VRI Fencing Club
 |
|
| Home of Australian Fencing | |
|---|---|
| Country | Australia 
|
| Established | 1949 |
| Affiliation |
Fencing Victoria Australian Fencing Federation |
| Rating |
|
| Location | Tigerland, Punt Road, Richmond |
| Pistes | 14 |
| Coaches |
Guest Coaches:
|
| Olympians | 35 |
| Olympiads | |
| Commonwealth Games | |
| Commonwealth Fencing Championships |
|
Fencing Victoria
Guest Coaches:
VRI Fencing Club located in Melbourne, Victoria is an Australian fencing club distinguished as being the only club in any Olympic sport to have continuously produced athletes for every Olympiad between 1952 and 2008.
The Club was founded a week after the International Olympic Committee awarded Melbourne the 15th Olympiad on 28 April 1949. Formed by employees of the Victorian Railways, VRI Fencing Club was funded, equipped and accommodated under the auspice of the Victorian Railways Institute, an organisation dedicated to providing self-learning, social and sport opportunities for railway employees. In addition to encouraging public participation in the sport of fencing, the club sought to train and develop competitive athletes in three weapons to represent Australia at the Melbourne 1956 Summer Olympics.
The club produced five athletes for the Melbourne Olympiad. Overall it has produced 35 athletes for 15 consecutive Olympiads, including most recently, three athletes for the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics. VRI Fencing Club produced a representative Australian athlete for every Olympiad since Australia first competed in fencing at Helsinki in 1952 up to Beijing in 2008. Overall the club has produced 48 per cent of Australia’s total number of Olympic fencers.
VRI Fencing Club operates seven days a week. It is accessible to beginners and social fencers, and provides frequent beginner classes. The club’s ongoing children's and schools programs make an introduction to the sport an easy and fun social occasion for children. It caters for all levels of skill - beginners young and old (from Musketeers aged 7 to 13; to elite athletes looking for cross training options; to fencers in their fifties, sixties and seventies); social fencers and competitive fencers. Many junior and senior athletes compete nationally and internationally. The club attracts many visiting fencers from around the world who travel to Melbourne to combine work or combine university study with an opportunity to train with the club's athletes. Fencers from the USA, UK, Italy, Kuwait, France, India, China, Japan, New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore are frequent visitors. The Club operates an annual residential 'Ultimate Fencing Club' that involves guest international coaches and young fencers from across Australia, Asia, the Middle East and the Pacific.
Punt Road Oval or Tigerland, is the traditional home of the Richmond Tigers AFL Football Club. In 2008 the Richmond Football Club allocated $2.5M and received grants from the Victorian Government ($4.5M); City of Melbourne ($2.0M); Australian Football League ($1.5M) and the Australian Government ($9.75M) to fund a $20M redevelopment of the iconic home ground. VRI Fencing club was subsequently provided a home within a new state of art sports facility, becoming the tenant of a modern purpose-built 14 piste indoor fencing training centre.
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Wikipedia