Welcome to 2015! and travelling as an elite athlete take 2

Hi All,

I have decided to continue writing the blog that I started last year when I was overseas training and competing in Europe. Whilst I will be going into post competition analyses and the details of what competing and training at a world level entails this year will be a bit different for a few reasons.

First of all, this year I will also be coaching one of my students, Helen Phillips, at a Junior World Cup in Dourdan, France. I hope to be able to write a blog on what it is like coaching at this level as well as competing. This is also an entirely new experience for me.

Secondly, I will be finishing my trip in Abu Dhabi as a candidate sitting for the FIE Refereeing Sabre examination held before the Asian Cadet and Junior Championships in March. This will be followed by me undertaking my epee observation test to become an FIE B referee by refereeing the Asian Cadet competition. I will be writing a post based on my experiences sitting both the exam and the observation test, which I hope will help to give other Australians thinking of following a refereeing pathway an idea of what is required to be qualified as an FIE referee.

Thirdly, a lot has changed throughout 2014. When I returned from my last trip in March I came home to no job, moving out of home, and two and half weeks later my father was in hospital. At the start of this year I am in a much better place financially, with a home to come back too and with a lot more experience about dealing with grief. I am also coming off the back of my best every fencing season, having just won my third national title in a row and completing a clean sweep of the national competitions this year.

What this means is that this year I am more prepared than before and will be able to offer you as readers more insights into travelling, training, competing, coaching, and refereeing. My first post will be a post competition analysis for my satellite competition in Istanbul, Turkey.

Enjoy :)

Sam Auty