Fencing abroad

[Stylothek]

Hello,
I'll be taking part in an exchange program to Eton College (Windsor) in February. When I visited their page http://www.etoncollege.com under extra curricular/Gymnasium I found this

Eton has a splendid Fencing Salle and provides expert coaching for boys of all ages, from beginners to experts, all of whom are encouraged to participate in our internal competitions.

I believe I get to pick a sport, so I'd go for fencing. Is or was anyone of you a scholar at Eton? Or has anyone ever experienced their training or their equipment? Most important: I am registered at the DFB (German Fencing Association), will I be able to take up fencing for a short period of time in England?
Thanks in advance,
til

[latenight]

Don't know.

I have fenced a broad before though........sorry, couldn't resist

[Zelda]

I am nominally registered with the AFF (australian fencing federation) and fenced at Salle Boston for a year without any problems.

[Louweasel]

You lucky lucky b@stard.
Eton College is one of the best schools in the country. Princes William and Harry went there! They've got money coming out of their ears and the facilities are second to none.
And, as an insider tip, it's no exaggeration about the salle. My boyfriend went to a private school (nowhere near as posh but in the same area of the country) and he fenced at school. He went to an away match at Eton and apparently they had a dedicated fencing salle, with reels built in (the wires went up to the ceiling then back to the reel, to keep them out of the way, and the lights were in the walls). He's not that old so I find it very unlikely they'd have got rid of it in the meantime.

The coaching should be good - they only have the best there (the amount the parents pay they expect it!)

Sorry I don't know about registration though. You may have to become a BFA member for competitions?

[Zilverzmurfen]

I recently competed in England and it was enough for me to show my FIE license and national license (for insurance).

You should be ok to compete in GBR as long as you have an FIE license (possibly combined with your DFB license) and shouldn't need to get a BFA license.

Have fun, you lucky sod!

[Stylothek]

Originally Posted by Louweasel

You lucky lucky b@stard.
Eton College is one of the best schools in the country. Princes William and Harry went there! They've got money coming out of their ears and the facilities are second to none.
And, as an insider tip, it's no exaggeration about the salle. My boyfriend went to a private school (nowhere near as posh but in the same area of the country) and he fenced at school. He went to an away match at Eton and apparently they had a dedicated fencing salle, with reels built in (the wires went up to the ceiling then back to the reel, to keep them out of the way, and the lights were in the walls). He's not that old so I find it very unlikely they'd have got rid of it in the meantime.

Ahem, one of the best? I'd go for THE best on this planet. Yes, I have seen their salle in the background on their picture on the homepage, it looks fantastic and I'm quite lucky that my school cooperates with Eton!
Anyway, thanks to all for informing me about the licenses.
til

[Louweasel]

Originally Posted by Stylothek

Ahem, one of the best? I'd go for THE best on this planet.

I probably would have said "the best" but I was trying to be fair to Harrovians etc. And women!

Are you going to have to wear the uniform? *giggle*

[Stylothek]

yes, I'll be wearing the uniform and all. It should be great. In return, an Eton scholar will visit our school and stay here at our house, that should be rather interesting ;-). But that should not be too bad, our school is quite decent even in comparison to Eton. Of course, nothing actually compares to it

[Insipiens]

While Eton has a very impressive if small fencing salle it is not the most successful school for fencing in the UK. If you are doing competitions you may well find you don't even need an FIE licence as long as you have your German fencing association licence. For more fencing come to one of the more competitive London Clubs if you can (e.g. Salle Boston, Salle Paul - see the website www.britishfencing.com for a list of clubs and various other bits of info).

Whether Eton is the best school in England, let alone Britain or the world is highly debatable. And it depends what you want from a school.

Still it should be a great experience.

[kalivor]

You may want to post your membership question on fencingforum.com ... being a British forum, you're probably more likely to get an informed answer there.

I expect Zilverzmurfen is correct, though -- you can probably make do with the DFB license.

[downunder]

Originally Posted by Insipiens

While Eton has a very impressive if small fencing salle it is not the most successful school for fencing in the UK. If you are doing competitions you may well find you don't even need an FIE licence as long as you have your German fencing association licence. For more fencing come to one of the more competitive London Clubs if you can (e.g. Salle Boston, Salle Paul - see the website www.britishfencing.com for a list of clubs and various other bits of info).

Whether Eton is the best school in England, let alone Britain or the world is highly debatable. And it depends what you want from a school.

Still it should be a great experience.

yeah, eton fencers are not very strong at all on a national level.

[Louweasel]

I didn't say it was the best school for fencing, I said it had good facilities. I wouldn't know what was a good school for fencing, as I was at a state school and you usually only get fencing at private schools,
Stylothek is unlikely, as a boarding school student, to be able to travel into London once or twice a week to go to a London club. The important thing is, if he wants to fence whilst in England, he's lucky to be going to a school which has its own (very good) facilities to be able to do so. Far luckier than the 90-odd percent of people in England who are state-educated and don't get such anamazing opportunity. Don't get me wrong, I went to a good school of which I am proud, and I don't begrudge the privileged few the benefits they get from private education, I'm saying Stylothek is lucky to have an opportunity like this - and I'm sure he appreciates it.

[downunder]

Originally Posted by Louweasel

I didn't say it was the best school for fencing, I said it had good facilities. I wouldn't know what was a good school for fencing, as I was at a state school and you usually only get fencing at private schools,
Stylothek is unlikely, as a boarding school student, to be able to travel into London once or twice a week to go to a London club. The important thing is, if he wants to fence whilst in England, he's lucky to be going to a school which has its own (very good) facilities to be able to do so. Far luckier than the 90-odd percent of people in England who are state-educated and don't get such anamazing opportunity. Don't get me wrong, I went to a good school of which I am proud, and I don't begrudge the privileged few the benefits they get from private education, I'm saying Stylothek is lucky to have an opportunity like this - and I'm sure he appreciates it.

understood. I'd say the best two fencing schools are Millfield in Somerset and Westminster in London

[Insipiens]

Originally Posted by downunder

understood. I'd say the best two fencing schools are Millfield in Somerset and Westminster in London

I suppose the Sussex House fencing club does not really count as part of Sussex House school. (as the members are mostly too old).

Louweasel, I didn't mean to imply you thought Eton was the best fencing school. I just wanted to make sure Stylothek was not expecting a very very high standard and be disappointed - as I suspect the standard at the same age in the US may be higher than the UK.

[Dave]

The salle has a website

http://www.salleeton.com/

(I assume that this is the school club)

hmm actually I am not sure, I had Heard that David Kirby was coaching there these days.

[geezer]

I've fenced some very nice ladies, some really HOT BABES, and a few dingy broads too.