Summary of Cadet Winton 2023
West Midlands had a fun weekend and the fencers really enjoyed it. The final result was that we came 3rd. We had a really young group this year who showed real potential for future years. Only 2 were in the top age year (2006) and over half were in their first year of cadet (2009 or younger).
We took 7 foilists, 7 Epee and 6 Sabre. Our coaches were Dominic Sampson, Kat Solodkiha and Rachel Barnes.
The competition consisted of 6 teams battling it out in each weapon. 3 people in each team meant a maximum of 9 points per weapon were on offer. The results for each weapon were combined to give a final score. Overall we came 3rd. We had 2 wins, 2 draws (quite unusual I believe) and 1 loss.
All the teams performed well and were really supportive of each other. It was great to see everyone mixing and socialising as a region. The evening was good fun and Pizza’s supplied by the region went down very well.
I attach a photo of the final sheet as posted in the hall. Highlights were Verity who won the Individual DE and also the individual team performance for Women’s foil. Cherrie Li did fantastic in the Sabre and had a 100% clean sheet for the whole weekend winning both the Women’s Sabre awards.
Overall, everyone really enjoyed it and a pretty good result. The whole team got on well and they were all really enthusiastic in supporting each other across all the weapons. I certainly think WM were 1st in vocal support!
Looking good for future years.
Mark Cloke
Cadet Winton Team Captain
Cadet Winton Selection
Each year, the regions of the UK put forward teams of Under 17s, for each weapon, to fence for the Cadet Winton Cup. This has been a long tradition in honour of Nicholas Winton. The event will usually take place in December.
The West Midlands Region Committee shall select teams of 4, for each weapon, to represent the region at this 2 day event.
The current selection method is as follows:
Fencers will be ordered using the following diagram:
The fencers best result on the diagram will decide their place in the selection order. The selection order works across, then down.
For example, the order starts as; Top 4 U20s, Top 8 U20s, Top 4 U20 Champs, Top 8 U17s, Top 8 U20 Champs…
Fencers shall be under 17 at 00:00 on January of the year of the competition.
Any athlete currently living, studying, or training within the region is eligible for selection. As well as any athlete that has lived or fenced in the region for more than 3 years, that has since relocated.
Additional information
Millfield School, Street, Somerset (map)
The Cadet Winton is a two day regional team event run every year in December for foil, epee and sabre. There are four fencers in each team for each weapon and each gender, so six teams in total. There are four members in each team in the event of injury or to rest a fencer, as only three fencers fence in each round. Normally, fencers will stay overnight on site in the schools dorms.
Format
As usual the event is a 6 weapon ‘team-event’ where the overall scores of ALL the weapon teams are combined to reach the grand total. All matches are fenced as a best of 9 fights (not-relay). The target being 28 fights (or more) to win an ‘overall’ match against another Region.