#Amanda Rysling# is a member of the NYU women's fencing team. Periodically throughout the season, she will share her thoughts in this space.
Written 12-4-09
The Harvard Invitational has passed, and I think most of us are left to wonder if we're still sore from this weekend or if the sleep deprivation that inevitably results from holiday weekend procrastination plus a fencing tournament has made us ache anew. Either way, our NCAA work has wrapped up until 2010. Some of us are going to the North American Cup this weekend, and I wish those who are going the best of luck!
This end-of-November meet is usually one of our toughest, and it has never been more so than this time. I have honestly never seen a meet so tough on our team. We were up against many difficult schools in a row, and in foil and sabre (the two weapons in which the referee decides the recipient of any two-light point) we often felt like we could not understand the referee's motivations well enough to adapt our actions. We were quite frustrated, sometimes demoralized, and even pessimistic by mid-day alone. I think this was especially because we faced some of our toughest bouts before lunch.
Just after the designated lunch break, the entire team enjoyed its bye. We spent time around the area where we'd left our bags, talking to each other and forgetting for a bit that we felt like our fencing had been out of our own control. I think this was a crucial time. We were able to warm up at a more leisurely pace than the first time, giving each other drills and advice to work out the kinks. We were able to relax into the day and with the comfort of having our teammates around us. That made us more focused, motivated and refreshed by the time we began again.
The rest of the meet was far from easy. The teams we fenced after lunch were still challenging, and I know that I and many of my teammates would have liked to do at least a little better when all was tallied and done. Yet, I walked away realizing that it meant a great deal to appreciate that meets are really enjoyable for the sake of not only the competition, but the camaraderie, as well.
Written 11-19-09
#Alyxander Mattison# is a senior captain of the NYU women's fencing team. Periodically throughout the season, she will share her thoughts in this space.
There are a few different formats of fencing competition. In individual competitions a fencer will first participate in a pool, where each fencer fences all of the others. Using the results of these pools the competitors are ranked and then proceed into direct eliminations. In direct eliminations the first ranked person fences the last ranked person, the second ranked person fences the second-to-last ranked person, and so on. When you lose you’re out.
There are two different types of team competitions. In a normal NCAA competition, each squad has three starters in each weapon and each of those starters will fence the other team’s three starters. Whichever team wins 14 or more bouts wins the match (the total number of bouts that will be fenced is 27). Our team mostly participates in large tournaments, so we fence this format against many different teams in one day.
But then there is the relay. More than any other fencing competition the relay is not about the individual. In a relay your squad (once again having three people on each side) fences one large bout to 45 touches with the other team. Your teammate adds onto the previous score, and each bout ends at the next multiple of five. For instance, if the first bout is 5:3 (NYU) the goal for both of the next two fencers is to bring the score up to 10. Even though NYU technically won the first bout, it doesn’t count as a win if the score after the next bout is, say, 7-10 (the other team). The only score that determines which team wins is the final score. In this format all of the squad members have to work together and having one really good fencer will not make as much of an impact against a decent and consistent team.
On Friday, both the NYU men’s and women’s fencing teams are fencing a relay against Columbia. Columbia is always a tough school, but we have been known to beat them on occasion. This we will be our very first relay match with them. I guess we’re about to find out how we stack up in the ultimate team format.
#Amanda Rysling# is a member of the NYU women's fencing team. Periodically throughout the season, she will share her thoughts in this space.
Written 11-17-09
So the Farleigh Dickenson/Stevens Tech meet has passed (November 12) and it feels as though our entire team has breathed a collective sigh of relief. This is not because our first official dual meet of the season went badly. Rather, it is exactly because this was the first official meet, so every bout counted for our NCAA records for the first time.
Whatever way each fencer on the team approached the meet, I think everyone may have found some cause to put pressure on themselves. For those who were not pleased with their performances at Temple (October 31), there may have been the feeling that this was the meet to redeem the start of the season. For those who had performed well at Temple, there may have been the feeling that this was the meet to prove that Temple's showing was not just a fluke. I can only conjecture, but I could feel a lot of anxiousness in the people around me as the meet began.
This anxiousness was transformed into energy on the fencing strip. For some, that meant rushing too fast. For others, that meant a nice controlled burn of their nerves. There were ups and downs, and anxiety sometimes got in the way of a person's usual ability to perform. But, I saw others find themselves in tough situations, trailing by several touches in a five-touch bout, or tied in the last bout with the knowledge that this victory decided the winning team, who made valiant efforts to come back and win it for NYU. In these same situations, I saw teammates and coaches call the one timeout per bout allotted to each school and the fencers on the strip make real-time changes to their fencing based on the advice they'd been given. I cannot stress how valuable learning to use the timeout effectively can be.
I tend to think that just like many other potentially difficult and nerve-racking parts of life, the anticipation of a meet is more draining and ominous than the actual meet itself. Once you actually get going, you can forget what you were worried about in the first place and enjoy fencing for its own sake. I think that now that we have our official season-opener out of the way, we'll be a lot calmer approaching the meets to come.
Written 11-11-09
#Alyxander Mattison# is a senior captain of the NYU women's fencing team. Periodically throughout the season, she will share her thoughts in this space.
So, we have our first official meet tomorrow against Farleigh Dickinson. The girls looked good at the Temple Open, but on Thursday night we’ll see how all the new team members do when the bouts count. We fence two teams for each squad against FDU, so everyone will have the chance to fence.
FDU has some strong fencers, but if our girls fence well I think they can handle it. There will, of course, be some first-meet nerves. But, it's good to get them out during a duel meet at home than during an eight-team tournament.
Afterward the competition is over, we have our infamous Alumni Meet. Former NYU fencers from recent and long past years come back to challenge today’s starters. It always gets a bit crazy and anything can happen. Everyone always enjoys themselves, though, and it’s great to get multiple generations of the team together.
Overall it’ll be a fun evening!
Written 11-3-09
#Amanda Rysling# is a member of the NYU women's fencing team. Periodically throughout the season, she will share her thoughts in this space.
We arrived home from our first competition, the Temple Open, at about 11pm on Sunday, most of us having been on our feet all day for two days, either fencing or supporting our teammates on our “off” day (though there’s really no such thing).
We were tired, dehydrated, sore, and inevitably a little behind on schoolwork. Practice this week will undoubtedly be a little less populous than normal. But even though I am at present excavating myself from a mound of homework, I am looking forward to the weekends to come this season when I can get even further behind.
I think I speak for my teammates overall when I say that I am well satisfied with our performance over the weekend. On both the men's and the women's sides, NYU enjoyed good results. I congratulate the freshmen that took their first chances to show what they could do, and the upperclassmen that gave the solid showings their coaches have come to expect of them. I personally think that the best part of the weekend was seeing that we have team members in all years of their college careers who are going to be effective competitors this season.
It is for this very reason that I am certain I am not alone when I say that I'm actually more than satisfied. I'm pumped. I have high hopes for this team this season.
One of the most valuable things that I saw already taking shape among us this weekend was the formation of working relationships, not just between coach and competitor, but also among teammates. We already understand that we have to collaborate even though only one person at a time fences. We are cheering loudly, looking out for each other's waters, Gatorades and snacks, and lending and fixing equipment as it is needed. A lot of us have begun to give and take advice from each other. This will be crucial in dual meet competition, especially next spring.
This early on in the season, it’s exciting to be this far along in our progress toward being a cohesive and cooperative team. I look forward to our next meets with great enthusiasm.
