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thursday oct 17 2002 21 economist sun stouffville tribune sports staff photomike barrett ontario fencing team members from left jordan patterson samantha club all three competitors earned high honours at the canada winter marston and adelaide mcdonnell train at the newmarket fencing games test competition in new brunswick earlier this month fencers foil competition by jerome watt staff writer newmarkets three musketeers brought a little pride to the region earlier this month jordan patterson 12 adelaide mcdonnell 11 and samantha marston 15 competed at a canada winter games test com petition oct 46 in bathurst nb the three members of the newmarket fencing club partici pated with the mens and womens provincial epee teams jordan was part of the mens provincial team that won a silver while adelaide and samantha placed in third in their category the event drew provincial teams from the maritimes as well as ontario all three say fencing provides a 1 unique niche for their athletic tal- i t ents its a great way to meet peo ple and travel samantha said im not really good at sports when i first won a medal i said yes im good at a sport a lot of kids at school think its just sword fighting they dont know a lot about it samantha had tried other sports before she discovered fenc ing was the activity for her jordan said enjoys fencing because how a person performs depends on the individual ath lete i dont enjoy team sports he said later praising the sport for providing a social atmosphere adelaide said she likes the sport because she doesnt get many bruises while participating fencing gives a person a good workout samantha said our exercises get you pretty sweaty she said fencing doesnt get enough attention and a lot of people are ignorant about the particulars of the sport i think more people should know what fencing is about a lot of kids at school think its just sword fighting they dont know a lot about it fencing also involves good footwork and coordination a fencer who loses his or her cool loses the match jordan said the sport has three different sword types adelaide explained there is a sabre which involves slashing points are scored for hit ting the opponent with the tip or length of the blade for example if the sabre hits the opponent on the torso arm hand and neck a point is scored the epee resembles an old duelling sword points are scored with the tip of the weapon and the entire body is a valid target area when using a foil points are scored with the tip of the blade and an opponents torso is the contact point all three say theyd like to com pete at the olympics some day the trio will next compete in an oct 27 tournament at st nicholas school in newmarket athletes marks vital students shouldnt overlook canadian universities when vying for scholarships by jerome watt staff writer richmond hills alexa arsenault dreams of some day earning an athletic scholarship to university obviously i want to go to an ivy league school in the united states she said ever since i was small education has been important to me youre not a full person without an education like many students seeking an ath letic scholarship the 14yearold st theresa of lisieux student knows it takes a lot more than being a good ath lete to earn a scholarship along with strong athletic perform ance it requires good marketing high marks and finding someone who is familiar with the process youve got to be good academically agreed bob monro head coach for the richmond hill soccer club youve got to look good academically in particular a student needs solid marks in english and mathematics he said not only should students have high entrance marks they need to keep their average up throughout university even though a prospect might sign a four- year contract it doesnt mean a student should ignore his studies because the contract is renewed every year unfortunately a lot of students come back because they let their aca demics slide he said theyre invest ing a lot of money in you the coach wik check on your marks mr monro said if an american uni versity offers to pay less than 50 per cent of the cost of attending the school its not worth going when taking the exchange rate and expenses into account students should also be aware theyre up against a lot of competition when heading south youve got to remember these schools get thousands of applications he said mr munro said its always a good idea to find someone who has connec tions with a coach at the school if you can get a reference from someone the coach trusts that helps he said find someone who has been through the process mr munro sug gests different clubs such as the richmond hill soccer club will help members through the process we want to try and help them he said it attracts better players and hopefully theyll come back and coach sceswdentspagc22 i i 1 1 t t