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Les Stawicki receives the Ray Miller

Award during the Hall of Fame reception

at Summer Nationals in Reno

 (Reno, Nev.) – USA Fencing honored eight members of the fencing community on Sunday night at the annual USA Fencing Hall of Fame Awards Ceremony.
Held at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center, nearly 100 people attended the ceremony and reception, including dignitaries from nations competing at the Pan American Zonal Championships this week.

The evening began with Andy Shaw (Shreveport, La.), Chairman of the U.S. Fencing Hall of Fame Committee welcoming the crowd and giving attendees a lesson on the history of fencing in the United States that included amusing tales of how fencing rules, past and present, came to be as well as anecdotes of some of the United States’ earliest international competitors.

USA Fencing President Kalle Weeks (Morristown, N.J.) presented three service awards to USA Fencing members who have spent decades working to grow improve fencing in the United States.

Les Stawicki (Louisville, Ky.) received the Ray Miller Award for Service to the Sport of Fencing in recognition of his work with wheelchair fencing. The 2004 and 2008 Paralympic Coach, Stawicki has helped grow wheelchair fencing in the United States and works with coaches and club owners to recruit new wheelchair fencers and develop programs that integrate wheelchair fencers into able-bodied programs.

Les and Kalle

 

How do you decide which events to register and participate in, given that there are so many events to choose from in 2011?

If you are thinking about attending any number of training camps this year, although there are three camps designated as "national level," every camp is open to fencers of all skill levels. Maybe you are a coach and are interested in improving how to train your wheelchair athletes? There will be several experienced coaches available to assist with this and more. Fencers can gain valuable bouting experience. Look into it.

Coming Soon: Incentive pay for results. Information will be posted and available for download here Wheelchair Athlete Contract 2011.

The International Wheelchair Fencing Committee (IWFC) has published an update for the international calender for 2011. A PDF version can be downloaded here. The first NAC of the season (Detroit NAC), regular entry deadline has just passed, (Feb. 21, 2011.) The event will take place Mar.11-14, 2011. This is just a reminder that there will be one other domestic event in Portland, Oregon, Apr. 15-18, 2011 and the deadline for registration is: Mar.14, 2011 at 11:59:59 PM Pacific time.

 

Cat before her final DE in Paris

Paris World Championships: Cat Bouwkamp prepares to fence against Burdon/Poland in women's A sabre.