George entered the U14 county fencing championship last weekend. Last year he came third. He fences at school and is lucky to have a nationally ranked fencer as his coach. We have to be a little careful not to get excited as there aren't huge numbers of entrants and the venue is local for us (some parents are not going to do a 60 miles round trip) but nevertheless George did brilliantly. There were at least three stand out moments where he really showed smarts and spirit. Firstly, in the round robin section he was 2-4 down (in a first to five match) and realised he had to change his tactics if he was to stand any chance of winning. He did and won that one 5-4. Secondly, after leading all the way to 11-8 in the semi-final he was 11-13 down (first to 15), yet held his nerve to win 15-13 and thirdly, when in the final he faced a boy who had beaten him 5-0 in the round robin section (George was second placed after that section), George changed his game plan to the point where the favourite couldn't fence the way he liked. George took a 7-5 lead and the favourite started to crumble. Even I, who has no idea about fencing, could see that George had him on the ropes. All George had to do was keep his nerve, and ignore the increasingly desperate antics of the favourite, which he did to win 15-8.
George is a top chop. And I very proud of him, especially as he is clearly very good at something I have very little idea about, having never fenced in my life.
George in action, on the right:
The cup:
And with Paul, his excellent coach:
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