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News Items from the Past Formerly Appearing on the Added 2004-11-03, removed 2004-12-09. Referee Development Referee instructor Gary van der Wege will be conducting a referee seminar on the evening of Friday, Nov. 12th, at Bayou City Fencing Academy at the Houston Athletic Fencing Center. This is the evening before the Regional Youth Circuit tournament at the same location. The seminar can accommodate 8-10 participants. There will be no fee for the seminar. The spaces are intended for people who will referee at the RYC tournament, which is considered a national qualifier. Hence, the spaces will be available according to one's experience as a fencer or referee, and on a first come first serve basis. Anyone participating should download the USFA rulebook and be prepared to take the tests and referee at the RYC. Interested parties should e-mail Louise Lepie. Please do not call, as that will not put one on the list to participate. Added 2004-10-07, removed 2004-11-03. Rule Changes Effective August 2004 In July, the USFA Board of Directors adopted many rule changes effective starting with the 2004-2005 fencing year. Fencers, and especially referees, should familiarize themselves with the changes. Unlike the fall of 2002, details are not being mailed to fencers with their membership cards, and the USFA Web site still does not give the changes. However, the information is available on this Web site. Added 2004-07-26, removed 2004-10-06. Gulf Coast Fencers Excel at Nationals Fencers from the Gulf Coast TX Division earned more medals than fencers from all but two other divisions, and earned more gold medals than fencers from all but one other division! Earning medals were: Full results from the Summer National Championships for Gulf Coast fencers are available both from the USFA (team results are not aveilable by division and must be displayed by event) and on this Web site. As with all tournament results given on this Web site, there is a link to the results on the tournament results page. Gulf Coast fencers earned a total of 29 individual medals (6 gold, 6 silver, 5 bronze, 12 5th to 8th), and 1 team (silver). Cumulatively, each won:
Fencers from the Gulf Coast Division won the third largest number of medals (top 8 divisions shown):
The Southwest Section ranked in the middle for number of medals:
Added 2004-04-12, removed 2004-10-06. Results from Divisionals Results from the Gulf Coast Division qualifying tournament for Summer Nationals ("Divisionals") are available both on askFRED and on this Web site. As with all tournament results given on this Web site, there is a link to the results on the tournament results page. Note that FRED has no concept of the idea of qualifying for Summer Nationals, so those who qualified for Summer Nationals are identified only in the results listing on this Web site. Added 2004-03-18, removed 2004-10-06. Houston Fencer Brings Home a Medal from the Junior Olympics In Cleveland, OH Jonathan J. Bibb (Tomball) of the newly established Alliance Fencing Academy returned with a 7th place medal at the Junior Olympic Fencing Championships in Cleveland, OH, February 13-16, 2004.
Other fencers of the Gulf Coast TX division earning national points at the Cadet and Junior competitions are: About 1900 fencers from all over the US qualified to compete in the Junior Olympics this year, 20% more than last year's event. Added 2004-07-20, removed 2004-08-01. Avoid USFA Dues Increases! The USFA Board of Directors has increased dues for the 2004-2005 membership year (which starts this August). To fence in any USFA tournament will require a membership with dues costing (at least) $50. Currently, for all local-level tournaments, $30 for a Fence for Fun membership will suffice, and for all tournaments $40 for a higher membership class. (Fence for Fun will no longer exist as of August.) But, if you are not already a USFA member, it is possible to avoid the dues increase. The USFA Bylaws require that any new membership for the remainder of the current membership year automatically include all of next membership year too! So, if you are not already a USFA member, and you expect to fence in any USFA tournament next year, including local tournaments, you can save $10 by joining the USFA immediately instead of waiting. Family membership dues are also increasing, so if you expect to join next year with a family membership, you can save $40 by joining the USFA immediately. To qualify as a 2003-2004 membership, the membership dues must arrive in Colorado Springs in July. The USFA Web site no longer has the 2003-2004 membership application available, but, for now, it is still available on this Web site. Matt Delevoryas, Division Secretary John Trojanowski, Division Treasurer Added 2004-03-23, removed 2004-04-12. To all Gulf Coast Division Voting Members: On Mar. 21, the Executive Committee decided that if you vote by proxy in the elections at the Annual Meeting of the Division April 3rd, the proxy form you sign must be the one on a postcard which is now being mailed to every voting member of the Gulf Coast Division. The name of the member signing the form must be the name of the member to whom the postcard was addressed. A sample of the postcard is available here. Even if you have already prepared a different proxy form, please complete the postcard when you receive it and promptly deliver it to the person you are designating to cast your vote if you are absent. If you will not be able to get your signed postcard into the hands of your designee, there is an alternative. Contact the Division Secretary, Matt Delevoryas (MDelevorya@AOL.com or 713-662-2939), identify yourself, and identify the person who you designate to vote for you in your absence. You will have to provide the identification number appearing near your name on the address side of this postcard. Your designee will promptly be informed of your designation, and the information about your designation will be made sufficiently widely known as needed to assure that your designation will be honored. If it is absolutely impossible for you to receive the postcard, provide details of the situation. In the absence of the actual postcard, some other means of proving your identity might be found to be an acceptable substitute for proof of possession of the postcard. Please note that not all members of the Gulf Coast Division are voting members. The USFA Bylaws describe restrictions. The national office must have accepted the membership by February 1. The member must be born before February 1, 1986 (not April 3, 1986, 18 years before the vote). And, the member must have disclosed to the national office by February 1 his date of birth, or some other sufficient indication of having been born by February 1, 1986. 25 members of the Gulf Coast Division, both minors and adults, have not disclosed their dates of birth to the USFA. The adults among them are not granted votes by the USFA. A recent list of the members of the Division is available here. A list of the members the USFA recognizes as voters is here. Added 2004-03-19, removed 2004-04-12. To all Proxy Designees: If you will be attending the April 3rd Annual Meeting of the Division carrying proxies, the Executive Committee asks that you contact the Division Secretary Matt Delevoryas (MDelevorya@AOL.com or 713-662-2939) more than 48 hours before the start of the meeting, and notify him of the names on the proxies you will be bringing to the meeting. While no proxy can be disqualified for failure to do this, doing this will expedite the meeting itself. It will allow easier detection of any irregularities (e.g., proxy from a person who is not a voter; two proxies from the same voter; personal attendance of the voter at the meeting). Added 2004-03-19, removed 2004-04-12. To All Gulf Coast Division Members: The Annual Meeting of the Gulf Coast Division of the USFA will be held at 8:00 AM, Saturday, April 3rd, at South Houston High School, 3820 South Shaver, South Houston, TX 77587. This location is the same as the location of the divisional qualifiers for Summer Nationals, and the day is the same as the first day of Divisionals as required by the Bylaws. For information about the location, see this Web site for maps and directions which will be made available as Divisionals approaches. The meeting is being held to receive reports from the Executive Committee, financial report, inventory and condition report of Divisional equipment, recommendations by outgoing officers, and to elect and qualify new officers. Also, motions will be be made to amend the Bylaws of the Division. The texts of these motions are available for viewing on this Web site. In conformity with USFA Bylaws concerning eligibility to vote, any Division member is welcome to vote if 1) he had his USFA membership accepted by the national office before February 1, 2) he was age 18 before February 1 (i.e., he was born before February 1, 1986), and 3) he notified the national office, either by giving a date of birth on his membership application, or by other contact for this purpose, before February 1 that he was born before February 1, 1986. Also, in conformity with USFA Bylaws concerning division elections, election votes (but not votes to amend the Bylaws) may be by proxy. Andrey Geva Added 2004-03-03, removed 2004-04-12. To All Gulf Coast Division Members: The 2004 Divisional qualifiers for Summer Nationals, hosted by the Fencing Club at the University of Houston will be held April 3-4 at South Houston High School. Details are available by clicking here. As required by Division Bylaws, there will be a meeting of the membership of the Gulf Coast Division Saturday, April 3, prior to the beginning of competition, at which the Division elections for 2004-2005 will occur. Added December 2003 or January 2004, removed 2004-03-19. To All Gulf Coast Division Members: January is the last month you can register to become a member of USFA and acquire voting privileges for the 2004 election of Gulf Coast Division Officers. If you are not already a member of USFA and do not register this month, you will not be able to vote. To vote you must be: A current member of USFA At least 18 years old A family membership allows two votes. For example, a family membership will give two kids competitive membership, and allow both parents to vote. Added December 2003 or January 2004, removed 2004-08-23. Letter from the Chairman Dear Fencers, I am writing this letter to inform you of changes we are in the process of in the Gulf Coast Division on the USFA. After the membership meeting at the 2003 Katy Blades Invitational Tournament, we had our first club committee meeting to look at addressing the concerns of the division. There were many positive changes that the division will see from these meetings, and please support your local club representative as they attend these meetings. The first item that was discussed was a need for changes in the by-laws, which have been in place since the USFA was formed and are very similar to the old AFLA by-laws. There is a committee that is being formed to handle this process, and once by-laws are ready they will be distributed and made available for a vote by membership. Mark Carlton (mcarlton@houston.rr.com) will be heading this committee. Changes in these by-laws are essential to making positive changes in our division, since currently the USFA Gulf Coast Division by-laws have all tournaments being conducted by the USFA Gulf Coast division. Other positive developments include setting up a bout committee pool, with each club being asked to submit three names for training in administration of a tournament. Michael Loparco (perseus7tx@yahoo.com) was asked by the group to head the bout committee, and develop specifications and guidelines for conducting tournaments in the division. Marty Wysocki (MWYSOCKI@samson.com) has also volunteered to head up the publicity and membership committee, and is requesting all tournament and club information on results, news or items of interest. Please respect the fact that you are an ambassador representing fencing to the world, and help us gain entry and respect in Gulf Coast area sports media by working closely with Marty in this area. These committee members included: Marty Wysocki (BCFA), Suzanne Simpson (RFC), Mathew Sheinberg (FCUH), Matt Delevoryas or Scot Harris (CLFC), Karl Schroder (STFT), Doreen Badeaux or Jeremy Cooper (SC), Frank Berntsen (SHFT), Cheryl Monus or Debbie Raasch (KTFA), Mark Carlton or Michael Loparco (SMFA) Andrew Nat or Tom Bone (KBFA), Beau Brunson (TAMU) and Terry Hodges (WAFC), Frances Rankin (CLHS), Marilyn Hilborn (TB). These people are in your area clubs and fencing Salles and are giving up valuable family time for this project. Please support them as they work to make positive changes in the division. Sincerely, Andrey Geva Chairman of the Gulf Coast Division, USFA
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