Taking steel to Sheffield

4th May, 2010

Packwood fencers travelled to Sheffield over the Bank Holiday weekend to participate in the National Championships.

Four years ago Mr Weston began coaching ten Packwood children the sport of fencing. They met in the squash courts as the new sports hall was under construction. Four years on, and ten Packwood children, including two of that original group (Henry Don and Olivia Wade-Smith) headed to Sheffield to compete at the highest national level possible. 

Fencing at Packwood has grown from those early days to the point now where the team is dominant in the region, with eleven children selected to represent the West Midlands. Over sixty fence regularly as part of the clubs and activities programme and many more get involved in the intra-school Sixes fencing and ‘Duel-in-the-Sun’ competitions or in various ‘have-a-go’ sessions during games or free time. The governing body of the sport, the British Fencing Association recognises Packwood as one of the largest school fencing clubs in the country. 

The weekend in Sheffield began with the traditional minibus journey, traffic jams and pizza eating. After an overnight stay and a fine breakfast (this army definitely marches on its stomach) it was a short walk over the road to the Sheffield Arena and the English Institute of Sport, a vast sporting complex host to the top national and international sports events. On this particular occasion there was a major basketball competition being held and upon seeing the many seven foot tall gentlemen carrying kit bags our fencers did ask “Are we fencing them?” ; fortunately not. 

After three days exhaustive fencing we left having learnt a great deal, having competed at the top level and all having finished in the top 40 in Britain. Olivia Wade-Smith and Henry Don were our first ever fencers to qualify for the senior competition and certainly didn’t look out of place amongst the best in the land. In the Under 12 category Rory Davies, Archie Connolly, Ce-Ce Whittingham, Ruby Lavender and Ella Downey all did well. Special mention must go to Freddie Houlker and Edward Stanton who after the gruelling group stages were ranked in the top 20 in the country; an excellent performance and plenty to build on for next year.