Two young fencers from Scarisbrick Hall’s fencing club have been awarded their Northwest colours and selected to fence for the region at the Cadet Winton Cup to be held later this month.
Annabelle Montagu (13) and Grace Michell (12) were asked to step in at the last minute when a couple of the current team had to drop out. It is a tremendous recognition for both girls as this tournament is for the U17 age range so they are stepping up four and five year groups respectively! However, it is their successes this year that have brought them to the attention of the regional selector: Grace having finished 28th in the British U12 Championships and Annabelle having won her very first tournament at the Liverpool U13 Northwest Junior Series Epee.
Both girls are showing tremendous potential as fencers and this opportunity will give them a chance to cross swords with some of the best fencers in the country. Next week, the pair will be presented with their colours by the school’s headmaster, Mr. Shaw, at an end of term awards presentation evening. Mr. Shaw commented ‘I am delighted with their achievement’ and the school’s fencing master David Stobbs said ‘the girls need to focus on what they do well and they will be a credit to the school and the region’.
The Winton Cup organisers are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Cadet event this year and are planning some special commemorative activities. The competition itself is named after Sir Nicholas Winton, the renowned Second World War humanitarian who was instrumental in saving over 600 children from Nazi occupied Czechoslovakia. Both he and his brother Bobby were very talented fencers who contributed much to the modern sport in Britain after the war, including devising the Winton Cup events for seniors, veterans and cadets.
The girls would particularly like to thank David for giving them additional coaching to help prepare them for the challenge of facing some of the best cadets in the country! It is to David’s credit that these two young athletes have come into consideration for selection so early on in their fencing careers. Grace would also like to thank the the Benjamin Gautrey Foundation whose kind encouragement and sponsorship has helped her peruse national events such as this this year.
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