Hertfordshire Fencing Club & Coaches Forum 2013 Saturday 14 th September 2013

Welcome & Introductions Status of Fencing within Hertfordshire Herts Fencing Plans for 2013/2014 Herts Sports Partnership – Peter Simmons Open Forum Discussion / Working Lunch Agenda

Chairman – James Dicker – Chairman of Watford Fencing Club Secretary – Renata Rybczyk-Savage – Secretary of Welwyn-Hatfield Fencing Club Treasurer – Philip Allen – Treasurer of St Albans Fencing Club Events Officer – Phil Elliot – Member of Hertfordshire University & St Albans Fencing Clubs County Committee & Officers

Clubs Represented Today HITCHIN FENCING CLUB

Status of Fencing Within Hertfordshire

Green = Junior & Senior, Blue = Senior Only, Red = Junior Only, Yellow = Coming Soon Clubs Within Hertfordshire

Age Specific Breakdown 211 Juniors & 205 Senior Fencers in total. Does not include schools!

Clubs Weapon Utilisation

Level of Competition

Coaches Levels

Club Assistants

Coaches on the British Fencing Register

Be a Current Member of British Fencing. Hold a DBS Certificate (Formally CRB). – Issued by British Fencing. Free for non-professional coaches. (£40 for professionals) Hold a recognised coaching qualification. – Non-BFA qualifications can be converted for FREE if you are a Herts based coach as British Fencing has agreed a fee-waiver! Hold a Safeguarding and Protecting Children Certificate. Hold a First Aid Certificate. – Waiver programme available if there is already another qualified First Aider at club. Coach Register Requirements

Referees

HFA-Organised Event Attendance

Non-HFA Event Attendance with Herts Princess Marina - RickmansworthHerts Sports Village - HatfieldVarious

Coach Development – For all levels but particularly for Level 1 & Level 2 coaches. – Coach Education Workshop on 12 th October 2013 with Prof. Peter Cormack. Volunteers – The bigger our events get, the more help we need! Referees – Particularly for Junior Tournaments. – Introduction / Level 1 Referee Course on 2 nd November 2013 with Eastern Region Referee Educator Mike Ellis. Performance Training Days – Increase Attendance Levels – Senior Foil & Epee Performance Training Day – Sunday 22 nd September 2013 – Junior Foil & Sabre Performance Training Day – Saturday 9 th November 2013 – Senior 3W Performance Training Day – Sunday 13 th April 2013 County Development Areas

Paul Davis – Develop new ways to increase junior participation. – Work with local clubs to create links with schools, colleges etc. – Develop methods to help bridge schools GO/FENCE programmes to metal fencing with feeds into local community clubs. – Help encourage Inter-Club Junior Friendlies. Junior Development Officer

From Development Survey Feedback FundingMember retention Coach DevelopmentPublicity Lack of electric scoring equipmentSports hall availability Lack of competitiveness with membersLack of 16 to 20 year olds Club not part of any local leagueLack of women within the sport Availability of coachesLack of members Lack of referee skills.Members unable to gain respectable results at national opens! Lack of Advanced Armoury Skills Barriers!

Plans for

Feb – Junior County Championship (F) Apr – Senior County Championship (F,E,S) Jun – Senior Training Day (F,E,S) Jul – County Team Championship (F,E) Sept – Senior Performance Training Day (F,E) Oct – Coach Education Workshop (F,E,S) Oct – 3 rd Annual Senior Mixed Tournament (F,E,S) Nov – Level 1 Foil & Sabre Referee Course (F,S) Nov – Junior Performance Training Day (F,S) Nov - Herts LPJS (F) 2013

Sunday 24 th November 2013 at Princess Marina in Rickmansworth. – – Online Entry Only. FIE/Olympic Referee Nick Payne has agreed to be our Head Referee and lead a team of 25 referees. – Fee of £40 plus expenses for referees available. Entry Cap of 222 Fencers over 17/18 Pistes (Over 50% of spaces already gone!) Under 9, 11, 13 and 15 Categories (No Under 17s) Event Crew/Volunteers Wanted. 2014? Herts LPJS 2013

Jan/Feb – Junior Performance Training Day (F,S) Feb – Junior County Championship (F,S) Apr – Senior Performance Training Day (F,E,S) – Something very special being planned! Apr – Senior County Championship (F,E,S) Jun – Senior County Team Championship (F,E,S?) Jul – Herts Youth Games (F) …….PDFA Organised Event Oct – 4 th Annual Herts Senior Mixed (F,E,S) 2014

Refereeing – We are going to aim to have a Official referee at every tournament. – Eastern Region Referee Mike Ellis confirmed for Senior Mixed Tournament in October. Junior County Championship – Reintroduction of Sabre in It will be a mixed tournament over two age groups TBC. Under 20s Championship – Scrapped from Junior County Championship in 2013 due to low numbers in 2012 and introduced as a Best Placed prize in the Senior Championship. Senior Mixed Tournament – Moved from Rickmansworth to Hatfield – Moved from December to October – Introduction of Best Placed Novice and Veteran (40+) in all weapons. Event Changes for 2013/2014