The Hunter River Times

The art of fencing was demonstrated at the Singleton PCYC last week.

Renowned fencing instructor Edward Bridge visited the region to demonstrate the skills and techniques of the Olympic sport to a mixed age group.

Singleton PCYC manager Dave Andrews said the program may become a permanent fixture such was its success.

“You do these things and sometimes you hold your breath and no one shows up,” Dave told The Hunter River Times.

“It was pretty cool to be honest, you thought they might use paper swords or something due to the safety risk but they used fairdinkum steel swords.

“Overall, it was a really well received program and the participants who attended said that we should start doing this regularly.”

The instructor had an impressive fencing resume having competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Veteran Fencing Championships held in Canberra.

Prior to that the 57-year-old was also a regular at the National Veterans tournaments and the ACT State Opens Championships.

“On the school holidays we have the same old multisport day where you can play some basketball, boxing and that sort of thing,” Andrews concluded.

“I had heard that this Edward Bridge had done some fencing at both the Newcastle and Maitland PCYC and he was able to do a come and try workshop.

“You can go to any town and play soccer, cricket or netball but if you really want to try an individual sport that’s steeped in tradition this may be a sport to try.”

Those interested in future programs can visit the Singleton PCYC website (pcycnsw.org.au/singleton) or Facebook page.