Geoff Elder

I think it was yesterday that the "fencing high" finally wore off after going to Geoff Elder.  This was my third time going to Statesboro for a fencing tournament and it's always been a fun experience to travel with the YJFC.  For my first time in Geoff Elder, I enjoyed it - small and relaxed, with a lot of cool fencers to fence against and talk with.

On the Saturday of the tournament weekend, I was entered impromptu into the Open Epee tournament.  Although I was not physically or mentally prepared for the event, I felt a lot better in epee than I was a year ago, thanks to the couple of months fencing foil.  Anthony Betts and Cory Walker were also fencing in the Open, as well as the C&Under.  And for some reason, the YJFC just ended up running half the tournament...

Anthony Betts awaiting to fence.  Alex O'Connor and Parth Deshmukh at one side of the strip.  Matt Bernstein testing weapons, and me timing/scorekeeping for Matt.

The Sunday tournaments were also fun but a whole lot more challenging.  As a first-year foilist, needless to say, I didn't do so well.  In the Open Foil, Matt Bernstein, Alex O'Connor, and I seeded such that we had to fence each other for a spot in the finals.  Matt got 2nd Place in Open Foil, and Alex got 3rd Place.  In the C&Under, I guess I had neither the strength or will to fence much longer, and I came out short.  However, Alex pulled through to earn 3rd place for a second time.

Congratulations to the Top 4 in Open Foil!

Once we were done, we drove back to Atlanta and got some burgers at the Vortex.  Yum.

So in short, I really enjoyed going to Geoff Elder.  It's cool to find me and my teammates supporting for each other while we continually improve ourselves.  I feel like I say this all the time, but the club has really grown to become a family to me, putting up with my friends' antics and simultaneously enjoying their company.

Parth, Matt, Cory, Anthony, Susanna (me), and Alex.  The glow makes it look like we're dead...

Well, that's another tournament down.  This Sunday, I will be joining more foilists to the UGA Open, where over 50 foilists have signed up in both of the foil events.  I am as excited as I am scared.

Minor Technical Difficulties

The website is back up.  (Yay!)  And just before leaving for Geoff Elder tomorrow night.  (Even more yay!)

Have a great Friday and a great 3-day weekend, everybody!

Susanna, your Friendly YJFC Webmaster

First YJFC Blog of 2014

Hey guys!

What you're reading right now is the first YJFC blog post of 2014!  We're very excited to get back to the CRC and start fencing again.

Our first practice of 2014 will be on Tuesday, January 7th, 2014 6-8pm @ the CRC Back Courts.
Note that our practice times have changed for this semester!  The changes follow:

• Sunday 4-6pm
• Tuesday 6-8pm
• Thursday 7-9pm
• Friday 7-9pm (optional)

We have six tournaments this semester.  We start off with what seems like a marathon of tournament weekends, including Geoff Elder on Jan 18-19, UGA Open on Jan 25-26, and Green Gator on Feb 8-9.  After a month, we will host our Yellow Jacket Open on March 1-2.  Towards the end of March and around Spring Break, colleges will congregate for Spring SAC and the CFCs (Collegiate Fencing Championships).

Of course, the club is also planning some fun socials, which are coming soon.  Make sure you come to practice to pay your dues, get warmed up, and start fencing again!

See you on Tuesday!

Tiger Open Updates

Congratulations to the following:

• Cory Walker for placing 3rd in D&Under Epee and earning a D rating in epee 
• Jeff Seiden for placing 8th in D&Under Epee and earning an E rating in epee 
• Alumnus Parth Deshmukh for placing 5th in Open Foil 
• Alumnus Jeff Lumish for placing 6th in Open Sabre and renewing his D rating in sabre, and placing 5th in D&Under Sabre

Get more info on the tournament results at AskFred: http://askfred.net/Results/results.php?tournament_id=23613

That's it for YJFC's tournaments for this semester!  For a list of major tournaments the YJFC goes to, check it out on our website: http://www.yellowjacketfencing.com/index.php?p=104

Halloween Open Updates

Congratulations to the following:

• Anthony Betts and Tim Kierzkowski earned their D rating in Senior Epee
• Parth Deshmukh placed 2nd in Senior Foil
• Matt Bernstein placed 3rd in C&Under Foil
• Jeff Lumish placed 1st in Senior Sabre
• Austin Hirsch placed 2nd in Senior Sabre
• Brandon Huggins placed 3rd in Senior Sabre

Get more info on the tournament results at AskFred: http://askfred.net/Results/results.php?tournament_id=23679

Throwback Thursday Team Photo

Team photo 2011 - or at least what Picasa claims it to be.

Team photo 2013 - look at how much we've grown!  Are you in the team photo?

3rd Annual Murder Mystery Party

Wow oh wow, it's that time of the year - the 3rd Annual Murder Mystery Party in the Yellow Jacket Fencing Club!  This year's theme coincides with Georgia Tech's homecoming theme Greek - Romans in "Terror in a Toga"!

Fencers acted as Romans enjoying the festivities as the gladiator games are about to commence - when suddenly grand champion gladiator Titus was found dead!  These characters had to figure out who killed whom while interacting to other characters and completing their objectives.  At the same time, many scandalous secrets were discovered...

In the end, the fencers had a great time solving the mystery.  Big thanks to social committee for making all this happen!  Will you be in next year's murder mystery party?

As you can see at the left-hand side, everyone wanted the baby.