All the latest News items, whether it be announcements regarding upcoming events, or requests for volunteers, all will be posted as news.
RAF TEAM COMPETE AT WELLESBOURNE TEAM TROPHY
At the annual Wellesbourne Team Trophy event, the RAF once again fielded a team (this time with some first-timers thrown in to the mix) and in a repeat of last years result managed a credible 5th place overall. The full results have been posted on the Wellesbourne website, however they seem to have mixed up some of the individual results - so if it looks like you got more victories (or less in my case!) than you first thought, that's probably the reason why! The men's foil team lead the way with 16 victories, while the ladies foil and the epee team managed 15 victories each. The sabreurs brought in another 13 victories to give the RAF 59 victories, 10 ahead of 6th place Watford but 13 behind 4th place Wellesbourne. The Civil Service retained the title they won last year with an impressive 95 victories overall.
Posted: 1 November 2004
ONE HIT & JUNIORS RESULTS POSTED
The match report for the One Hit Epee competition which took place in September has now been added to the site, along with the full final positions from last weekends Juniors Championships. A match report should be on the way soon, courtesy of the Editor of Reprise.
Posted: 29 October 2004
JUNIORS CHAMPIONSHIPS A RESOUNDING SUCCESS
The RAFFU Juniors have just been held and were extremely well attended. The standard of fencing on display was exceptionally high and bodes well for the future. The only hiccup to an otherwise smoothly run competition was my mistake in awarding the Men's Master-at-Arms title to the wrong person! My apologies once again to Flt Lt Jamie Jackson and congratulations to SAC Gaz Morris. I have apologised to both men, but I'm still not looking forward to our next meeting!
Posted: 29 October 2004
DATABASE PROBLEMS
There have been a few problems with the MySQL database server; it seems a little unstable and as a result sometimes the database driven pages (News & Calendar) will display an error message instead of the page. If trying to Refresh the page doesn't sort the problem, try again a short while later. Hopefully the tech support people will get to the bottom of the problem soon.
Posted: 29 October 2004
ONE OF OUR EPEEISTS IS BACK!
Panic over. The lady who previously announced that she was no longer available to compete at the Wellesbourne Team Trophy has now re-arranged her calendar again! If the replacement who contacted me during the week manages to get her time off as well we might actually have a substitute too!!!
Posted: 29 October 2004
ONE OF OUR EPEEISTS IS MISSING
Due to personal circumstances, one of the ladies selected to compete at the Wellesbourne Team Trophy on 31 October has had to withdraw. Any female epeeist who is available that day should contact the Captain ASAP.
Posted: 29 October 2004
NEWS PAGE IS NOW DYNAMIC
The first of the changes made available from the new webspace is now being incorporated, with a dynamic database driven news page and the archived news. Just a few minor tweaks to the layout and then it will be finalised.
Posted: 29 October 2004
NEW WEB ADDRESS
To make life easier for those that were struggling to find the website, RAFFU have now paid for hosting and domain name registration - welcome to raffencing.co.uk - the new home for RAFFU on the world wide web.
Posted: 29 October 2004
JUNIORS 2004 ANNOUNCED
The paperwork for the 2004 Juniors Championships has now been issued. They will be held over the weekend 23-24 Oct 04. Please ensure that entries are returned ASAP, particulary if you require accommodation. Bear in mind that this weekend also hosts the Annual General Meeting of the RAF Fencing Union, and apologies ARE required if you will not be attending. Pass them to the Secretary.
Posted: 29 October 2004
MORE PHOTOS ONLINE
See the gallery for the latest archived photos to be posted on site. Includes 2002 and 2003 competitions.
Posted: 29 October 2004
ENTRIES FOR JOHN WARBURN TROPHY REQUIRED
Use the link above to get details of how to request consideration for this years award.
Posted: 29 October 2004
INTER SERVICES RESULTS
After a bit of a wait for the full results to filter their way through to me, I have now managed to complete the Match Report and it is online on the Results page.
Posted: 29 October 2004
ACCESS AT LAST!
If you have noticed that the website has been lacking in updates over the last couple of months that is because I was unable to access the FTP server to upload the new files. The problem was either with the FTP server itself or possibly my PC. Unfortunately, for some reason the email re-direction programmed in to the Feedback page also has not been working, so if you have sent an email in the last three months and have not received a reply, chances are it is lost in the ether. If it was important, please resend. Now I have been able to access the server though, just look at all the updates listed below!
Posted: 29 October 2004
AGM MINUTES POSTED
The Minutes of the 2003 RAFFU AGM are now online for your perusal prior to the 2004 AGM which will be held at the Juniors Championships in October. Use the link above to access the Word document (if you do not have Word then you can download the Word Viewer from the Microsoft site using the link above).
Posted: 29 October 2004
CALENDAR UPDATED
The Calendar page has now been updated with all the competitions, both Service and civilian, for which travel authority has been granted. The first Service event of note is the One Hit Epee for which the paperwork has been issued.
Posted: 29 October 2004
COMMANDS 2004 PHOTOGRAPHS
A photographer on a course at Cosford during the Command Championships has provided some very good pictures of the event. Now online.
Posted: 29 October 2004
NEW MAGAZINE EDITOR
After the decision of the latest Editor of Reprise to PVR (Having done the job for four years, I know it is tough, but not THAT tough!), a new Editor in the shape of Cpl Shaun Taylor has come forward. His contact details have been added to the Contacts page.
Posted: 29 October 2004
OICs WANTED
A letter has been sent to RAF bases requesting details of anyone currently acting as OIC of that Stations fencing club. If no OIC is present, details of anyone expressing an interest have been requested. This is part of the RAFFU strategy to forge closer links with Station fencers and ensure EVERYONE wishing to compete is informed of competitions. If your Station has not been contacted, use the Feedback page to let us know. Once the list is complete it will be added as a page on this site to give anyone at those units a point of contact.
Posted: 29 October 2004
VENUE CONFIRMED
After weeks spent trying to track down the Navy, the venue for the Inter Services has been confirmed as the HMS Nelson Gymnasium, and NOT HMS Temeraire as was the case in previous years. All fencers take note of this and bear in mind the new venue when allocating time for transit each day.
Posted: 29 October 2004
INTER SERVICE 2003 PHOTOS
After cutting down the size of the photos to ensure quicker loading, a mistake in the coding meant the pop-up windows still appeared too large - causing distortion to the photos. This has now been fixed.
Posted: 29 October 2004
2004 - 2005 CALENDAR NOW POSTED
The dates for RAFFU events for next season are now online. Use this advance notice wisely - if you are getting married, try to do it at a point BETWEEN RAFFU events!! - and remember, it will be all hands to the pumps come June 05 as it is our turn to host the Inter Services. So again, please plan carefully.
Posted: 29 October 2004
PENTANGULAR MATCH REPORT ONLINE
The match report following the eagerly anticipated Pentangular Match is now on the site. Although many members of the RAF Team could not make it, it was still a worthwhile training venture, and we have high hopes of repeating the event next year. Many thanks have to go to Rauri Henderson-Begg for his outstanding organisation purely to get the thing off the ground, and also to Gary Brailsford for his sterling efforts in scrounging up enough electrical equipment to allow us to run the event. Bravo gents!
Posted: 29 October 2004
FULL RESULTS FROM THE SENIORS POSTED
The final placings from all three weapons for the Mens events are now online. See the results page for full listings. The Match Report will follow in due course.
Posted: 29 October 2004
UPDATED LINKS PAGE
The link to the Irish Fencing Federation was older than the hills... now updated.
Posted: 29 October 2004
RAF "SENIORS" CHAMPIONSHIPS - IMPORTANT INFORMATION
All the entry forms for the Seniors have been sent to Station P Ed Flights. If you have not received a copy from them, it is imperative that you contact the DOC (Admin), Cpl Dave Long, on 95235 Ext 7336 IMMEDIATELY. The closing date for entry to the competition is Friday 28 April 04. All holders of trophies are also requested to ensure their return, polished and engraved, in time for presentation. Additionally, clarification of the entry fees has been received from the DOC (Tech), ACs undergoing basic recruit/trade training £2 per weapon, all other fencers £5 per weapon (or the bargain price of £15 for all 3). The DOC (Tech) would also like to take this opportunity to point out Para 3 in the entry paperwork. LATEST check in time for men is 0830 and for women 1000. Anyone arriving after this time WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO COMPETE! Fencing will be commencing at 0845 and 1030 respectively, therefore lateness will be classed as absence. You have been (mildly) warned!
Posted: 29 October 2004
STC COMMAND CHAMPIONSHIP
Match report and results now online.
Posted: 29 October 2004
RAF "SENIORS" CHAMPIONSHIPS ARE COMING
If it is not already in your diary, make sure that you mark it in now ... the Seniors are going to be held over the weekend of 8th - 9th May 2004. Remember that the top 12 fencers in each weapon immediately qualify to compete in the individual events at the Inter Services in June, plus there is always the chance that you might impress the selection committee enough to make the RAF Team for the Inter Services Triangular Match.
Posted: 29 October 2004
RESIZED JUNIORS 2003 PICTURES
In my rush to get pictures online, the 2nd page of Juniors 2003 photographs ended up going on a little too large. As a result people with slow internet connections would have probably had time to make a cup of tea while each photograph downloaded to their computer. I have now resized these to half the size, and will get onto the Inter Service ones when I get a chance.
Posted: 29 October 2004
TASTER SESSION - RAF UXBRIDGE
A resurgence in the popularity of fencing seems to be taking place, with interest being shown all over the place, particularly around the London area. With a joint High Wycombe/Halton club currently running quite successfully, plans are afoot to put the welcome mat out to other stations in the area. To gauge interest, a "taster" session is being organised for Monday 16th February (just after the Command Championships) at RAF Uxbridge. It would then be hoped that some personnel will be persuaded to make the journey to Halton once a week. Anyone based nearby who is interested should contact the Webmaster using the Feedback page in the first instance.
Posted: 29 October 2004
PERMANENT "TEMPORARY" HIT COUNTER
Last year the people who supplied the hit counter for the site had lots of problems and as a result there were periods of days at a time when hits were not being registered. A temporary text version was implemented, and this has worked so well, it is now the permanent hit counter!
Posted: 29 October 2004
