About the Club The University of Western Australia Fencing Club was originally formed in 1947 by Mr Ken Anketell. The Club had 26 members, and operated in the River Road Club Building, Boat House on the River in Matilda Bay (then known as Crawley Bay). Stanley Gorringe, (then holder of the "Mr Perth" title), was the first instructor.
The Club (then only open to members of the University community), with a transient population, would regularly be forced into recession, only to be reformed whenever a new generation of fencers (usually from other clubs around Perth) would find abandoned gear in the Sports Hall lockers and reconstitute the Club. The Club was known to be active in 1961, when it joined the WA Amateur Fencing Association (WAAFA) but by 1967 had declined once more.
Ron Newick (formerly of Perth Amateur Fencing Club and Perth Swords Club) helped restart the Club as instructor, with Carol Negus (Swords Club), Jenny Debney and Anne Maria Arnold (now Mara De Jongh) of Cavaliers. At that time, The Club was called "Westside Fencing School" and was affiliated through the Martial Arts Club of UWA. The Club was still in existence in the 1980s, but by 1988, both UWA and WAAFA were no longer active, and the only fencing Club in Perth was Cavaliers Fencing Club.
Having come from England in 1988, where I fenced at Skegness Grammar School, I joined Cavaliers, Mount Lawley from 1989 to 1992. Around 1992, another then UWA student and Cavaliers fencer discovered the aging equipment, and re-formed a small UWA Club. I joined in 1993 as a first year student. By this time, we would invite some non-university friends to the Club, and by 1995 the Club was officially inviting members from the wider community. At this time, between the two fencing clubs in Perth, UWA and Cavaliers, we re-constituted the WAAFA and modernised it to become the Western Australian Fencing Association Incorporated (WAFA).
By 2002, the membership of UWA was a 100 strong membership, and in 2004, we had around 280 members learning to fence in the Club.
Coaches since this latest, and continuous, incarnation of the Club from 1992 have included: - Madam Tamara de Nicholii;
- Mirek Zabiello, originally from Poland;
- Kevin Dunne, from Ireland (Alcoa Coach in Residence programme);
- Andy Martin, from England (Alcoa Coach in Residence programme); and currently
- Mathieu Meriaux, from France (Alcoa Coach in Residence programme).
- Alexey, James, Ben and Tristan share coaching responsibilities in 2007.
Compiled by Ben Peden
Many Thanks to George Osgood, Rita Cooper and Mara De Jongh (nee Arnold) in compiling this brief history.
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