New Finance Director

Retiring SF Finance Director David Carson

A stalwart of the Board of Scottish Fencing is retiring.  David Carson, who joined the Board in 2014 to provide ‘short term help’, has lent his considerable financial expertise and sage advice. He ensured the Governing Body was able to emerge from some very challenging times and that the current Directors were counselled on appropriate measures to ensure its future financial health.  David was recruited from outwith the sporting community and lent his expertise not only in the forum of meetings of the Board, but by suggesting improvements to the existing system of financial controls.  He acted very successfully as the “financial conscience” of the Board and has helped it to mature through the years.

The Board is pleased to announce that Colleen Walker, has been appointed to the independent finance director role taking over from David.  Colleen has worked in a range of financial roles across different sectors; including financial roles in sports governing bodies. She is passionate about making sport accessible to all.  Her energy and experience will be welcomed by the Board.

New SF Finance Director Colleen Walker


Volunteers are the lifeblood of our sport in Scotland, and they make an invaluable contribution to its development.  On behalf of the Board, I would like to wish David the very best for his hard-earned retirement. Particularly after offering “short-term” help for over eight years!  I am sure that all members and friends of Scottish Fencing will join me in wishing them both well.

George. D. Liston

SF Chair

Would you like to join the Referee Advisory Group?

Scottish Fencing are seeking volunteers who would be interested in joining the Referee Advisory Group.

The Referee Advisory Group meets roughly every 6-8 weeks online and aims to  

·       Support Scottish Fencing to develop and maintain a transparent Refereeing Pathway.

·       Increase the number & quality of Referee & Referee Educators in Scotland.

·       Organise & deliver Refereeing courses for Scottish Fencing.

 

If you are Level 2 qualified referee, are passionate about the development of the refereeing pathway in Scotland and think you would like to play a part. Please contact Clare Queen for more information no later than Friday 18th November, clare.queen@scottish-fencing.com

The World Anti-Doping agency releases 2023 prohibited list!

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has published its 2023 Prohibited List. The
Prohibited List designates the substances and methods that are prohibited in sport.

Following an extensive consultation period by WADA, the 2023 Prohibited List was
published on 29 September 2022. This gives athletes and support personnel sufficient
time to make themselves aware of the changes, review any medications they use on
Global DRO, and apply for a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) if required before the
updated List comes into effect on 1 January 2023.

Please visit UK Anti-Doping's website here to read a summary of the changes on the
2023 List and information on Tramadol, which will be prohibited in-competition from 1
January 2024.

The following resources are also available to read on WADA’s website:

• The full 2023 Prohibited List
• The WADA 2023 Summary of Major Modifications and Explanatory Notes
• The 2023 Monitoring Programme which includes substances not currently on
the List, but are being monitored by WADA for potential patterns of misuse in
sport.


Rising Costs online forum calls

Rising costs are having an impact on sports clubs and people across the Scottish sporting landscape. We are planning to run two online forums on Zoom as opportunities to come along and chat with the team about some of the challenges rising costs are having on clubs and the people in the sport.

The two sessions will be on:

Wednesday 9th November 7pm to 8pm

Thursday 10th November 5pm to 6pm.

If you (or someone else from your club) wishes to come along, please click here to Sign Up to Forum.

FIE Veteran World Fencing Championships 2022

The FIE Veteran World Fencing Championships have been taking place in Zadar, Croatia over the last week. A number of Scottish Fencing members made the journey to compete with some excellent performances across all weapons.

In the Epee events, Hugh Kernohan won bronze in the Vet 60 Men’s Epee, Hugh was also art of the GB team who took silver in the team event. Georgina Usher won bronze in the Vet 50 Women’s Epee category and was also part of the GB team who won silver in the team event.

In Foil, Sheila Anderson won bronze in the Vet 60 Women’s Foil and was part of the GB team who finished 4th in the team event. Mike McKay helped the GB Vet Men’s Foil team to the bronze medal.

In the Sabre events, Viv Frith and Silvia Brown were part of the GB team who won silver medal in the Vet Team Women’s Sabre event.

Scottish Fencing would like to congratulate all of the medal winners and competitors on their performances.

To view the event results Click here.

Sam McLellan passes FIE refereeing exam

Scottish Fencing would like to extend our congratulations to Sam McLellan, who recently passed his FIE Sabre referring exam in Budapest.

After a lengthy process, the qualification will enable Sam to referee Sabre at everything from Junior World Cups to Senior Grand Prix’s. Sam is an active an passionate member of the Scottish Fencing referees Advisory group and is keen to use his experience to help develop and mentor other aspiring referees in Scotland.

Sam said:

“I am very pleased to have passed the exam, and do it alongside my close pal, Euan. The long process to the licence requires a lot of mentorship and support. I am particularly grateful to the EFC mentor, Vasil Milenchev; British Fencing’s pathway led by Adrian Speakman; Patrick Jennings for his Sabristic support; the (legendary) referee manager Nickie Bailey for her unwavering help; colleagues at Scottish fencing for their strong strategic focus on officiating and referee development; and the fairly awesome people who mentor me quietly and privately from the sidelines. They know who they are. I accept this licence as an invitation to officially keep learning and progressing in international refereeing: not as an end in itself. It merely marks, in my view, the end of the beginning.”

The Highland Open Fencing Tournament 2022

A record number of entries from Elgin Duellist Fencing Club was a fitting tribute to mark the 50th anniversary of the UK’s most northernly ranking fencing tournament held at Elgin High School on 24 and 25 September.

Eglin Duellist club epeeists

“With it origins going back to the Cairngorm Winter Festival, the Highland Open was first held in Aviemore as a team competition in 1972 where entry fees were an outrageous 10p not for one fencer but for the whole team!

Over the years, the tournament has been held in various locations in the north of Scotland but for the last eight years the competition has taken place in Elgin and is hosted by Elgin Duellist Fencing Club. Despite entry fees having increased in the intervening years somewhat, the competition is in good health and attracts fencers from both home and abroad”, said Robin Paterson, Head Coach and Secretary of the Organising Committee.

He added that “this year, there were 172 entries from 25 clubs competing in the men’s and women’s foil, epee and sabre categories from as far afield as Shetland to Norfolk over the two days of the tournament. Of these entries we were delighted that 18 members of Elgin Duellist Fencing Club took up the challenge to compete. With the nearest fencing tournaments usually being held in the central belt of Scotland, there has always been a strong equalities drive for the Club to offer this competition locally and many of our club members would not otherwise have the chance to ever experience this level of competition. Over the weekend, Elgin Duellists who fenced ranged in age from 13 to 70 and included three sets of parents and their off-spring and for many, this was their first competition outside the Club. In its own right, we consider this to be a terrific achievement for Elgin Duellist Fencing Club which was established in 2007”.

Fleur Club Member at Elgin with a cake topped with a lunging fencer

Elgin Duellist have created a full report on the results and you can read this report here. There are also results listed below with links for each event category.

For anyone looking to join Elgin Duellist Fencing Club the club meets every Thursday during term time at Elgin High from 6.30 to 9.00pm. Use this email link to get in touch with the club to find out more.

Senior Women’s Epee results

Senior Men’s Epee results

Senior Women’s Foil results

Senior Men’s Foil results

Senior Women’s Sabre

Senior Men’s Sabre

Salma Ahmad - Team Scotland Achieve programme

Salma and some of the other Team Scotland Achieve programme athletes.

Salma Ahmad was selected to represent Scottish Fencing in the Team Scotland Achieve programme which was run in conjunction with the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

The Achieve programme is an educational programme aimed at athletes that have the potential to progress in their sport and have a passion for inspiring others to take part in sport.

As part of the programme, Salma spent five days in Birmingham attending the Commonwealth Games and taking part in some educational workshops. Salma had a fantastic time and was kind enough to document her experience in a blog.

To read more about Salma’s experience click here.

Salma with Scotland Women’s Football Captain, Rachel Corsie

Sportscotland learning programme - Athlete-Coach Relationships & Effective Coaching

sportscotland Institute of Sport is delighted to invite you to a learning programme helping coaches explore ‘Athlete-Coach Relationships & Effective Coaching’.  We have been working with Professor Sophia Jowett (Loughborough University and UK Sport) who is internationally recognised for her work in this field to design the learning series.

 

‘There are many examples of high-profile coaches who have embraced and applied the notion of the “relational coaching environment” (Jowett & Shanmugam, 2016, p. 471) at the heart of which lies building good quality relationships. Coaches who have achieved the highest sport accolades with their athletes all over the world have talked openly about the role and significance of the coach-athlete relationship and include Pep Guardiola (football), Mike Krzyzewski (basketball), Lisa Alexander (netball), Marcus Wiese and Danny Kerry (hockey), Aimee Boorman (gymnastics), Ans Botham (athletics), and Mel Marshall and Bob Bowman (swimming). It becomes immediately apparent that these coaches recognise the value of connecting with each athlete in their team signalling that they have nothing but their athletes’ very best interests at heart. Such coaches become ‘talent magnets’ because athletes want to work with and for them.’

Jowett, S., & Slade, K. (2021). Understanding the coach-athlete relationship and the role of ability, intentions and integrity. In , C. Heaney, N. Kentzer, & B. Oakley (Eds.) Athletic Development: A Psychological Perspective. Upcoming OPEN UNIVERSITY publication

 

This module aims to enhance knowledge and understanding about the interpersonal dynamics between coaches and athletes. Its point of departure is that coaching is an interpersonal situation (process and practice) that involves both the coach and each athlete in a squad. As a coach and a given athlete interact in training, in competition and in other settings, they develop a working relationship. This coach-athlete relationship is at the heart of coaching and its quality has the potential to determine the effectiveness and success of coaching.  In this course, coaches will familiarise themselves with the role the coach-athlete relationship plays in coaching and the significance it has for both athletes’ and coaches’ performance and wellbeing.

Jowett 2007 and Jowett & Felton 2022 refer to ‘The 3+1C’s Model of the Coach-Athlete Relationship: Closeness, Commitment, Co-orientation and Complementarity’.  This module will help you consider what actions/behaviours or interactions are likely to promote these 4 characteristics that define good quality coach-athlete relationships.

 

About Professor Sophia Jowett:

Sophia Jowett, PhD, is a professor of psychology at Loughborough University, United Kingdom. Sophia’s work revolves around interpersonal relationships, leadership and communication. Currently, she is working at UK Sport as a consultant on an exciting project that focuses on women’s leadership development and their advancement into senior coach-related roles.
Sophia’s research has been funded by such institutions as Economic and Social Research Council, British Academy, Nuffield Foundation, UK Coaching, UK Sport, Sasakawa Foundation, Hellenic Olympic Committee and HSBC. The findings of her research have been published extensively in a range of scientific journals, book chapters and conference presentations held nationally and internationally (including webinars, blogs etc). Her research has informed coach development across the world. Examples of significant nation-wide practical impact include her work with UK Coaching, UK Sport, Sport England and National Governing Sport Bodies.

Format of the course:

  • 8 x 1 hour Webinars, Mondays, 12noon - 1pm, starting on Monday 3rd October

  • Content will include presentations, Q&A, discussions, readings and tasks for consideration / completion between Monday sessions

  • Webinars will be recorded and hosted on Brightspace (Virtual Learning Environment) to allow coaches to catch-up or revisit content when convenient, but to optimise the learning experience we do encourage coaches to try and keep pace with the regular Monday 12-1pm.

 

Part 1: Theoretical & Empirical underpinnings

  1. Coaching – An exploration into what is coaching?

  2. The coach-athlete relationship as a phenomenon and its association with coaching

  3. The role and significance of the coach-athlete relationship

  4. The determinants of good versus not-so-good coach-athlete relationships

Part 2: Practical or Applied Underpinnings

  1. Communication strategies as the fuel of quality coach-athlete relationships: Motivational Strategy

  2. Openness as a communication strategy and its links to Psychological Safety

  3. Coach-Athlete Conflict and its Management

  4. Tandem and Concluding reflections

 

Session Dates:

  1. 03/10/22

  2. 10/10/22

(Break 17/10/22 and 24/10/22)

  1. 31/10/22

  2. 07/11/22

  3. 14/11/22

  4. 21/11/22

  5. 28/11/22

  6. 05/12/22

 

To access the live webinar learning series, please register by Wednesday 28th September, and a link to the session will be sent to you:

BFC570E1-645E-40E6-8B9F-5569A1D9E3D7.jpeg

SPONSORS of Scottish Fencing