12.09.09

Hey all!

I just wanted to let you all know (in case you missed practice and missed these announcements):

1. There's a group on campus looking to start a new tv show on WIUP TV (our campus TV network). They will be doing a game show with contestants that are members of organizations around IUP. They want five fencers to participate with five people from another organization. They are shooting their pilot episode Friday. They want us to meet at 1:00pm at the Davis Hall basement. If you are going to participate text me (610-737-3273) to let me know.

2. Our EOS tournament is THIS Saturday (yeah, sorry for the late notice....) at 11:30am. We will be using the gym after an organization with special needs kids (Zink Hall Gym A by the way) so we'll pop our heads in around 11:15 to see if they need help cleaning up. If not, we'll just have to patiently wait in the hallway until they're out of there. Be at the closet at 11:15 to grab the equipment and head over to zink. ALL fencers are welcome to participate ESPECIALLY rookies!!

3. Next semesters officers are:

--> President: Nate Forbes
--> VP: Andy Lichtenfels
--> Secretary: Jess Potter
--> Treasurer: Joe McGinnis

This change is effective when I resign....which hasn't happened yet, so stop celebrating!! :-P But start getting used to the idea of these new officers...they're going to start doing more around practices...like teaching and leading drills...etc.

4. The website will be upsdated with the EOS tournament info probably later tonight. So check it out if you get a chance!!!

I guess that's it...see you Thursday!!!

Jenni
IUP Fencing
*Madame "Still-President-So-No-Ignoring-My-Emails-Yet!"*

PS: For those of you who like to mass email the club, I'm hoping this is an updated list...it should include both Adina and Alex....if not, I'm sure they'll let us know....

11.23.09

Hey everyone!!

I just wanted to take a moment to point out the obvious: We will NOT be having practice over Thanksgiving break. We HAVE, however, decided to practice the Sunday we get back...which is the 29th of November. Same time, same place.

Next, I wanted to shamelessly plug for another club I am part of- TOST and Turned student theatre. We will be performing a play called "The Illusion" on December 4th and 5th at 8pm and December 5th at 2pm at the Pratt Hall auditorium. There is one fencer in the play and several other fencers that are working as stage crew and other techie positions. There is no fee to get in just a suggested donation of a couple of dollars. The money gets donated to charity.

Finally, I just wanted to brag a minute about one of our fencers! It seems that Nate Forbes was fencing yesterday at the Bethel Park E and Under. He ended up finishing in 5th out of 75 foil fencers and 2nd out of 23 epee fencers. He was very close to earning his E rating on foil AND his D rating for epee. Excellent job, Nate!!! :-D

Also, for those of you who will be near Dublin, OH (Ohio, not Ireland), they will be holding an Open (called the "Fattened Pilgrim Open"...very clever!) on November 28th. See this link to Ask Fred for details (also, there's not much info listed about time and such so you may have to e-mail the organizers for more info): http://askfred.net/Events/moreInfo.php?tournament_id=9473

And that's all the announcements I have for now. Have a safe break and an excellent Thanksgiving!! We'll see on Sunday! :-D

Jenni
IUP Fencing
*President*

11.13.09

We are no longer doing the Eye of Odin.

Sorry guys. Not enough people were interested.

Perhaps we can try again next year or maybe we'll try it sometime for fun just as a club. We'll see.

See you Sunday (or tonight if you're a vet).

Jenni

11.06.09

Hey all:

I just had a couple things I wanted to bring to your attention before they slipped my mind:

1. September 14th: EYE OF ODIN
11am-10pm

Is anyone actually interested in this? If so, please pre-register ASAP. Then we can get a better idea of the interest and properly decide if this tournament needs cancelling.

Pre-register on ask fred: http://askfred.net/Events/moreInfo.php?tournament_id=10073

2. December 12th: END OF SEMESTER (EOS) TOURNAMENT
11am-10pm

I just wanted to make you aware of the date of the EOS tournament. As per tradition, it is just IUP fencers so you don't have to worry about other schools being at our tournament.

3. And something I just wanted to bring up...

I keep seeing people avoid fencing certain people. It's not helping you for future tournaments if you only know how to fence one type of fencer. I know it's a little intimadating fencing someone you may deem to be more skilled than you are, but you may surprise yourself and do better than you thought you would!

I can't force you to fence anyone you don't want to (just know that at a tournament, refusing to fence someone is a cardable offense), but I just ask that you do your best to broaden your horizon a bit. There are some people that are getting frustrated because they keep fencing the same people at practice. Take the risk and branch out. Fence people you've never fenced before...and if you lose, so what? Better to lose at practice than to lose at a tournament, right?

Anyway that's all for now. Vets, see you at practice tonight! Rookies, see you one Sunday!

Jenni

11.04.09

Hey all!!

I just wanted to take a moment and brag about how our fencers have done at the last couple tournaments we've been to.

On November first (if you weren't there to witness this first hand):

In epee:
Nate Forbes....5th place
Calvin Wilson...9th place
Andy Lichtenfels...11th place
James Vamboi...12th place
Joe McGinnis...16th place

In foil:
James Vamboi...5th place
Nate Forbes...7th place
Erik Blank...9th place
Calvin Wilson...12th place
Miles Holenstein...13th place
Doug Thompson...15th place
Jenni DeAngelis...16th place
Joe McGinnis...20th place
Jess Potter...25th place
Nadia Szymanski...27th place

Great job you guys! Some of the people above fenced at their very first tournament so kudos for that!!! Woo!

The restults from last night's tournament at PSU are not up on Ask Fred yet, however, I happen to know off hand that all five IUP fencers that went (Joe McGinnis, Jenni DeAngelis, James Vamboi, Miles Holenstein, and Nate Forbes) all placed within the top 8!! WOOO!

Special shoutout to Nate Forbes who came in second place in the epee tournament! Two points away from earning his D rating (if you don't know what that is, ask a vet!).

AND....James Vamboi won the foil portion of the tournament and is now a D09!!! :-D

So congratulations to all of our amazing IUP fencers!! Hope to see some more of you vets next month at PSU's tournament!

See you at practice on Thursday!!

Jenni
IUP Fencing
*President*

11.1.09

Hey all!

Just wanted to say you did an amazing job today! Thanks so much for all of your help and your halloween spirit!! I looked at some of the pictures on facebook and the decorations were really amazing! They gave the room some personality!

And I got so many compliments about how much fun people had today and it wouldn't have been possible without all of you! You made this tournament a great success. So I just wanted to let you all know that you made me proud!

I also wanted to let you know that one of the fencers emailed me and said that this was only his son's second tournament and he had a really great time and hopes we do one again soon! :-D

Finally, I forgot to mention this before, but if you need service hours for the HC, or for any reason really, let me know. I'd be happy to sign off for the hours that you were at the tournament.

As for Tuesday's practice, we may or may not cancel. They're having a tournament at Penn State that we were invited to today. We're not sure if we're going or not...it depends on what everyone's workload is like. Please make sure you check your email sometime before practice to be sure of our final decision. I will try to let you know just as soon as possible.

And Thursday is November the fifth! So a few of us were talking about watching "V For Vendetta" before practice around 5:00 or so. We'll decide on details about when and where later.

Anyway, get a good night's rest, you earned it! And again, thank you all so much for all of your hard work today!! Amazing job!

Jenni

10.31.09

Hey everyone:

Just a couple reminders about the spooktacular this weekend:

1. It is the "Spooktacular"....so please come in costume in the spirit of the season! You don't have to go all out with the makeup and everything, but at least wear something that isn't normal every day clothing or fencing gear.

2. Please remember to meet us at the closet at 6:30am. I know it's early, but we have a lot of setting up to do. And we'd like to do a little extra work to make things festive and fun! (Remember...."Spooktacular")

3. Obviously, since we are hosting the tournament we won't be having regular fencing practice that night. But we could use everyone's help! Tournaments don't run themselves!

4. Finally, MOST IMPORTANTLY...don't forget that this weekend is day light savings time. So turn your clock back an hour before going to sleep. Otherwise, you'll be sitting outside the door to the closet by yourself. So enjoy the opportunity for an extra hours sleep (just don't set the clock back too early or you'll be late for everything all day).

I think that's everything. If you have any questions you can email me or give me a call.

Happy Halloween everyone!!! :-D

Jenni

10.21.09

Hey all,

I just wanted to congratulate our fencers that went to the CMU D and Under!!! The results are up on Ask Fred:

Calvin came in 5th (one place away from getting his letter)
Nate came in 9th
Joe came in 16th
and Jenni came in 20th in epee and 10th in women's foil

Great job, guys!!! :-D

Alos, if you were not at practice last night, we had a couple announcements that you missed:

1. NO practice on Sunday since all of our officers (as well as a number of our vets!) will be fencing at the Allegheny Open all day and will probably not be back in time for practice.

2. We're hosting a tournament on November first and we need a LOT of people to volunteer to sign up to help out. You need to be at Zink at 6:45 AM on Sunday November First. A tournament doesn't run itself and once the tournament starts, the officers won't be able to do much since we'll all be fencing. So we're counting on you rookies (and non-competitive vets) to run the concession stand and help out at the bout committee table. If you missed practice and want more info about how you can hellp, email me.

Also, vets, there is still time to pre-register:

http://askfred.net/Events/moreInfo.php?tournament_id=8973

3. We've been noticing people packing up WAY before 10:00. While we appreciate your punctuality, sometimes bouts don't take as long as we think and a strip might open up at like 9:55. We can still get lots of bouts in between 9:45 and 10:00. So let's use the time we have to its full potential!! :-D

4. Also, don't forget to take everything back to the closet that you brought over....jackets, masks, chest protection, etc. ESPECIALLY personal stuff like wallets and purses! So just make sure you do a mental check of everything you brought with you so you don't leave anything important behind.

5. We have another tournament that we're planning called the Eye of Odin. This is a team tournament (not USFA sanctioned) and will be on November 14th. Just a little history: This is an old IUP Fencing Club tradition...from the Old IUP Fencing Club from like the 1990's that we thought sounded like fun. So we're trying to bring it back!

How it will work: You will need a team of one foilist, one epeeist, and one sabreist. Rookies are more than welcome to fence in the tournamnet if they feel they are ready...just don't forget, you'll need to get some vets on your team to fence the other two weapons. You will need to preregister via ask fred:

http://askfred.net/Events/moreInfo.php?tournament_id=10073

If you have more questions feel free to ask!

Vets,

If you are going to the Allegheny Open and will need a ride, please email me and let me know (unless you already have). We're trying to organize rides. The three officers will be driving.

If you want to go to watch, please say something ASAP. Competitors are guaranteed seats, but we'd love to take spectators if there's room. Spectating is a first come first served basis, so if you're interested please say something so we know to hold a seat for you.

What will probably happen, for those of you going, is we'll just tell you to meet us at the HUB circle sometime Sunday morning and just divy ourselves up into cars then. I'll get back to you once we know how many people need rides.

Please email me before Friday morning!!!!

I think that covers everything. See you on Tuesday!! :-D

Jenni

10.12.09

To all of you Newbies out there who have hung around,

Tomorrow (October 13) is dues night for you. Please get your dues to Andy.

Thanks.

Jenni

10.7.09

I regret to inform you that we will be cancelling the IUP Alumni vs. Club tournament that we were supposed to be hosting this weekend. Unfortunately, many alumni wrote back saying they couldn't make it this year.

We will be holding regular practice on Sunday night from 8:00pm to 10:00pm in Zink Hall Gym B. We realize that many alumni were looking forward to fencing again with us, and so, we'd like to invite you to attend our practice this Sunday (October 11th) to get a chance to fence with us. Our equipment is available for you to borrow free of charge should you need it.

We hope we'll have better luck planning for next year's Alumni vs. Club tournament. As soon as next year's officers have agreed on a date they will send out an invitation to you.

Sorry for any inconvenience this might have caused. Best of luck throughout the year and if you plan to come fence with us on Sunday, we'll see you then!!

Jenni DeAngelis
IUP Fencing
*President*

9.24.09

Hey all,

Just wanted to remind everyone that if you are a veteran fencer or a rookie (that means you were at the first open house on September 10th), tonight is the last night that you can turn in dues. Your email will be removed from the email list tomorrow evening if you do not respond and say, "HEY!! Don't remove me please!!!"

There are a few vets that have NOT paid dues. You are NOT exempt. If you don't remember if you paid or not, then check out our website: http://iupfencing.tripod.com and look for the tab that says "club roster." If your name is there, then you paid dues or have at least discussed a payment plan with Andy. If your name is NOT there, then you need to pay dues tonight. If we do not get money from you, you will no longer be allowed to use our equipment (which means, vets, you are no longer allowed to bout).

If for some reason you have discussed a plan with Andy, paid Andy, or you think your name should appear on the website and it isn't there, please talk to me/Andy about it.

If you need some more time, we can gladly grant you a small extension. But you need to talk to us and let us know otherwise, we can't help you out.

For those of you Newbies, (who joined us on September 22nd), you have until October 13th to pay dues. So feel free to continue to come to practice and use our equipment for free until the 13th!

See you all tonight!!!!

Jenni
IUP Fencing
*President*

9.15.09

Hey all,

I sincerely apologize for this change. Apparantely, the intramural sports teams ALWAYS have the auxiliary gym reserved even when they don't. Which was something the intramural sports teams neglected to mention to our athletic director so he could keep the aux gym open.

So, starting September 22nd, we will be fencing in Zink Gym B. Same time. Just a different place.

Zink Hall is right next to the field house. If you walk out of the aux gym doors that lead to the parking lot and look straight ahead, that building in front of you is Zink. Just go the loading dock doors and walk in. If you followed the directions in this email correctly then Gym B is the first gym on your right across from the pool (just take a whiff and you'll know you're at the right spot just don't follow your nose to the pool, we don't fence in the pool).

If you're not sure you'll know where to go, you can wait for us at our equipment closet in the field house across from the racquetball courts (you need to be there before 7:50 or you'll miss us). OR you can just stand outside the aux gym in the parking lot and look hopelessly lost. Someone will come find you. ;-)

If you get totally and completely lost (which will probably be my doing), just give me a call. My number is: 610-737-3273

VETS: Just a reminder, the closet CLOSES at 7:50pm. Just like last year. I generally try to open the closet around 7:35 or 7:40.

Again, sorry for any inconvenience.

Jenni
IUP Fencing
*President*

9.14.09

Hey everyone! I just wanted to let you all know the definite location of IUP Day. I know I was kind of wishy washy about it before so I wanted to make sure everyone was clear about where it is.

IUP Day is September 19th from 1-6pm in the courtyard area of the Suites on Maple and the Suites on Grant. (Note: the rain location is the HUB).

I assume that organizations will need to be there early to set up, but I haven't heard any definite info about when set up will be starting. SO I'll send an email on Friday with that info AND my cell number so that you can call me to find out where our table is.

NOTE: We still need vets to sign up.....PLEASE! We need demonstrators!! :-\

Rookies, you are obviously welcome to come help out at the table if you like, but since you don't have enough experience fencing, you can't exactly do that yet unless you have previous experience fencing (if you do, speak up! You can demonstrate if you want!).

VETS: We just set up a date to demonstrate at Homer City High School. If you'd like to be involved email me. We don't need a whole lot of people....somewhere between 3 and 5 or so. So first come, first served.

Also, for those of you veteran fencers who are USFA memebers or who wish to be USFA members: The Allegheny Open will be October 25th. Epee starts at 9:15 and foil starts at 1:00. The cost is $25 per event. Here is the Ask Fred page with info and the link to pre-register:

http://askfred.net/Events/moreInfo.php?tournament_id=8898

Hope to see you all at practice tonight!!

Jenni
IUP Fencing
*President*

9.12.09

Hey everyone!!

I just wanted to remind you all of three things:

1. Just as in past years: dues are $30 a semester and $50 for a whole year. I'm not sure we ever mentioned WHEN they are due: We will be collecting dues on September 29th. Once the 29th hits and you don't pay, you will be removed from the email list.

If you are in a pickle (so to speak) as far as money is concerned, don't be embarrassed (cuz we all are). Please speak to Andy. Some kind of plan can be worked out so you can pay in installments. Please don't hesitate to ask for help. We can't help you if you don't say something to us. Your name will NOT be revealed to other fencers. It will stay confidential between you and the officers (or you and andy if you so choose). Andy's email is: a.lichtenfels@iup.edu

I don't want to give you the wrong idea. Unlike, the help you would get for the USFA membership, this would NOT be a "we pay it for you" plan. It is a "YOU pay US in smaller incremints" plan.

2. Our next practice is this Sunday!!

One thing we ask is that we all continue to participate in warming up and stretching. We're all going to be stretching and warming up together to be safe and smart and prevent injuries. We understand that sometimes you may not make it exactly at 8:00, so, if you end up missing warm-ups, just take a few minutes to stretch and warm up on your own before jumping into the other activities.

3. We DID have a vet night tonight. Sorry if you missed it, but we did announce it at practice. Don't forget about vet nights. These nights are YOUR chance to have some more rigorous training, learn some more advanced moves or just bout all night. Hopefully, as people get back into the swing of practicing again, our turnout improves a bit. Besdies, we always do fun, random, social things afterward! Why would you want to miss that?!?!

That about wraps things up! Have a great weekend and see you on Sunday!!! :-D

Jenni
IUP Fencing
*President*

9.1.09

Hello fencers!!

Welcome back to, what I hope, will be a wonderful year here at IUP! I apologize in advance, this one is definitely going to be a very, Jenni-sized email...bear with me...please don't skip anything seeing as this is your club too so if you miss information about an important election you may miss the opportunity to vote for something you wanted.

1. RECRUITMENT:

First of all, there's been a lot of confusion about the first pracitce. The first few practices are for veteran fencers only (that means experienced fencers). We are not teaching any new people yet. They are more than welcome to drop by, but they will just be watching.

We are having an Open House on September 10th and a second open house on September 22nd. We will be doing three demonstrations (one for each weapon). If you'd like to demonstrate foil or sabre (we have two volunteers for epee already), please email me. First come first serve. We will also spend about twenty minutes teaching the new fencers and you vets will need to do your best to help out when you can. Then, vets will get to just fence the rest of the night and the rookies can hang out and watch.

We will be doing IUP day on September 19th. We will definitely need volunteers to work the booth. If you'd like to help out email our PR officer as soon as we elect one.

2. NEW POSITIONS

So that brings us to the topic of new positions. We have four non-authoritative positions that are going to be up for grabs, so to speak.

-Score keeper: This person will keep track of score at practices and will also keep them updated our on website.

-PR Officer (Public Relations): this is a publicity position. All of our recruitment will be done by this person. Then, once the semester starts and we start holding tournaments this person will be in charge of publicizing those tournaments

-Social Chair: This person will come up with social events for our club members.

-Equipment Manager: This person is in charge of our equipment...throughout the year, if something is broken they need to report that to the officers. They also need to keep an inventory of what is in our closet.

Once the club has elected the new people to hold these positions, the officers will discuss in more detail what we need them to do.

If you've already held these positions and you want to run again, please email me also. I will NOT assume that you still want them.

These positions are voluntary, so only self-nominations will be taken, please don't nominate someone else. You can suggest someone else, but they need to email me personally to be in the running. SO between now and next Monday, you need to decide if you want to nominate yourself for one of these positions. Just email me and I'll keep a list of everyone that's running. We will vote next Tuesday at practice.

3. ELECTION

So aside from voting for our new non-authoritative positions, we will also be voting on a new admendment to our club's constitution. The old IUP Fencing club used to allow non-IUP students to participate. We'd like to start doing that again, but this change requires a two thirds vote from the club. The new amendment will say something like this:

--> The IUP Fencing club is open to students and staff at IUP. In addition, non-IUP students and other members of the community are welcome to join. No student under the age of 13 will be admitted. All students under 18 need parent permission and all students under the age of 16 will need parents present at practices.

--> The only other stipulation is that these students attend five separate Introduction to fencing workshops set up by the club before attending club practices. Anyone who has already taken Erik Blank's Intro to Foil class does not need to take this class again. Dues will be reduced for non-IUP members of the club that have taken Erik's class.

--> Also, all social events will be restricted to IUP students only for obvious legal reasons. There may be one event at the end of the year that will include IUP students, non-IUP club members and their parents.

On Tuesday, we will vote on this new clause to our constitution.

Along with this, we are hoping to be allowed to hold some demonstrations at the local high schools in order to increase awareness of this new club "feature."

4. CHALKING

On Thursday September 3rd, we will meet outside the HUB at 6:30 to put chalk adverstisements on the sidewalks for our first open house. It goes a lot quicker if we have a very large group of chalkers. Just show up at 6:30 and we'll give you some chalk and tell you what to write. Do as many chalkings as you can and then meet us at the closet at 7:45 to fence!!! :-D

5. EQUIPMENT

The new equipment manager whoever he or she is, will need to do an inventory asap. So if you borrowed anything from the club over the summer, you will need to return it at Thursdays practice. Remember that you signed an agreement that it will be returned or you will pay the money for it. So I hope we all remember to return it!

6. HELP FROM CLUB

The last day to ask for the club's help to purchase a membership to the USFA is Thursday at the end of practice. Please email Nate if you'd like to take advantage of this opportunity. Remember, we'd love to help out anyway we can, but we can't help you if you don't ask for it. We will not release your name or any other information to the club, so please don't be shy!

7. SUNDAY'S PRACTICE

There will be no practice this Sunday since it is Labor Day weekend. So just go home and enjoy your four day weekend! Don't be too sad, we'll be back in tip top fencing shape for Tuesday!! :-D

Just to recap what's going on for Thursday: Meet at the HUB at 6:30pm to do some chalkings. We will also be collecting borrowed equipment so make sure to bring that to the close at 7:45.

Thanks for bearing with me on that one!! If anything was too confusing all those dates will be on our website: http://iupfencing.tripod.com

See you Thursday!!

Jenni
IUP Fencing
*President*

8.28.09

Hey all!

The officers have discussed and voted! The first practice will be on Thursday September 3rd, 2009! :-D

See you then!!!

Jenni
IUP Fencing
*President*

8.27.09

WE GOT IT!!! :-D

Our practice schedule is as such:

Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday
8-10pm
Memorial Field House Auxiliary Gym

No fuss. It's all the same every night!!

I think, as officers, we liked the idea of a vet night. So once we get new members we'll decide which night is best for everyone. The website will say Fridays, but it's always up for discussion if enough people would be interested in another date.

I'll send out an email with the date of our first practice once the officers get a chance to meet. We'll see you then!!! :-D

Jenni
IUP Fencing
*President*

7.20.09

Hello all!!!

I hope all of you are having an excellent summer!

I just wanted to let you know that I have not heard back from the Athletic director about our practice schedule. I will definitely send you an email once I know for sure AND I will update the website as well.

Also, we have been recently approved to host a USFA sanctioned tournament called the "IUP Spooktacular!" It will be occurring on November 1st, 2009 (the day after Halloween...get it? Spooktacular...). Right now, everything is pretty much up in the air about times and the location, but it is all posted on ask fred anyway. So if you want to check it out, here is the URL: http://askfred.net/Events/moreInfo.php?tournament_id=8973

I suggest bookmarking the page since pre-registration is not open yet. I will open it on September first or when we get a venue...whichever happens first. There is also an event posted on facebook.

Finally, for those of you who do not plan to return to the club, please just ignore my emails. Once the fall semester starts, we will make a new contact list and remove your name then.

See you all in a little more than a month!!! :-D

Jenni
IUP Fencing Club
*President*