Jacquie Spice, William and Allen Drakeford made the trip to Homebush last weekend. Close to 400 competitors converged on the event from across Australia.

William took out first place in the 12-14 years male Continuous Sparring and was in the NSW team that finished second in State v State Team Sparring.

Jacquie scored second place in veteran’s – over 40 years Point Sparring, only missing out 5-4 in extended time following a 4-all draw.

Allen went to extended time in Point Sparring after a 5-all draw to go down 6-5, and finished fifth in Forms/Cutter.

Their efforts also helped NSW finish first overall.

Jacquie said that it was an impressive effort from the local athletes given the step up in competition, even from the NSW State Championships in October.

“It’s a great result for the club and especially for William and Allen, being their first big year of competition against more experienced competitors they did extremely well,” she said.

“It’s a very daunting experience when you go to the Nationals for the first time, because it’s huge and the atmosphere is intense. And the events were quite full, we had to go at least two or three rounds before we could even look at a final.

“Plus a lot of the other competitors are new to you, whereas at State they’re people you see at rounds throughout the year.

“So from a club point of view it was a great representation, because a lot of people who go to these tournaments are from city clubs and to come from the country and the commitment to attend rounds throughout the year is a great effort.”

The NAS Championships is the the culmination of all events held throughout Australia during the year.