Photo's from the 60th Anniversary Celebration

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Photo's are now available 60th Celebration Knight of Knights


Regards

The Committee

Mahmud Jaffar awarded the Robyn Chaplin OAM Award for Outstanding Service to Australian Fencing

At Cavaliers 60th Anniversary celebrations on the 25 July 2015 Mahmud Jaffar was presented with the Robyn Chaplin OAM Award for Outstanding Service to Australian Fencing for  the consistent high standard of fencing practice and dedication to the sport at all levels demonstrated over a period of more than 41 years.

Mahmud is a long term member of ECU Cavalier School of Fencing in Western Australia where he holds the current position of Treasurer and Coach for the group of Junior Fencers known as Bladez.

Mahmud carries with him a level of deep respect and the highest regard within the Club and within the wider Fencing community of Western Australia – and, indeed, amongst his colleagues all over Australia.

While Mahmud’s position on the Club Executive and Coaching Committee during this 12 month period may not appear so unusual to some - this is, in fact, a representation of more than 30 years of unbroken and consistent volunteer service to Western Australian fencing and, in turn, to that of the Australian fencing structure.  Furthermore, the very existence of the Sport of Fencing in this State is entirely due to the dedication of Mahmud when, at a certain time in the past, support for the sport almost collapsed. 

Mahmud took to Foil at the age of 11 years and showed promise at an early age in both State and National Tournaments.  He became dominant in the weapon and held the State Championship title and earned Top 8 National results until his retirement from mainstream competition just prior to his transition to Veteran category.  As a Veteran, he did return to the piste on occasion to take Veteran Gold.

Mahmud’s prowess as a skilled Foilist on the piste is not, however, the purpose of this application.  It is merely a backdrop to his extraordinary story of commitment as a volunteer coach and administrator for most of his fencing life.

Fencing was not always so strong in Western Australia after the heady days of the 70’s.  During the 80’s much of the support waned until there was left simply a small group of 12 – 15 fencers held together by Mahmud in a very small school venue.  A promise to his old coach, Barry Wasley, fired the determination in Mahmud to keep Cavaliers operating.  With an inactive Association and lacking a supportive committee, Mahmud kept the fencing footwork, coaching and bouting activities going entirely single-handedly until help appeared in 1995. 

This was an extraordinary feat as there was no access to professional coaching services, nor was there any support from the Department of Sport and Recreation due to the absence of an active Association at that time.  Mahmud followed the method of giving a lesson to one fencer who, in turn, would give the same lesson to the next fencer, and so on.

With the advent of a newly-determined group of fencers around 1995, Mahmud found the collective energy to guide a revival of the sport to the success story we see today.

Since then, Mahmud has worked tirelessly to promote the sport within the club and the State.  On the WAFA Committee, he held the positions variously of President, Treasurer and State Delegate to the AFF Board until his retirement from the Association in 2000.  At club level, he was Head Coach for many years and has taken a heavy workload on every Committee in multiple capacities.

In the past he has worked closely with the Ministry of Sport and Recreation to obtain funding for visiting coaches and has been instrumental in establishing close links with the Australian Fencing Federation which have been so vital in recent promotion of Western Australian fencing.  His work has provided pathways for others to follow.

Of course, his work continues behind the scenes, as it always has, with an uncountable number of projects which all go together to help provide for that all-important extra dimension of club involvement through social events and extra-curricular activities.  Mahmud has set the highest example to younger fencers of the value of volunteer commitment and of the importance of willing contribution to society.

There is much truth in the statement from Gary Bates, Club President in 2011, when asked about Mahmud – “Cavaliers’ was built around Mahmud so-much-so that if he ever were to leave we would need engineers to assess his load-bearing rating before being moved!”

The award was presented to Mahmud by Nigel Nutt who travelled from Canberra to attend the evenig. Nigel was a member of Cavaliers from 1995-2000, the President of Western Australian Fencing Association 1995-1998 and a director of the Australian Fencing Federation from 2000-2004

Rankings after July Competitions

	Foil					Epee					Sabre
	Fencer	Points	Handicap			Fencer	Points	Handicap			Fencer	Points	Handicap
1	Cedric Bauer	27	4		1	Adian Paxman	34	4		1	Llewlyn Foley	33	4
2	Tom Harvey	24	3		2	Andrew Kwan	19	3		2	Damian Kneale	30	4
3	Darren Chang-Martin	22	3		3	Gino Trichilo	17	2		3	Tom Austin	19	2
4	Gabby Ullaga	20	3		3	Daniel Schultz	17	2		3	Simon McIntyre	19	3
5	Olena Polyakova	18	3		5	Stuart Webster	14	3		5	Lorrhin Foley	17	2
6	Luke Mitchell	16	2		6	Kylie Caunt	12	2		6	Marissa Black	13	2
7	Dylan Devenish	15	2		7	Peter Harbin	11	2		7	Malcolm Davis	10	1
8	Antonio Ruffo	13	2		8	Axel Vekemans	10	1		7	Drew Foley	10	1
9	Anne Bauer	7	1		9	Ryan Moorhouse	8	1		7	EK Gulland	10	0
10	Ivy Park	6	1		9	Isobel Ellis	8	0		10	Gino Trichilo	9	1
10	Lucien Kishi	6	0		11	Sam Prater	7	1		11	Laura Hodges	4	1
10	Hendric Ng	6	0		11	Bobby Emmanual	7	1		11	Finn Gilheany	4	0
13	Michael Macrae	4	0		11	Jessica Scholle	7	1		13	Nick Manley	3	0
13	Matthew Simmonds	4	0		14	Brett Criddle	6	0		13	Dean Fisher	3	0
15	Aron Than	3	1		15	Jinny Skerman	5	0		15	Lewis Freedman	2	0
16	Toby Hodgson	2	0		16	Alia Bath	3	0		15	Elim Wong	2	0
17	Eric Drinkwater	1	0		16	Will Kelly	3	1		17	Lola Croft	1	0
17	Jason McNamara	1	0		18	Llewlyn Foley	2	0		17	Brodie Read	1	0
17	Francesco Rachetti	1	0		18	Lukin Schultz	2	0		17	Sean Vinten	1	0
17	Peter Carr	1	0		20	Antonio Ruffo	1	0		20	0	0	0
17	Andrew Munro	1	0		20	Peter Carr	1	0		20	0	0	0
17	Elim Wong	1	0		20	Sandra Schwartz	1	0		20	0	0	0
17	Keegan	1	0		20	Rachel Carr	1	0		20	0	0	0
24	Matteo Rossaro	0	0		20	Damien Kuruckchi	1	0		20	0	0	0
24	0	0	0		20	Anne Bauer	1	0		20	0	0	0
24	0	0	0		20	Ian Lock	1	0		20	0	0	0
24	0	0	0		20	Thomas Phelan-Mould	1	0		20	0	0	0

Cancelled Fencing WA Winter Camp July 17-19 2015 Cancelled

For anyone recently out of beginners, or anyone who wants to take their fencing to the next level, or anyone who wants an intensive weekend of training. Fencing WA is running a winter camp from Friday 17th - Sunday 19th July. You can come for just one or two days, or you can come for all three. Details are below. It's not far away, so please register ASAP.