13 Bay fencers for junior champs
A TEAM of 13 fencers will represent Eastern Cape at the SA Junior Fencing Championships in Bloemfontein this weekend.
“We are a very young development province but have, through Excelsior EC and Nemato fencing clubs, built up a team that is ready to take the next step,” head coach Jessica Raper said.
“We need to expose our fencers to the bigger picture of what fencing looks like in clubs that are 50 and more years old.
“We lack finances and equipment, but we have the passion and determination to do our very best,” she said.
Six of the team are first-timers from Excelsior EC in Nelson Mandela Bay.
Unfortunately, seven young fencers from Nemato club in Port Alf- red had to withdraw. But they will all be in action in August when Eastern Cape hosts its very first national ranking competition.
Shani Smit, 17, a Grade 12 pupil at Framesby High School, has just returned from the Fencing World Cup for Women in Gauteng. She was the only Eastern Cape fencer invited.
“It was an awesome experience,” she said. “It felt like the Olympics!”
Shani won two gold medals last week, one at the EC Modern Pentathlon Championships and the second at the EC Junior fencing championships.
She has been appointed captain of the girls’ fencing team. Gold medallist Chad Putnam, a first-year NMMU student, will captain the junior men’s team.
Included in the EC team are twins Monique and Kayla Ferreira, 13, and three sisters: Pearson headgirl Emma Finestone, 17, Isabella Finestone, 15, who won silver last year, and Sophia Finestone, 12.
Raper said the fencers had all received training in mental toughness and techniques in fencing.
“They have learnt what resilience means and are very focused. It also shows in their schoolwork, some of the parents have reported.”
Talented all-rounder Kyle de Lange, 13, will be the one to watch in the U15 match.
Full team: Girls: Shani Smit (capt), Emma Finestone, Skye Ruffer, Jane Kirk, Isabella Finestone, Monique Ferreira, Kayla Ferreira, Sophia Finestone. Men/boys: Chad Putnam (capt), Anro Swart, Ben Laws, Kyle de Lange, Angelo Barkhuysen. Manager/coaches: Jessica Raper and Jon-Paul Raper, also an Eastern Cape referee.