 16th April at Grosvenor, entries should be in ASAP. [Entry]

Meeting for BYC Parents

MONDAY 11th April 6.45 pm meeting for those parents traveling to the BYC's in Sheffield at the beginning of May.

Agenda

Rules of competitions, explanation of how the poules work and DE is
arrived at.

Please make an effort to attend.

S Martin

Edinburgh International Open

Well done to our coach Clarke Little who finished in 5th place at the Edinburgh International Open at the weekend (26-3-11).

N.Ireland Nationals & Junior Foil Open

On 16 April 2011 Grosvenor Fencing Club are hosting the N.I Nationals Junior Foil Open to run on the same day as the Senior N.I Nationals at Grosvenor. Check-in time for the Junior Competition will be 11am with 11.30 am start. Closing Date for Junior entries 12th April. Junior [Entry] - Senior [Entry]

Exciting Developments for Grosvenor

Continuous Improvement and Development is a constant feature of Grosvenor Fencing Club. Whether that's on the Piste or as a Club Committee, it has resulted in a lot of success and this shows no sign of changing. Here are some recent important developments that will help strengthen and promote our club throughout the UK and Worldwide. [Read More]

Training Day

The next Grosvenor Training Day will be on Sunday 3rd April with Mike Westgate. We have a limited number of places for this as we want to get the best training experience for those participating. Entries should be in ASAP. [Entry]

La Presidenta

At a recent committee meeting it was decided unanimously to elect club founder Mrs. Sandra Martin to the honorary lifetime post of Club President. Sandra founded Grosvenor Fencing Club over 35 years ago and ran it solo until quite recently when the Grosvenor Fencing Club Committee was formed. Although the club has enjoyed tremendous success recently none of this would have been possible without the initial hard work and foresight of Sandra. This honorary position will ensure that she remains in a central role in the club for the future.

Parents/Members Information Evening

Date for your diary. On Tuesday 15th March, 6.45pm- 8.30pm there will be a Club information evening in the Lecture Hall in Grosvenor. A number of matters will be discussed to inform and update parents & members of recent improvements in the club as well as future plans we have to develop Grosvenor Fencing Club over the coming months. We will also have a segment specifically on the upcoming BYC's and summer events and opportunities for parents to get involved further if they wish. We would encourage everyone to come along as this evening is being held for the benefit of all parents/members so that you can be fully informed on what is occurring in your club. Tea/Coffee and bickies will be available after.

Grosvenor Fencers Qualify En Masse at BYC Qualifiers

Grosvenor Juniors continued with their impressive form at the recent joint NIJFS and British Youth Championship Qualifiers at Sullivan Upper on 26th February 2011. In total 17 Grosvenor members have qualified to go to the BYC finals in Sheffield later this year, a NEW RECORD for the club. [Read More]

Merseyside Open 2011

Grosvenor had a total of five members at the Merseyside Open with some very good performances. Our younger fencers did very well with Tony Eve performing especially well achieving some excellent results along with Kristofor Gwynne and Stephen Brown. Well done to all our fencers who took part in the event.

British Youth Championship Qualifiers

A joint BYC Qualifier and NIJFS event is being held at Sullivan Upper School on Saturday 26th February 2011. There will be age groups for ALL our Junior Fencers to enter and those that are successful on the day will qualify to go to the BYC Finals at the end of April in Sheffield. We would encourage all of our Junior fencers to enter this competition. A BFA licence is required to fence in any competition details [here] Competition Entry [here]

East of Ireland Open

Grosvenor Fencers performed well at the recent East of Ireland competition in Dublin. Fiona Haldane was in excellent form winning Gold in Women's Epee. Our Foilist's also performed well at the event gaining more useful experience. [Gallery]

Training Day

We had an excellent training session on Saturday 5th February. The coach on the day was Mike Westgate who ensured that everyone enjoyed themselves and they also will have learnt a lot from the training session. [Gallery]

Our Next Training Day will be Sunday 6th March 9.30 am - 4.30 pm. Numbers will be strictly limited for this one to ensure we get the maximum coaching experience for members on the day. [Entry]

This is one of many improvements in the pipeline over the coming months which will improve the training experience even further for all of our Full Members.

Major Boost for Grosvenor at Sport NI Awards Evening

On Wednesday 2nd February 2011, Grosvenor Fencing Club was invited to an Awards evening at the University of Ulster, Jordanstown by Sport Northern Ireland. We where honoured to be presented with an Award in connection with our Clubmark Achievement by Sport NI and we intend to continue building on this success as one of Northern Irelands Top Junior Sporting Clubs. Also as a result of our strong working relationship and alot of hard work with Sport NI, we are delighted to announce that Sport NI are making a substantial investment into our club to support our current club progress and enable us to develop Grosvenor Fencing Club further. This is a great endorsement of our current club strategy and we are thankful of Sport NI's support which will significantly strengthen our club for the future.

BFA Achievement Awards

The next assessment for the BFA Achievement Awards will take place on the 14th & 15th February. This will be open to beginners wishing to take level 1 and also for anyone wishing to take their level 2 assessment. All those interested should have their entries and monies paid by Tuesday, 8th February. For further information and student notes. [Here]

Grosvenor Junior's Keep Up Winning Ways

At the NIJFS event, The North Down Open, on 22 January 2011 Grosvenor junior fencers (all under 14) continued to show their quality and improvement. With 3 Gold and 2 Silver medals they continued to keep pace with their older team mates who did so well the previous week at the N.I Open. In Men's Foil (U14), five of the last eight were Grosvenor fencers and we ended with Samuel Gourley taking Gold and Stewart McClune taking Silver. Again in (U12) Men's Foil Grosvenor ended with Jonathan Little Gold and William Girvan who has just moved into this age group, taking an excellent Silver. In Women's Foil (U14) we had just one member Lucy Taylor taking part, she also took the Gold Medal. A special mention for our youngest member Michael Reid (U10) who performed excellently in his first ever competition. Well done to ALL of our fencers who took part. [Gallery]

Grosvenor Success Continues at N.I Open

The Northern Ireland Open which is the biggest competition in N.Ireland produced more medals for Grosvenor Fencers in Foil, Epee & Sabre. Our two main coaches were in action on day 1. On the Saturday David Jackson literally limped out of the Men's Sabre competition with an impressive Bronze medal after breaking his toe in the semi-final and on the same day Clarke Little, with some excellent performances, took the Silver medal in Men's Foil after losing out to David Alexander in a tough final. On Sunday, Fiona Haldane continued with her recent impressive performances by taking the Bronze medal in Women's Epee. Well Done to ALL of our fencers who took part in the event with some excellent fencing displays over the two days. The steady progression of Grosvenor Junior Foilists in particular, with some excellent results and wins was clear to see and reflects the increasing high standards and performances from members of our club. [Gallery]

Junior Competition this Weekend

REMINDER: The first of four N.I Junior Foil Competitions between now and May takes place this weekend at Sullivan Upper School. Points earned at each event go towards your final overall placing's in May. Entries Close on Wednesday 19th January, after which time an extra fee will apply. Entries can be made online for this event.

N.Ireland Open & Beginners Package

The Northern Ireland Open, the biggest and most successful competition in N.Ireland, organised by Grosvenor Fencing Club, takes place this weekend 15-16 Jan. in Avoniel Leisure Centre. [Details] We would like as many of our younger fencers aged 13 and above to get involved in this event as you will gain great experience from it and have the opportunity to fence people from different countries. Club members can get in contact through our email if you have any questions. Our Beginners Package is running a special promotion to celebrate our 25 years of running this event. All beginners first night training is FREE. You can then apply the Beginners Package for the next six sessions and if you decide to join after that then those six sessions are free also. So no excuse not to come along and train with the Top Fencing Club in N.Ireland.

Training Day

On Saturday 5th February we shall be having a training day for Grosvenor fencers. We are delighted that the coach will be Mike Westgate who is the Head N.I Coach and also a 'Master of Arms' (the highest coaching level possible) Mike is a good friend of Grosvenor and one of our former regular coaches. This is a great training opportunity for everyone, especially those entering the British Youth Championship qualifiers which will be taking place on 26th February. Training Day Application [Here]

Junior Foil Series

The New N.I Junior Foil Series has had a number of improvements made to it to make it more user friendly. Included in the changes is a new scoring system, increase in the number of events each year and a new maximum age limit. The next event will be on 22nd January. Note: There are now closing dates on all entries for these events. Details here.

Grosvenor Fencing in Local Schools

As the leading Foil Club in N.Ireland, Grosvenor Fencing Club have just completed a series of 6 week training courses in a number of local schools. In total we where able to introduce 120 school pupils of various ages to foil fencing and the response and interest among the young people has been amazing. Belfast City Council have given us great support in this outreach and we look forward to working with them in the near future on further joint projects.

Christmas Holidays

The Club's last training night before Christmas will be on Monday 20th December 2010. We will then reopen on Tuesday 4th January 2011. There will be NO training on Wednesday 5th January, however we will resume our normal schedule from Monday 10th January.

Derry Open Success

Grosvenor fencers did very well at the Derry Open in very difficult conditions. A number of our fencers traveled to londonderry for the event on Sat. 11th December 2010 and entered the Men's and Women's Foil. Clarke little & Chris Jordan took Bronze in Men's Foil and Kirsten Beggs, who had some excellent performances, took the Silver in Women's Foil. Well done to all the Grosvenor fencers who entered.

Irish Open Success for Grosvenor

A very cold, icy and snowy Dublin on the 4th & 5th of December was not enough to stop some hot fencing displays from the Grosvenor fencers who braved the weather to travel there. On the Saturday Fiona Haldane took an impressive Bronze in Women's Epee continuing on from her excellent performances in the World Championship Finals in Croatia. On Sunday four of our foilists took part in the Men's event with improving performances continuing by Tony Eve, Stephen Brown and David Patterson. Clarke Little performing very well went on to take the Men's Foil Bronze medal. [Gallery]

Grosvenor Fencing Video

Sport NI have been working closely with us recently on different fronts and we are delighted with our close partnership with them. One of the projects Sport NI and Grosvenor Fencing Club have been co-operating on has been in the making of a Clubmark promotional video. I'm delighted to say this has now been completed and you can watch it. Thanks to the parents and members who participated in the making of this video. [Video]

BFA Achievement Awards

We had a total of 21 junior fencers apply to be assessed for level 1 of the BFA Achievement Awards. We are delighted that all of them were successful in their test and most of them will now be able to begin working towards their level 2 assessment.

Welsh Open

Well done Tony Eve for a good performance at the 2010 Welsh Open. Tony will have received good experience from this event.

Club Progress & AGM Update

We have undergone major club development changes in the past 8 months, all designed to improve our clubs organisation, coaching and training practices. A reliable indicator of any sporting club is its performance in its chosen sporting field. [Read More]

Grosvenor Junior Fencers Make A Clean Sweep

Grosvenor Fencers have set a new high standard in Junior Foil Fencing with their performances at the Celtic Open. This was the final event in the 2010 N.I Junior Foil Series, which took place in Campbell College on Saturday 6th November 2010 and what a day it turned out to be for Grosvenor Fencing Club. [Read More]

BFA Achievement Awards Rescheduled

Due to unique, unforeseen circumstances leaving both of our main coaches unavailable for Monday & totally incapacitated for Tuesday night training, we have decided to reschedule the assessment night for the BFA Awards to the 15th & 16th November. This will ensure everyone is fully prepared for their assessment. Notes for this assessment are now on the BFA page. Beginner Fencers may apply for this assessment if they wish.

The Northwest Open

Grosvenor Fencing Club was well represented at The Northwest Open on 23rd October 2010. We continued with our strong performances as the Premier Foil Club. In Men's Foil we took Gold (Clarke Little), Silver(Tony Eve) and Bronze(Chris Jordan). In Women's Foil we took Gold(Kirsten Beggs) and Silver (Chloe Lopez-Colclough). Excellent performances where also had by Stephen Brown, Christopher Thompson and Tasha Montgomery in her first Open Event. Well done to all our members. [Gallery]

N.I Junior Series - Celtic Open

Last event in 2010 junior series. Age groups suitable for ALL our junior fencers to enter. Even if you've just started fencing we would urge you to go along to this competition as its a fun way to improve your fencing abilities. Entry info. on Competition page.

Date: Nov. 6th. - Venue: Campbell College

Age Group ----Check-In Time----- Start Time
Under 12 -------- 08:45 ------------- 09:00
Under 14 -------- 10:15 ------------- 10:30
Under 16 -------- 11:45 ------------- 12:00
Under 10 -------- 12:30 ------------- 12:45 (Mixed event)
Under 18 -------- 13:30 ------------- 13:45

Please note a BFA licence is required to compete in any competition.

New Range of Club Merchandise

We have launched a new range of Club Clothing. [Read More]

BFA Achievement Awards

Latest: Guidance Notes now added .Grosvenor Fencing Club have adopted the BFA Achievement Awards Scheme as the coaching model for our beginner – intermediate level fencers. [Read More]

Clubmark Award Night

On Monday 4th October 2010 we had the prestigious Clubmark Award officially presented to us by Mr. Ryan Haire, Sports Development Officer with Belfast City Council. We are very honoured to receive this award which confirms us as one of the leading Junior Sports Clubs in N.Ireland. [Read More]

Commonwealth & World Championships Result

We want to congratulate our very own Fiona Haldane for a fantastic 6th place finish in Women's Epee at the World Championship Finals in Croatia. Also Congratulations to David Alexander who trained with us in the summer, for achieving a Bronze medal finish in Men's Foil at the Commonwealth Fencing Championships in Australia. Having chatted with him he's very happy to say the least!

Commonwealth & World Championships

Grosvenor Fencing logo

We want to wish the NI Commonwealth Fencing Squad 'All the Best' in Melbourne, Australia. We have a strong connection to this team with four of our members David Patterson, Fiona Haldane, David Jackson and Clarke Little selected for it in Foil, Epee and Sabre. Another member of the squad David Alexander trained with us in preparation for this event. Also good luck to Fiona Haldane who is competing in the World Championships in Croatia with the GB squad. This shows the current quality we have at our club.

Past and present Competition

past & present grosvenor

On Sunday 26th September 2010 we held our 'Past and Present' Fun Competition in Grosvenor Sports Hall. We enjoyed the company of a number of our past members who came along to join in on the day and they showed that they are as competitive as ever. It was great to see our past members taking part and thoroughly enjoying themselves beside some of our newer members and we'd like to thank everyone for making the effort to be there. [Gallery]

Autumn Fencing Display

On Saturday 25th September 2010 we had another very successful and enjoyable day which saw us put on a Display for the Public and as usual we also got them fully involved and they all seemed to love it. Everyone enjoyed themselves as can be seen from the pictures and we would like to say a big thanks to all those who took part in supporting our Club. [Gallery]

Manchester Cadets

Congratulations to David Patterson for putting in a strong performance at the Manchester Cadet Tournament at the weekend. The standard of fencing was very high with a number of European fencers taking part and David will have picked up valuable experience from the event.

Grosvenor Awarded Clubmark

''Clubmark NI represents the achievements of junior sports clubs who meet minimum standards in the areas of ‘effective management’, ‘quality coaching and competition’ and ‘safety in sport’. The Clubmark NI logo provides these clubs with a clear visual method to communicate the quality of their sports club to others.'' [Read More]

Grosvenor Success at UK School Games

uk school games 2010

''The Sainsbury's UK School Games is a multi-sport event for the UK's elite young athletes of school age.''

We had four members from our club representing N.Ireland at this prestigious event from 2nd - 5th September 2010 in Newcastle, England. [Read More]

UK School Games 2010

Grosvenor want to wish the Men and Women's N.I Junior Foil teams good luck in the upcoming UK School Games. Hopefully their intensive training with us and Don McKenzie in preparation for the event brings them some success.

The Training Week

Now that the training week is over hopefully everyone has finally recovered from their exertions. The general concensus seems to be that everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves as well as having some excellent coaching from Don McKenzie. As can be seen from our selection of pics. there are alot of smiles on faces, as well as alot of intensive training going on. Just the way we like it. The Grosvenor Committee would like to thank Don for all the great work he put in during the week and also everyone who participated in the training making this such an excellent week. Also a big thanks to NORBEV for sponsoring the training week and supplying water to everyone involved. Also Stormont Fencing Club for supporting us in the supply of equipment. [Gallery]

New Club Night

We are happy to announce that we have added an extra club night to our schedule to accommodate our growing numbers. The new night will be every wednesday 8pm - 10pm in the New Sports Hall, this will ensure that we can provide the best coaching and training experience for all our members. More exciting new developments for the new season are in the pipeline and will be announced in the near future for our Full Club Members.

'Fencing with the Stars' Olympic Display

Our latest display was a big success with all those involved thoroughly enjoying themselves. We had Shane Lynch from Boyzone at the event along with Lord Mayor of Belfast Pat Convery and Nelson McCausland the current DCAL minister. The public who were at the event seemed to love the fencing also with queues forming to try it out. See [Gallery] We would like to thank all the parents and fencers that turned out to make this such a memorable day in supporting the club. We will be having another display coming up very soon, keep a regular check on the web site.

Commonwealth Fencing Championships

Congratulations to Fiona Haldane, Clarke Little, David Patterson and David Jackson on their recent selection to represent N.Ireland at the Commonwealth Fencing Championships in Melbourne, Australia later this year. This is a great honour for each of our fencers, their families and also for Grosvenor Fencing Club. It reflects the high standard of training and commitment that each fencer has put into their sport and demonstrates the high quality of competitor and training currently available at our club. With 4 Commonwealth Fencers in Foil, Epee and Sabre, Grosvenor keeps setting higher standards.

Carrick Castle Open

Grosvenor carrick castle 2010

Grosvenor had another very successful day this time at The Carrick Castle Open on the 12th - 13th June. On the Saturday we had a total of eight fencers taking part in the Men's & Women's Foil and Men's Sabre. Gallery now posted.[Read More]