New Zealand Junior (U20) and Cadet (U17) Commonwealth Team are heading to South Africa!

This page is set up to help support a New Zealand Team of 13 youth fencers who have recently been selected to attend the Commonwealth Junior (Under 20) and Cadet (Under 17) Fencing Championships to be held in Cape Town, South Africa; during the 11-17th July. At this event we are fighting for real medals and believe we have a good chance at bringing some home with us. We have a great team who are aiming to achieve great things.

This is an amazing opportunity for these fencers, they have trained hard to be selected to represent New Zealand. A huge achievement in itself, several of these fencers are competing for the first time on a truly international stage with expected competitors from England, Canada, Australia, Jamaica, Scotland, South Africa and India to name just a few.

Unfortunately, the cost to travel and compete is approx $6,000 per fencer. We are fundraising to try reduce the costs for fencers by $150 each at least. The total cost to send the team is around $78,000. Any money raised will go to reducing management costs, referee levies and team uniform - costs that all fencers have equal shares of and if super successful accommodation, flights etc. If you would like to contribute with services or other support please get in touch through Facebook.

We would like to raise as much as possible to help cover our costs.

The group of fencers come from all across the country, 1 from Dunedin, 4 from Christchurch, 5 from Wellington and 3 from Auckland. A great mix of people from the ages of 16 to 19.

The fencers attending (and in which events) are:

Cadet

James Harwood Men’s Epee

Nicholas Henderson Men’s Foil

Darya Kharitinova Women’s Foil

Sheldon Ogilvie Men’s Epee

Louis Jennings Men’s Epee, Men’s Foil

Brittany Wyatt Women’s Epee

Juniors

Felix Boyce Men’s Epee, Men’s Foil

Wai Ling Chan Women’s Epee

Christine Chen Women’s Foil

Daniel Garelja Men’s Foil

James Harwood Men’s Epee

Daniel Keleghan Men’s Foil

Darya Kharatinova Women’s Foil

Sheldon Ogilvie Men’s Epee

Nathaniel Walker-Hale Men’s Foil

Nicole Martin Women’s Epee, Women’s Foil

Louis Jennings Men’s Epee

Brittany Wyatt Women’s Epee

Team Manager Charlotte Dewsnap

Thank you for supporting us.

If you're interested in fencing be sure to follow Fencing New Zealand on Facebook or visit www.fencing.org.nz for contact details. There are clubs all around the country that are always enthusiastic to have people try the sport out. No matter the age there are plenty of skills fencing can teach you.