AUCKLAND, New Zealand, Jan. 29, 2021—Fencing New Zealand recently hosted a “Get Back to Fencing Camp” to inspire and reinvigorate training and competition. The aim of the event was to bring the fencing community together after a tough year in 2020 – a comprehensive camp for all weapons – including “coaching the coaches” and referee seminars. The event took place over four days surrounding the weekend of January 23-24, drawing more than 60 fencers and coaches.
Coaches Anna Kamynina, Judit Fliszar, Kai Sang (Daniel) Chan, Kyle MacDonald and Yonggang (Ryan) Yan led the activities, with several other coaches contributing to the success of the camp. Included in the weekend were classroom instruction, coaching and referee training, on-piste practice in the large gymnasium and drills such as point-control target practice and more.
“We are lucky to be free of COVID in the community”, stated Amanda Hopkins, Fencing New Zealand Secretary-General. “While we are conscious of safety during the COVID-19 environment, New Zealand has been COVID-free for several months, so we were able to go ahead with the camp without any restrictions. With borders closed and with no national or international competitions during 2020, we have lost a lot of our youth over 2020, so we felt the time was right, just before the school year starts, to get the community back to fencing. It was great to see fencers and coaches taking the opportunity to participate and enjoy the event.”
Get back to Fencing Camp
Referee training with Anna Kamynina
Epee Classroom time with Coaches Daniel Chan and Kyle Macdonald
Coaching the coaches with Judit Fliszar and Anna Kamynina
Training with Sabre Coach Yonggang Yan - Ryan
Game time - get back to fencing