SA Champs (28-29 September)
It was the first time for Nemato fencers to participate in the
South African Junior Championships. Five fencers competed
and Aphelele Hlekani and Anathi Rasman reached the
semifinals. Well done!
The competition was in Stellenbosch and the selected
members deserved a special treat: two days to see the sights in
Cape Town. We visited many places including the Victoria and
Albert Waterfront and the beautiful Two Oceans Aquarium
where we saw sharks and penguins as well as the rare Pipe fish
which you can only find in nature in Port Alfred! We'll keep a
look out! On Monday we visited the World Heritage Site,
Robben Island. The boat trip on the ocean to Robben Island,
the bus trip on the island and the prison tour by a former
political prisoner are experiences that will be hard to forget! To
end the day we had a nice picnic in Camps Bay overlooking
the ocean.
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Bonnievale Competition (27 July)
A small group of six fencers and a coach travelled to
Bonnievale in the Western Cape for competition, their first
competition of the year. It was a long journey of almost 800km
to reach the destination. For most members it was the first time
to travel that far. The first picture shows the fencers on the
halfway break: walking the 120m high bridge over the Storms
River.
For most it was also their first ever fencing competition. It was
a great experience, but fencing competition is hard. There are
only four age groups, all the way from minis to seniors, and
there are no levels, so as a beginner, you compete against the
best in the country. Our guys competed in a group of 24
fencers in the Cadet Men's Epee. Despite being a young and
inexperienced club, we proved to be just as competitive as the
other clubs. Well done to Aphelele Hlekani and Ahlelele
Makeleni for making the finals!
We are looking forward to the next fencing competition, we
know we will do well!
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New fencing equipment (6 April)
The Eastern Cape Fencing Association received fencing equipment from the
national federation, donated by Lottery. The equipment was split equally
between the two Eastern Cape fencing centres: Port Elizabeth and Port Alfred.
Each centre has two clubs, an established club and a starting club
In Port Elizabeth Excelsior looks after Motherwell and in Port Alfred
Nemato looks after Ingubo. Lack of equipment was holding us back
With the new equipment we do not yet have one set per fencer
but we are in a far better position than before. The weapons are good
quality competition epees what help us in competitive arenas.
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