Clubs in Sydney, Australia

[Douglas Garstang]

All,

Thinking of taking up the sport. Complete novice at this point.

I'm an Australian who's been living in the US for the past three
years, and hope to remain. There's a slight chance I may have to
return to Australia though, if the ol' green card hits a glitch.

There seems to be quite a number of clubs in Southern California, and
there's actually one only a few miles from here in Thousand Oaks.

Sydney though..... yeck! It looked like a few of the universities had
clubs and that was about it. I really don't want to get into the sport
if I have to return to Australia and find I can't find a club (or have
to tackle Sydney's freeway-less traffic to get to one!) Is the number
of clubs really that limited?

I had a similar problem when I was in school, trying to find people to
play tennis against. Seems tennis is an old man's game.

Doug.

[Andrew John]

Douglas,

Not all the clubs in Sydney are university based
Here is a list, whose currency I'm afraid I cannot
vouch for:

http://www.nswfencing.org.au/Clubs_x_.htm

BTW Sydney isn't the only city in Australia. Even some of
the smaller regional cities have fencing clubs, as do all the
state capitals ( except Darwin AFAIK).

Given you haven't actually started the sport yet, aren't you getting
a bit ahead of yourself? Like all martial arts there is a high drop-off rate,
and it might not be your thing. ( Perish the thought ).

Regards
AJ
(Melbourne fencer)


"Douglas Garstang" <doug@pobox.com> wrote in message news:10d46bdc.0312110016.6f605909@posting.google.c om...
> All,
>
> Thinking of taking up the sport. Complete novice at this point.
>
> I'm an Australian who's been living in the US for the past three
> years, and hope to remain. There's a slight chance I may have to
> return to Australia though, if the ol' green card hits a glitch.
>
> There seems to be quite a number of clubs in Southern California, and
> there's actually one only a few miles from here in Thousand Oaks.
>
> Sydney though..... yeck! It looked like a few of the universities had
> clubs and that was about it. I really don't want to get into the sport
> if I have to return to Australia and find I can't find a club (or have
> to tackle Sydney's freeway-less traffic to get to one!) Is the number
> of clubs really that limited?
>
> I had a similar problem when I was in school, trying to find people to
> play tennis against. Seems tennis is an old man's game.
>
> Doug.

[Simon Summerfield]

Andrew John wrote:
>
> "Douglas Garstang" <doug@pobox.com> wrote in message news:10d46bdc.0312110016.6f605909@posting.google.c om...
> > All,
> >
> > Thinking of taking up the sport. Complete novice at this point.
> >
> > I'm an Australian who's been living in the US for the past three
> > years, and hope to remain. There's a slight chance I may have to
> > return to Australia though, if the ol' green card hits a glitch.
> >
> > There seems to be quite a number of clubs in Southern California, and
> > there's actually one only a few miles from here in Thousand Oaks.
> >
> > Sydney though..... yeck! It looked like a few of the universities had
> > clubs and that was about it. I really don't want to get into the sport
> > if I have to return to Australia and find I can't find a club (or have
> > to tackle Sydney's freeway-less traffic to get to one!) Is the number
> > of clubs really that limited?
> >
> > I had a similar problem when I was in school, trying to find people to
> > play tennis against. Seems tennis is an old man's game.
> >
> > Doug.
>
> Douglas,
>
> Not all the clubs in Sydney are university based

Also, don't be put off by the fact that the clubs are based
at universities...they aren't just for university students.
I'm not from Sydney, but I do know that the coaches aren't
based at any particular club, and the fencers go where their
coach is on any given night, so they end up training at a
number of clubs each week. The universities tend to have the
largest membership because they have the better facilities.
Simon.