The 1863 Offenbach fencing club and the fencing departments of the Frankfurt gymnastics club and Eintracht open up new horizons. At the end of the month, on 29 and 30 October, they will organize together for the first time a sword tournament in the official sports hall of Fechenheim, or the Kaiserlei Cup 2022, qualifying tournament of the German Fencing Association (DFB) for men. “The preparation is going really well, everything is very well coordinated with each other. Now I’m curious to see how the implementation works, ”reports Gudrun Bayer, president of the Offenbach Fencing Club.
Offenbach – A collaboration between the Offenbach club and the Frankfurt clubs – which initially sounds like a surprising and exciting project, especially as coaches and athletes keep switching sides of the Main. “The changes will definitely stay that way. But we started pool fencing last year. This means that once a month some athletes from the three clubs train together, each time in the hall of a different club. We want to increase the quality of training and ensure that you can also train with other ambitious opponents. This was well received. And then came the idea of a joint tournament, which the DFB readily accepted, “Bayer reports.
Elke Jonas, Eintracht department head and president of the Hessian Fencing Association since June, says: “Our sport needs good training sessions and it’s better for neighbors to work together than against each other. We have many. good fencers in Hesse, we have to bring them together for intensive, high-quality sessions. We don’t want the best athletes to have to leave strongholds like Heidenheim, Leverkusen or Tauberbischofsheim. “
Jonas says of the joint tournament premiere: “The DFB always says they would like to organize big tournaments here in the Rhine-Main area because of the central location. We all have our own tournaments, we all have experience, which we now put together.” He refers, among other things, to the Offenbach Stefan Haukler Memorial Tournament, the FTV Cup and the Frankfurt Bembel. Jonas expects 110 individual athletes on Saturday and teams on Sunday at the Kaiserlei Cup. is holding an international sword tournament in Colmar, France which is close enough, which will likely prevent Belgian forts from, inter alia, coming to the Kaiserlei Cup
“The Kaiserlei”, Gudrun Bayer laughs, “connects Offenbach with Frankfurt, and this tournament name ensures that we Offenbacher don’t fall through the slats of the Frankfurt tournament.” But the cooperation will remain, there is no great merger vision in the area, she assures her, the FCO is the second oldest fencing club in Germany after FK Hannover – and it should remain so.
