2
Salle Rose - a club with a past and a future...
Salle Rose came into existence in 1993. It started as an occasional club - meeting once a month on a Sunday, to give enthusiasts a chance to fence more often. We were fortunate to have access to a gym that also had a swimming pool. Ah, those were the days! In the spring of 1994 Barry decided to devote his coaching time to Salle Rose rather than Ipswich, where he had been coaching, and fencing, since 1981.
This allowed him to coach twice a week, instead of once on a Wednesday, and more freedom to implement his own ideas. At first Salle Rose was an 'all weapon' club. In 1995 we took 3rd place in the 'Chad open and closed', which was a 'Four weapon Team' event. As well as the very successful Jos, we also had Karl Meek as coach and sabre fencer.
End of Year Reviews
1999 no review.
2003- 2004
As is common in most clubs, the juniors predominated. As well as successful seniors we have had some talented juniors. Our most successful junior in the early days of Salle Rose was Sherry Marison. Sherry was one of the club's founder members. Sherry was the first fencer Barry started direct (at age 11) on Epee. Like Jos, Sherry preferred to fence against men, and was in the club's men's team in the Eastern Region competition of 1994. Along with Barry and Karl, Sherry gained 3rd place.
The first shot was taken on that day.
1
2
The second picture was taken after winning one of the Leon Paul Junior Series (1995), in the U15 division. Sherry later went on to win, thus completing a double, as Sherry had also won the u13 in 1993.
Another successful junior was the younger Claire Howes. Claire was later spotted by Ziemowit Wojciechowski and was invited to join Salle Paul and did so with my blessing. Ziemek is an excellent coach, and there were many more Foilists for her to practice with in her new club. In the 2000 Eastern Region Championships Claire won the Foil competition, beating Jos into second place. This picture shows her receiving her medal from Eastern region Chairman and British Fencing Director, John Ramsay - centre. Also in attendance is Dave Robinson, former Brackenbury Sports Centre deputy Manager, who is also our fitness trainer.
1994 and 1995 were high points with Jos winning all of the major open's that Jos was allowed to enter and also being allowed to enter the Norfolk open Men's competition in which she came Second. I intend to devote a page elsewhere on her career. 1995 was also the year that we were lucky enough to have Peter Outridge join Salle rose. His common sense as a Chairman, and his ability to fix equipment have played a big role in steering the club to success.
We had to find a new venue in the autumn of 1997, as the school that held the venue closed, and this was a low point for the club. We were in a cheap but unsuitable hall that was unreliable in its availability. With Claire's departure there were no really up and coming Foilists. This and Sherry's success determined that the Salle Rose became an Epee club as the main weapon of choice for the other members was Epee.
We were fortunate to find the gym of Deben School to train in, as the uncertainty of Amberfield's hall was causing membership to dwindle. Also at this time we were fortunate to have Barry Taber return to fencing. Barry is a talented fencer dogged by bad luck, accidents and a demanding job. He is a great team player, very competitive, and has a motivating effect on us all. Barry is also an accomplished referee, having presided at the 1998 Ipswich World Cup event, and the very demanding British Modern Pentathlon Fencing Championships in 1992. Having Deben's hall halted the decline of the club ,as it was a good floor and always available, and membership began to climb. Unfortunately we were to be faced with a massive rise in costs as Deben raised its prices. The club had enjoyed no fees from its foundation until 1995, as we had not had to pay for a venue and all coaches worked for the love of the sport.
As we were debating the consequences of this, the Brackenbury Sports Centre started to be built from the shell of the Felixstowe College Gym, where ironically, Barry had been coaching fencing until it closed. At bit of badgering of the new managers resulted in the promise of the facilities being available, and the club has taken off since we moved in during August 1998.
In the time that we have been there the club has gone from strength to strength. We have a thriving junior club (u12's) with 30 members who are developing fast with some good prospects for the future.
End of Year Reviews
Out of the new members from this era we have James Lee, who was 2nd in the Eastern region u14 last year and 9th in the national finals. He also had the distinction of being the highest placed club member in the 2000 Eastern Region Senior Individual Championships.
Jon Ainsley is also doing very well in the u18 section, also 2nd in the Eastern Region Age Group Championships, and will be going to the National Championships in Scotland in August. At senior elite level. His results are so frequent it is best to look at the 'Latest news' page.
Philip Roberts is beginning to make his mark, reaching the L64 in Belgium this year (unfortunately we did not get the paper work to allow him to count it for the British rankings or he would almost certainly be up with Jon.
Kate Newman has picked up the sport very fast, and since Easter has developed well enough to win the Eastern Region Age group Championships (u16), and will be going to the National Championships in Scotland in August. She has won some good matches against seniors this year, including beating Ruth Ashley (then ranked 14th in GB) 5-0 in the Essex open, and the Cambridgeshire captain in the Read Cup (fencing for Suffolk in the Inter-Counties) also 5-0.
Salle Rose also did well at the Eastern Region Team event with the men (Jos! Barry T, & Jon) surviving some very close encounters to win the final, and the women's team (Kate, Dena & Naomi) gaining experience and a bronze medal. We even had a 2nd men's team (Carl, James and Philip (Capt.)) who came 13th from 17.
There are a lot more fencers coming through, and 2001 looks like being a good year.
Although the main results are on the results page I cannot let the Regional results go without comment. Jos at Eastern Region Senior Individual Championships gained; Gold, (Master at Arms) Gold, (Epée) Silver (Sabre) and Bronze (Foil). Barry Taber gained Silver for Epée. Kate, (Epée) Jon (Epée) and Barry C. (Sabre) also scored points for Club Cup competition by reaching Last 8. Outstanding!
Our men's team, devoid of Barry Taber on Honeymoon and Jon at interview, consisted of Philip, Gavin (from last yrs 2nd team) and James and were placed 5th from 9. A super performance by all. I am also very proud of the Women' team (Jos, Kate, Naomi) who were the only Women's team, so they competed in the men's comp and were 6th out of 9, outstanding.
Jos has not done so many competitions, partly through lack of training, but mainly through having to nurse Barry through his illness. Although he is recovering well enough to give some lessons they are not yet strong enough for her. Nevertheless Jos is still able to make finals
Philip Roberts left us for uni and although fencing from time to time his results have fallen off.
Jon Ainsley has lived up to his promise and is ranked 85th in the seniors, (junior rankings not updated for a long time). Jon regularly makes L64 and is due to break through this year IMHO, and should be in the top 64 soon.
James Lee continues to thrive and has moved from 335 to 217 since scoring his first points in Norfolk last summer. he is concentrating on GCSE's right now but should continue to improve next year.
Kate Newman has started to reach l64/32 recently and is now raked as follows:- Seniors 58, Juniors 22, Cadet 14 and finished last years LJPS 4th. She too is likely to concentrate on GCSE's for this next few months but expect an impact in September.
Heather Jarrold has recently joined us to learn Epee and is already making an impact. Since her first comp. at the end of October she has been scoring points and is now ranked as follows:- Seniors 87, Juniors31. Another fencer to watch out for in the future.
Although we have lost Izzy we have Ellie, Jess, Toby, Steven, Tom and Gareth all at the junior end, making good progress, and should be doing competitions by next year. Anyone want to sponsor us a minibus?
2002 has been an excellent year for Salle Rose members. Even before the James Bond movie, Fencing seemed to be becoming fashionable in Suffolk. We have started a new Junior class, which includes some very promising young talent. The old ‘juniors’ have become Intermediates and there have been some new members here too. We have also had an unprecedented number of ‘beginner’ Seniors, many of whom have stayed on. The club is certainly the largest it has been since becoming a single weapon club.
This is also happening at County level, with a large number of emails expressing interest in joining a Suffolk club.
Competition fencing has also been highly successful this year. At Regional level we came 1st in the Men’s Team event (Jon, Jos and Christiaan - in his first comp.), but were unable to enter a women’s team this year (they fenced in the men’s team). We also had 1st Place in both the Women’s (Jos) and the Men’s Individual Epee (Jon), and Jon therefore took the ‘Salle Rose’ Eastern Region Epee Cup that we had donated– appropriately being the first to win it. Heather also took 2nd place in the Women’s Epee. Overall, the club was 3rd (for the 2nd year running) in the Eastern Region championship when all places in all weapons were counted; not bad when we can only enter a third of the events?
Also very satisfying was the number of superb performances in the open events, most fencers achieving their best ever results this year.
Jon got a last 32 in the British Senior Championships, 5th in The British Universities Championships and 5th in the Welsh Championships.
James had a relatively quiet year (GCSE Exam year) but got a fantastic 6th in the Cambridge Winter at the beginning of 2003.
Jos gained a 3rd in the Leicester Open and although she is training less is still enjoying competitions and now has enough points to qualify for the Dutch Team in the A Grades again – and will be in action at the Ipswich Cup A grade this year in February.
Ellie Dunn entered her first competition (Eastern Region Youth Group Championships) and was 2nd in a small field, qualifying for the Nation Youth Finals at the end of January.
Philip was 15th in the British Universities Championships.Heather did a 1 - 2 (1st and 2nd) with Jos in the Cambridge Winter Tournament at the beginning of 2002
Barry resumed his refereeing activities and refereed the final of the Ipswich Cup (Women's 'A' grade) and the Semi-final of the London Cup (Men's' 'A' grade) - as well as many semi finals and finals abroad. He also represented England as a ref in The Commonwealth games in Australia.
2003- 2004
So much happened in these two years it is playing catch up to write the detail. Jos continued to flourish and Jon came through into his own. They both won the regions championship in 2003 and 04 were Norfolk Open Champions in 2004 (a large picture.)
Last updated 19 01 2003 bjc (c) MMIII
