ABOUT THE CHAMPLAIN CUP

While the king's musketeers were swashbuckling their way across France, their even more adventurous compatriots, among them Samuel de Champlain, were exploring the vast wilderness empire of New France. To celebrate our connection with that colorful era in history, and to create a Vermont fencing league dedicated to the ideals of amateur athletic competition for fun, camaraderie and personal satisfaction, in 1999 the Vermont Fencing Alliance established a perpetual cup to honor the mightiest swordsmen and women on Vermont soil. In 2002, the Champlain Cup series was inherited by the new Green Mountain Division. Out-of-staters are very welcome to join us in friendly rivalry and compete for the cup.

Here's how it works:

Champlain Cup points may be earned at all Green Mountain Division meets, all season long. You earn 1 point for every event you participate in. You earn additional points for high placement, provided there are at least 6 people entered in your event (no placement points will be given for events with fewer than 6 entries, so get your friends to turn out for meets!). Points earned will be based on the difficulty level of the event as follows (note changes since last season in order to give more scoring opportunities to senior and out-of-state fencers):

• Unrestricted mixed open, C or higher to winner : 16 points
• Unrestricted mixed open, D to winner: 12 points
• Unrestricted mixed open, 6-14 fencers: 6 points
• Restricted (GMD only), age group, team or gender-specific event with 15+ fencers (or teams): 4 points
• Restricted, age group, team or gender-specific event with 6-14 fencers (or teams): 2 points
• D event: 4 points if 6-14 fencers, 5 if 15+ fencers
• E or U event: 2 points if 6-14 fencers, 3 if 15+ fencers
• Novice/beginner event: 2 points
• Any event with <6 fencers: no bonus points, just 1 participation point each.
• Rating restriction takes precedence over age group or gender, so a Y12 U event gets 2 points (it¹s counted as a U, not an age group event).

Grand prize: the leaders at the end of the season in each weapon will each have their names engraved on a perpetual cup (to be displayed at all Champlain Cup meets the next season). In addition, each receives a trophy. The person who scores the most combined points across all 3 weapons receives custodianship of the Champlain Cup Leader's Sword (a beautiful replica rapier) for the season, but must pass it on to the next season's winner.

Other awards (trophies presented at the end of each season): 2nd and 3rd place overall in each weapon, best veteran (born 1963 or earlier), best youth (Y12 age group-born 1991 or later), "rookie of the year" (best finish for a fencer with less than 2 years experience). Standings from past seasons are listed at the bottom of this page.

The Champlain Cup point system has been updated so as not to favor in-state and junior fencers as heavily, to standardize the way we handle restricted and age group events, and to encourage less experienced fencers to enter open events by extending the points to lower places.

2003-2004 Champlain Cup Calendar: UNDER CONSTRUCTION. Tournament dates and venues will be posted here and on the GMD website (www.vtfencing.org) as they are confirmed.

Event schedule is subject to change. Please check this or the GMD website for updates.

To receive e-mail notices about upcoming Champlain Cup tournaments, contact Viveka and get on our mailing list. For tournament results and Champlain Cup point standings, go to the Green Mountain Division website from our "Links" page. You are always welcome to call or e-mail if you need more information about any event on the calendar.

2005-2006 season final standings

Foil

Winner: Joanna Flynn

Epee

Winner: Adam Watson

Sabre

Winner: Lucas Lermontov-Salmon

For our special awards (Youth, Veteran and Rookie of the Year), combined foil, epee and sabre points are used.

Top Youth (12 and younger): Wyatt Moreton

Top Veteran (age 40+): Dan Crocket

Rookies of the Year: Sam Horowitz

2004-2005 season final standings

Foil

Winner: Luke Clemmons

Epee

Winner: Luke Clemmons

Sabre

Winner: Chris Knapp

For our special awards (Youth, Veteran and Rookie of the Year), combined foil, epee and sabre points are used.

Top Youth (12 and younger):

Top Veteran (age 40+): Viveka Fox

Rookies of the Year:

2003-2004 season final standings

Foil

Number of league participants in foil:

Winner: Peter Toshev

Epee

Number of league participants in epee:

Winner: Mason Merriam

Sabre

Number of league participants in sabre:

Winner: Sam Dupre

For our special awards (Youth, Veteran and Rookie of the Year), combined foil, epee and sabre points are used.

Top Youth (12 and younger): Emily Willette, Lewis Fox

Top Veteran (age 40+): Viveka Fox

Rookies of the Year: Don Selby, Alex Kasper

2002-2003 season final standings

Foil

Number of league participants in foil: 123

Winner: Elijah Grubb

Epee

Number of league participants in epee: 92

Winner: Dylan Merriam

Sabre

Number of league participants in sabre: 22

Winner: Brad Baker

Top Youth (12 and younger): Estlin Usher

Top Veteran (age 40+): Viveka Fox

Rookie of the Year: Meredith Watson

2001-2002 season final standings

Foil

Total number of league participants in foil: 137

Winner: Alexander Vandenberg Rodes

Epee

Total number of league participants in epee: 83

Winner: Dylan Merriam

For our special awards (Youth, Veteran and Rookie of the Year), combined foil and epee points are used.

Top Youth (12 and younger): Joanna Flynn

Top Veteran (age 40+): Rick Estes

Rookies of the Year: Isaiah Usher, Mason Merriam