NVA Newsletter March 2009 HA - Veterans Fencing!

THE NEWSLETTER OF THE NVA VOLUME XXII: ISSUE 3: MARCH 2009BOBBY WINTON 1914-2009Bobby Winton’s funeral was attended by NVAChairman Frank Mills and Life President Henry deSilva, as well as many others from the fencing world.Moving tributes were made by friends and family,including his brother Nicky, who stood unaided twomonths short of his 100 th birthday.Fencing was Bobby’s passion and he was to becomeone of the most influential administrators in thesport’s history. He started fencing at Stowe School andthen joined Salle Bertrand. During the 1930s Bobbycompeted at foil and epee under the original familyname of Wertheim, which was changed to Winton in1938. The following year he won the junior epeechampionship and came third in the Britishchampionship.One of his most important roles was in helping the thenPresident of the AFA, Nick Halsted, prepare articles andbylaws to incorporate the Association as a limited company.Nick relied on him enormously, both for thesharpness and precision of thinking he brought to thistask and in general terms as a wise advisor, alwaysobjective and unpartisan. Nick used to say that Bobby’sgreatest asset was that he had no axe to grind. Thisimpartiality enabled him to consider every issue on itsmerits, diplomatically steering people towards the mostsensible decisions.In 1965 Bobby was elected a Vice-President of theAFA. He was awarded the Association’s gold medal in1985 and received the MBE in 1987. The fencingworld is much the poorer for his passing.Malcolm FareAfter the war Bobby and Nicky moved into fencingadministration. They felt strongly that the sportneeded a competition involving fencers from all overthe country. And so they devised the Winton Cup, aninter-section team event that was presented by them in1950 and continues to this day as the most popularteam competition in fencing. The format was extendedto include cadet fencers in 1988 and, finally, last yearto the veterans. It was wonderful to see Bobby at theVeterans Winton, where he presented the trophynearly 60 years after the first Winton Cup.Throughout his long and active life, Bobby workedtirelessly for the development of fencing, serving forover 50 years as a member of the AFA ExecutiveCommittee. He also found time to set up the AFA’sLondon Section and played a leading part inestablishing competitions for boys in state schools. Hewas chairman of the Men’s Foil Committee from 1961to 1978 and for over 30 years he was a member of thecommittee responsible for the Association’s financialadministration. In short, Bobby helped transform theway the sport was run from an autocratic organisationto a modern democratic structure. PAGE 3