Hello and thank you for taking the time to read and view our Annual Report, which aims to provide members in particular and any others who may be interested with an overview of the year’s activities.
You can view a brief video of this years accomplishments here
The beginning of this year saw a continuation of remote working for Board and staff teams and the imperatives of protecting all those in the fencing community meant that, in common with all other indoor sports in Scotland, fencing as we had come to know it over many years had not resumed. The Board and Staff Team used this time to strengthen links within the sport, and with other sports, disseminating changes to constraints on activities as these were directed, providing assurance of consistent understanding across the Scottish fencing community. When constraints – and weather – allowed, a number of clubs delivered training sessions outdoors and focus and ingenuity enabled the delivery of some training activities. Amazingly, during lockdown not one, but two new clubs were formed: one, Forth Valley Fencing Club, obtaining its own premises.
Then fencing resumed! This happened at different rates, for different age groups, but the desire to compete that had built over roughly eighteen months was released, with many Scottish fencers competing within Scotland, across the UK and overseas since they were able to do so, gaining many creditable results as they went. All may not have returned to what was once considered “normal”, but fencers were once more able to meet friends and adversaries and do what we all love. Importantly, Governments were articulating the importance of sport in improving both physical and mental health and aiding communities’ recovery from the effects of the pandemic and this approach will have significant impact over the coming years, providing the fencing community with challenges and opportunities to evolve.
On the Board, I judged the health of the organisation by the level of engagement in this spring’s election of Directors: three years earlier, there had been three candidates for three vacancies, this year, we had seven candidates for four vacancies and following the election welcomed Mhairi McLaughlin and Stan Stoodley to the Board. In September, we were pleased to welcome two new Independent Directors to the Board: Giles Lomax brings extensive experience which we hope to draw upon to strengthen SF’s coaching and athlete pathways; Jude Salmon has a strong interest in the wider social outcomes sport can offer and we aim to utilise this in strengthening links with the Active Schools network and reestablishing fencing in those areas of Scotland where its presence has declined.
This period has been particularly challenging for our Staff Team, working to maintain links with clubs whilst, like many others, working remotely. Liz Anderson has worked hard to support members throughout. Vincent Bryson has maintained a coherent team, cooperated extensively with other Sport Governing Bodies and chaired a body of his peers from across Scottish sports, working with sportscotland to ensure that the interests of sports and participants were communicated effectively to Scottish Government Ministers throughout. Finally, the indomitable Blair Cremin, having worked hard to develop talent-development pathways and nurture the person-centred approach to the development of young fencers in particular, left Scottish Fencing to assume a challenging and high-profile role at a professional football club with a strong community-development ethos. Congratulations, Blair! Thank you for all that you have done. However, sunshine always appears after a storm and we were very pleased to be able to welcome Clare Queen who joins us from Scottish Golf as Scottish Fencing’s first Head of Pathways and Community Change.
I would like to thank sportscotland and our Partnership Manager Barry Cook for the continuing support and continual engagement in improving how we work together. Finally, thanks to all fencers, coaches, parents, club committees and all our members for your enthusiasm and I look forward to seeing you on or by a piste soon.
George Liston
Chair
