On May 22 GRAFA is hosting a Epee C and Under and Youth Foil tournament. Hope to see you there!

Epee C and Under: 10AM
Y10 Foil: 10AM
Y12: 12PM
Y14: 2PM

Remember to preregister with Askfred.net.

2010 NCAA Fencing Championships Women’s Results

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Freshman Dayana Sarkisova (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest
Hills Central) capped an impressive debut season with a third-place finish
at the 2010 NCAA Fencing Championships, becoming the first Northwestern
foilist to capture first-team All-American honors and the fourth fencer in
program history to do so. Northwestern finished eighth at the national
championships, marking the 11th-consecutive season head coach Laurie
Schiller’s squad has finished among the nation’s top-10.

Sarkisova posted a 20-3 record through the round robin pool play, earning
the number two seed in the semifinals before falling to Penn State’s Doris
Willette to capture third. It is tied for the highest national finish by a
Wildcat, matching Katie Rudkin’s third-place result in the epée in 2002.
Sarkisova is now part of an elite group, joining Vivian Imaizumi (sabre -
2000) and Rudkin (epée – 2001 and 2002) as the fourth first-team
All-American in Northwestern history.

She also became the first fencer in West Michigan to medal in a NCAA Championship tournament.

In recognition of this awesome accomplishment Dayana has been named “Athlete of the Week” at Northwestern University.

Mark your calendars and get your sign up sheets ready. GRAFA has an exciting spring and summer planned for fencing camps. We will be hosting our traditional fencing camps in the spring and summer, as well as a new series involving internationally renowned fencers who will join us to teach camps during the summer. Find out more on our camps page.

Summer Solstice: June 25-27

Old Friends Reunite for Fencing and Fun series:
These camps are for all ages.

June 14 – June 18. at University of Chicago, IL with Ilgar Mamedov, 2 time Olympic champion
August 16- August 20 at University of Chicago, IL with Philippe Omnes

More info and registration links on our camps page or Contact us about the camp.

The Grand Rapids Advanced Fencing Academy is now on Facebook! If you are as well, join us! We will use our page to post events, updates, and help organize activities! This page is for fencers, parents and prospective GRAFA family members as well! Feel free to organize rides or other such collaborations! Enjoy!

GRAFA is happy to announce the creation of an SMS list to allow us to contact you via cell phone text message in the event of last minute scheduling changes or closings.

Two add your phone to the text messages just enter your phone number into the “SMS Notifications Sign-up” box on the grey sidebar on the right hand side of the homepage.

If you have any questions or comments or are having trouble registering, please email the webmaster.

Due to unprecedented growth in membership and the high demand for fencing instruction and private lessons, GRAFA is looking for an experienced part time coach. The position will be working under the supervision of head coaches Mikhail and Arkadiy Sarkisov. The coach will be teaching intermediate level classes in foil and epee as well as giving private lessons. The coach must also be available for weekend travel to local and national tournaments. If you are interested, please email your resume and references to Head Coach Mikhail Sarkisov at coachmikhail@grfencing.com.

Alexa Prasher took a phenomenal 5th place in the Y10 event at the North American Cup in Portland, Oregon. This was Alexa's first Nationals and makes Alexa the fourth GRAFA student who currently has National points on the National Points List. This is a very impressive achievement and GRAFA is very proud of Alexa!

Congratulations to Eddy Rozanski, Jr on earning his “B” rank in Epee. This is a tremendous accomplishment and Eddy is the first fencer in GRAFA history to earn a “B” ranking in Epee. Keep up the good work Eddy!

GRAFA would like to congratulate 4 of its younger competitors for their amazing fencing at the Youth Foil Event held at the Great Lakes Sword Club this past Sunday, February 1st: Alexa Prasher, Nicholas Maternowski, Sheyla Osmanovic and Ben Osmanovic. Because of their great fencing, and support of eachother, GRAFA is proud to announce that 4 medals came back to our club this week as a result. Alexa Prasher won gold in the Y10 category and silver in the Y12 category, missing out on the gold by a single point. Nick Maternowski won a silver in the Y14 foil and Sheyla Osmanovic won a bronze in Y10.

Congratulations to them all and we hope to add many more fencers and metals to our list of victories!

For those of us who frequent the competition scene, there is an important announcement. As you may know, the Michigan Division Website has been having problems and so in an attempt to correct this, they have changed sites. The new site can be viewed at www.michfencing.net