Welcome back to Hutt Valley Fencing for 2025!

Fencing for 2025 starts February 3rd – we look forward to seeing you all there!

The first competitions for 2025 are:

22-23 February – Trefoil (Open) at Victoria University.

8-9 March – Central U15/17s, Wellington.

23 March – U9/11/13 #1 (Novice 1), Brooklyn.

5 – 6 April – Central Junior Championship, Wellington.

18 – 21 April – National Under 15 and Cadet Championship, Wellington

We strongly recommend our High School fencers enter the Trefoil competition as preparation for National Under 15s and Cadet (U17) being held in Wellington this year. We can provide gear. If you want more information feel free to speak with one of the coaches.

Registration

Please register for Hutt Valley Fencing Club here: https://huttvalleyfencing.org/club-registration/

We need to make sure we have up to date contact information, especially emergency contact information just in case so please do register.

*Affiliation: All fencers must affiliate. This is done directly to Fencing NZ www.fencing.org.nz, choose Fencing Central and the relevant category. Please register as Hutt Valley Fencing Club. Fencers who attend multiple clubs are not required to list Hutt Valley Fencing Club as their primary club.

This includes all children, school, club and recreational/non-competition fencers who can register as ‘Recreational’ and is free. Membership can be upgraded if fencers want to enter competitions or participate in training camps.

Training Schedule

Monday

Chilton Saint James, Lower Hutt

Bambinas: 6pm – 6:40pm

Juniors: 6pm – 7:30pm (pistes are available till 9pm for free fencing depending on fencers age and stamina).

Seniors: 7pm – 9pm

Wednesday

Chilton Saint James, Lower Hutt

Seniors: 7pm – 9pm

All welcome to join for bouting

Saturday

Upper Hutt College

Bambinas: 10am – 10:40am

Juniors: 10am – 11:30am

Individual Lessons – by arrangement with the coach.

Term Dates

Term One

First Class – Monday 3rd February

Last Class – Saturday 12th April

No classes on Wednesday 12th Fed at Chilton

Term Two

First Class – Monday 28th April

Last Class – Saturday 28th June

Term Three

First Class – Monday 14th July

Last Class – Saturday 20th September

Term Four

First Class – Monday 6th October

Last Class – Saturday 6th December

Equipment

If you are looking for gear for 2025 we recommend Mainland Fencing – https://www.mlfencing.com/ – they are located in Horokiwi, Lower Hutt. There is cheaper gear available from sites like Aliexpress, however getting sizes correct can be difficult and the quality does vary a great deal.

For 2025 there is a change to the rules – for foil only – Chest Protectors must now have a soft covering. This is to stop problems with points sliding off target. These covers are made in New Zealand and can be purchased here: https://qpsport.com/collections/fencing

Japan Trip

Pre Covid Hutt Valley Fencing Club used to run annual trips to Australia for a Koala’s competition. This is no longer being held so we are looking at taking a group to Japan in October for a regional competition, run in our Treasurers home province of Akita. Akita is in the north of Japan and is famous for its natural beauty. This tournament will be a nice introduction for our younger fencers to competing overseas and allows their parents to enjoy a less travelled part of Japan at the same time. We are planning to run a short training camp after the competition. Please speak to one of the coaches if you are interested in attending so we can gauge numbers.

Around the Motu

April 21-25th Piwakawaka Fencing host Christchurch International Fencing Camp.

Led by world class athlete and coach Peter Somfai for what is going to be one hell of a camp!!

Peter earned an Olympic bronze medal, and four World Championship medals representing Hungary, and as coach of the Hungarian Senior Women’s Epee team between 2022 and 2024 he has also seen some incredible results.

Peter will be joined by several guest experts in their fields relating to health, well-being and phycology, helping deliver the most value to you possible.

July 7-10 Piwakawaka 2025 Womens Camp – Christchurch

With the camp being right before the Australian u15 & u17s, this will be the perfect lead in for anyone attending. We will make sure to balance between getting in some training and not pushing yourselves too hard before we all jet off to Australia.

Our goal with this camp is to provide an opportunity for our amazing ladies to come together, build a strong community, and have everyone walking away feeling confident and ready to take on the world!! With a programme designed specifically in mind of the needs of female athletes, we will have along guest coaches, specialists who focus on women’s health and issues in women’s sport, as well as a number of social opportunities for the girls to get to know each other thrive build and grow their community together

Speak to one of the coaches or email Piwakawakafencing@gmail.com for more information.

October 22 – 28 – Central Fencing Open and Camp – Hawkes Bay

Held in the holidays between Term 3 and Term 4 the Central Fencing Open and Camp is an amazing opportunity for Hutt Valley Fencers to enjoy some top level training while visiting the beautiful Hawkes Bay region. HVFC usually send a couple of coaches so there are some friendly faces along with a whole bunch of new friends to be made. Most of the parents who have been have enjoyed the chance to relax amongst some of the best wineries in New Zealand while their children enjoy the fencing.

Camp – Oct 22-25 (Inclusive) Tournament – Oct 27-28.

All the best for 2025!

Training Resumes Monday 9th of October

I hope you have all had a pleasant holiday break and are keen to get back into term 4 of fencing for 2023.

We will be resuming our usual training schedule from Monday the 9th of October. However, please review the venue changes as noted below.

Mondays 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm

Our regular Monday session is moving venue. From this week onwards, our Monday class will be operating out of Chilton St James. 

Wednesdays 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

This class will be operating as usual from the Chilton St James gym. The scheduled time remains unchanged.

Thursdays 6:30 pm 7:30 pm | 7:00 pm – 9:00pm

This class will be operating as usual from the St Bernards Gym. Our Beginner/Junior class begins at 6:30 pm and our senior class begins at 7:00 pm. However, please be aware that this is only until the 26th of October. From the 26th of October, we will no longer have access to this venue due to the gym having the floors redone. Unfortunately, this means that this class will cease operation for the remainder of the term from this date. 

Saturdays 10:00 am – 12:00 pm

Our Saturday session will be operating as normal from Upper Hutt College. Please note, like the previous terms, we aim to wrap up at 11:30 am with the floor open for more free fencing if the fencers are willing. 

Please reach out if you have any questions regarding training this term. We will endeavor to get back to you as soon as possible.

No Fencing Tonight 21st of September 2023

Apologies but we have just been notified that training tonight has to be cancelled.

This is due to St Bernard’s hosting a mass tonight. Please accept my sincerest apologies regarding this sudden change to our usual training session. 

Please be aware that due to the amount training that has been missed these last couple of weeks that we will be hosting some catch up sessions in the first week of the school holidays. These sessions will run from our normal times, 7pm – 9pm on Monday and 6.30pm – 9pm on Thursday at St Bernard’s.

We at Hutt Valley Fencing Club wish you all the best and hope you have a pleasant evening. 

No fencing on Monday 18th of September; Wednesday 20th of September make-up session

We have received news from St. Bernards this evening warning us that the gym will be unavailable tomorrow evening. They are unfortunately preparing it for a funeral service that they will be running on Tuesday for an ex-staff member.

We apologize for the inconvenience. We will be running a catch-up session on Wednesday at Chilton St James. I have included a link here for instructions on how to get to this gym. The class runs from 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm.

Please stay tuned as we try to work out some training sessions for the school holidays to make up for the double bookings.