Good afternoon everyone.
I write this to you all from the Inverclyde National Sports Centre where we will be hosting the Scottish Open next week. Fear not, I haven’t turned up ridiculously early for the Men’s Epee but thanks to sportscotland the board and staff team have been hosted here for 24 hours for our first face-to-face gathering since February 2020. Apart from meeting in person some of the newcomers we had only ever seen on a screen, our purpose was to discuss our plans for the next strategic cycle.
Shortly we will be publishing the next iteration of the #ForgingTheFuture strategy, covering the period up to March 2025. We will hold a number of online sessions, hosted by the directors, to let members have the opportunity to ask questions on how we plan to put the strategy into effect and offer suggestions to strengthen those plans. The staff team will also be in attendance. When the sessions go live I encourage anyone interested to sign up: it will be good to see you there.
On the competition front, I would like to offer my congratulations to those who competed in the recent Scottish Student Sport fencing beginners event, and my best wishes to those within the student community who are planning to head south for the BUCS Nationals this weekend. I hope you travel safely and fence well. If you have any media to share from BUCS, please do use the #ForgingTheFuture hashtag so we can re-share.
On behalf of everyone within SF I’d like to extend the same thoughts to those travelling abroad on GBR duty this weekend. The commitment shown and sacrifices made to compete at this level are no small thing and you go with our best wishes. I hope you enjoy the experience and learn from it.
Closer to home, we have the Scottish Open next week but also have the rescheduled Scottish Youth Championships for Under 20’s on 19 March at Bathgate Academy. Entries are now open and you can access them here. As ever, we look forward to seeing the next generation of Scottish Champions.
Also on the weekend of 19-20 March, across both days , we have our first face-to-face coach education opportunities for a long time. Please have a look here and sign up – our coach educators are looking forward to seeing you.
Coming up over the next few weeks will be updates on new Steering Groups run by the board and opportunities to volunteer as part of these, and in other areas of Scottish Fencing effort where you may wish to contribute your time and expertise. If you have a passion for digital media, competition delivery, or coaching then we will certainly have something for you.
Thank you and have a great weekend.
Hugh
Hugh Kernohan – Governance Director
#ForgingTheFuture
