Good afternoon everyone.
We have today published our revised guidance for Fencing based on the outcome of the First Minister’s update to parliament on Tuesday 21st December. The new changes come into effect from December 26th 2021 and will last for 3 weeks.
We expect a further update from Scottish Government on 11th January.
The news for adult fencing is that no adult indoor contact sport is permitted from the 3-week period from December 26th to January 15th (dates inclusive). This includes sparring with an adult or coaching an adult. Whilst this is extremely tough to swallow, it is not ambiguous however I accept it will provide challenges for club delivery to continue should clubs still wish to offer their U18 members the chance to continue their sporting journeys over the Christmas period and into the New Year.
However adults ARE permitted to conduct coaching activity with an Under-18 athlete. Please do read Section 47 of the SF Guidance (link is above)
If clubs have the opportunity or flexibility to conduct activity outdoor we ask that you conduct a risk assessment for the activity and pay particular attention to weather conditions on the day.
We understand this is not easy for every club to do. Winter conditions make it doubly difficult.
The Scottish Youth Championships are currently scheduled to take place on the weekend of 15/16 January - we wrote to entrants a couple of days ago and indicated we still expect to run this event although the Under 20 element of it may need to be moved to the Sunday or rescheduled altogether. As mentioned above, we expect a further update on Tuesday 11th January.
We will update everyone with any changes to SYC’s when we have further information.. Whilst it is primarily an U18 event, we do need adults for refereeing and critical volunteer roles so there are many factors to consider. Scottish Government and sportscotland have confirmed we are still able to use adult volunteers for event delivery which is of course welcome news.
When there is more information to share we will share it, in the meantime I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable christmas and I hope to see you in the New Year.
Vincent
