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
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