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Sports 24 O k ill SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011 FOR THE KIDS: Ingrid Grade will be raising money for every point she earns at the Foiling Around fencing tourna- ment this week- end in Toronto. Grade will use proceeds from her performance to purchase teddy bears that will be sent to children in Norway, following the recent bomb- ing and shooting massacre in the European country. MICHAEL IVANIN / OAKVILLE BEAVER fFencer inds unique way to help tragedy victims By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR When Ingrid Grade first heard about the recent bombing and shooting mas- sacre at a youth political conference in Norway, she immediately felt like she should do something to help. After something like this, whether its Columbine or any world- wide tragic incident, the people affected are the vic- tims families but more so the kids, Grade said. The kids will have nightmares, theyll have dreams, theyll be afraid to sleep. Its so tragic when a gunman is looking at you and youre going to die. When the kids are in the water and being shot at, my gosh It didnt take long for Grade to think of a unique way to try to ease the Norwegians pain. When the 42-year-old competes in her first-ever fencing tournament this week- end, the Foiling Around tournament at Ryerson University in Toronto, shell be raising money for every point she scores. Money raised will go towards the pur- chase of teddy bears, half of which will be sent to Norway children and the other half delivered to patients at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. The concept is similar to distance running events, where participants receive pledges for each kilometre they complete. Ive run two marathons before and I personally did not gather pledges, but I know people who did, Grade said. I thought Why cant I do this in fencing? A dollar per point, I thought it was cre- ative, and it took me two seconds to think about it. At the Foiling Around tournament, Grade and other participants will fence against opponents of all skill levels. Registration numbers for the open competition wont be known until Sunday morning, but Grade said she could be fencing anywhere from 20 to 45 people during the event. At $1 per point and up to five points per match, Grade said scoring 100 points at the competition would be an optimistic target. Im not a powerhouse fencer I cant promise friends and family Ill score 100 points. To score a point, you have less than a second to react to something, said Grade, a member of the locally-based Canadian Fencing Academy. Grade said she is the only competitor in this weekends Foiling Around tourna- ment that is gathering pledges, but she hopes the initiative catches on at the annual competition in future years. Sometimes it takes one person and goes from there, she said. (This) could be an amazing thing. Anyone interested in pledging money in support of Grade can contact her by email at igrade@sympatico.ca Sometimes it takes one person and goes from there. (This) could be an amazing thing. Ingrid Grade