Save The Date - Highland Open 2024

We are less than six months away from one of the highlights of the Scottish fencing calendar, the UKs most northerly ranked competition - The Highland Open!

This year the event will take place over the weekend of 28th & 29th September 2024!

This year promises to be even better, more memorable than last year and we hope to see the Scottish fencing community out in force once more.

Saturday 28th September - Epee and Sabre,

Sunday 29th September - Foil

For more information contact Robin Paterson: robinandlinda1@yahoo.com

Further update will be provided in due course!

Get Involved With Our Strategic Review and Planning

Our current strategic funding cycle with sportscotland will come to an end on 31st March 2025. After that point we will enter the cycle aligned to the LA Olympics/Paralympics in 2028.

Scottish Fencing alongside many other sports will be invited to attend a sportscotland funding panel in October time this year to review what has happened over the past 3 years and to present what the journey will look like for the LA funding cycle. Based on this sportscotland will decide what funding support each sport will receive. It is therefore important for us to understand how the Scottish Fencing Strategic plan aligns to sportscotland’s objectives and also the Active Scotland framework (Government). Any funding received comes both from Scottish Government and from lottery funds.

Prior to that funding panel in October Scottish Fencing will be going through a strategic review and planning process, it is really important that as many members as possible give their views and feedback. There will be plenty of opportunities to do so and in a variety of ways. At this early stage we want to make you aware of the timeline we are working towards as there will be an opportunity for initial feedback coming up very soon.

Late April/May - There will be a member engagement survey coming out to capture views and feedback. For those that are keen we will schedule online sessions to go a bit deeper and get some more detail.

June - Staff and board will have an ‘away day’ where all the feedback given by the members will be on the table and used to create the framework for the LA funding cycle.

August - First draft of the strategic plan completed and made available to members for feedback

September - Final draft completed ahead of sportscotland funding panel

March 2025 - Our funding in principle from sportscotland should be known and we will run engagement sessions with members.

If you have any questions or feedback at points out with what is laid out above please do get in touch with us.

Alan Martin (COO/HOP)

Alan Martin Joins Scottish Fencing

Our newly appointed Chief Operating Officer/Head of Pathways, Alan Martin started his new role this week and has spent time meeting with the staff, board and partners. 

Alan Martin’s head and shoulders smartly dressed wearing a black shirt

“It’s great to be back working in Fencing and I’m looking forward to meeting with members and clubs and getting as much engagement as we can, I’m sure there will be some familiar faces and some new ones as well. If you want to contact me at any point please do reach out.

 It’s an exciting time to be starting as we are coming into the planning phase for the new strategic cycle which will start on 1st April 2025, capturing the voice and thoughts of the members is a critical part of planning the strategy and reviewing what we currently have in place. Over the next few months it will great to engage with and listen to the thoughts and feedback you all have so we can shape the future direction of travel.

 Short term I’m also looking forward to meeting as many of you as possible at the upcoming coach and club conference taking place in Stirling on the 20/21 April. If you haven’t signed up yet and would like to bookings are open until Sunday evening, just visit the event page to book “

 

Alan Martin – COO/HOP

SYC 2024 Results

Congratulations to all the fencers who took part in this years 2024 Scottish Youth Championships.

For some this was their first event so well done in taking that first step in competitive fencing.

Before we list the results a big thank you to all the volunteers from Sancroft Blades who supported the event. to all the volunteer referees and to the parents who cheered on their fencers. Thanks also to Leon Paul Scotland for bringing their equipment stand.

You can find full results for the 2024 SYCs here

Andrew Kettles

Scottish Fencing is sad to announce the loss of another member of the fencing community. Andrew Kettles passed away on Saturday 2 March.

For those that knew Andy there is a Celebration of his life at Stirling Crematorium 22 March at 11am followed by a reception at Tillicoultry Golf Club. Mandy and Calum, Clair and Eilidh have asked for this to be shared so that those who knew Andy as a fencer and who have maybe lost touch can join the family in remembering and celebrating Andy’s life. All are welcome.

Club & Coach Conference 2024

In partnership with Scottish Archery, a Club & Coach Conference will take place on Saturday 20th April and Sunday 21st April 2024 at the Stirling Court Hotel.

Our Club & Coach Conference aims to give coaches, club volunteers and sport enthusiasts the opportunity to come together to learn, share ideas, network, feel inspired and more knowledgeable & confident across various topics.

We are teaming up with Scottish Archery to deliver a multi-sport event to encourage cross-sport connections and learning.  We believe that there is significant value in this approach and looking forward to welcoming and bringing people together from across the sporting sector.

On the Saturday, there will be workshops delivered on Funding for Clubs & Coachesby Alex Johnston from Spirit of 2012 & Pam Dewar from Sportscotland and Creative Solutions delivered by Victoria Clark and Adrienne Hunter from Active Advantage.

Then on the Sunday it will be over the the wonderful Scottish Sporting Futures (SSF) taking attendees through 3 workshops focusing on: Putting the Person First, Mental Health Informed Practice and Goal Setting.

Further information can be found on the link below, along with the ticket prices which for SF members are £45 for a 1 day ticket and £65 for the weekend ticket - get them quick before they go!! Note: to complete the purchase of your ticket, you will need to create an account on the Scottish Archery Just Go Membership system but this can all be done in less than 5 minutes.

BOOK HERE

If you have any questions get in touch with Daniel Baker, the Club & Community Development Manager at Scottish Fencing on daniel.baker@scottish-fencing.com

Chief Operating Officer and Head of Pathways

Following a competitive recruitment process, Scottish Fencing is very pleased to confirm the appointment of Alan Martin as Chief Operating Officer and Head of Pathways.  Alan joins us from Scottish Archery, where he was Head of Pathways, and will take post on 1 April .  Alan has gained many years of experience across a range of sports including football, hockey – and a previous stint with Scottish Fencing.

A picture of Alan Martin smartly dressed in a black shirt

Alan commented on his appointment: 

“I’m looking forward to engaging with the Fencing community and seeing all the great work that is happening across the country, it will also be good to reconnect with those that are still involved from my previous time with Scottish Fencing. We are about to enter a really critical period of setting the strategy for the next 4 years and beyond so working with the members to shape this is really important. I’m excited about the role and the potential the sport of fencing has within Scotland.”

 

 We look forward to welcoming Alan into the Staff Team.

Roberto Simeone Workshops - March 2024

Forth Valley and Braveheart fencing clubs are pleased to once again welcome Italian Epee Maestro Roberto Simeone to Scotland on the weekend 9/10 of March. Roberto will be visiting the clubs to deliver a workshop on the theme of attacking. The workshop is open to epeeists from all clubs, though will be most suitable for those who are cadets (U17) and older.

 

Here is a brief outline on what Roberto is planning to cover:

 

One time attack:

- Feint and désengagement

- attack au fer 

- attack on time

 Two time attack:

- First time on hand second on…

- counter time

The session will be as interactive as possible and is kindly offered on a pay what you can basis. If you wish to gain additional benefit then you are able to book a private lesson with Roberto after the workshop for £30.

 

On the 9th the session will be delivered from 2pm at Forth Valley Fencing Club in Stirling and on the 10th from 3pm at Braveheart Fencing Club in Glasgow and there will be plenty of time after the session for open bouting so we can put what we learn into practice.

 

To learn a bit more about Roberto and to secure your spot at the workshop and book a lesson slot please visit Robertos website here: Roberto Simeone

 

We are looking forward to seeing you all soon.

2024 BYCs Regional Qualifying Event - East

The 2024 British Youth Championships (BYCs) will take place in the EIS, Sheffield on the 4th-6th May. Qualification is through the Regional Qualifying Event (RQE), which for Scotland East will be run by Don McKenzie.

There is competition for Girls and Boys in Foil, Epée and Sabre at four age-groups (U12, U14, U16 & U18), so 24 categories. Sometimes qualification includes a regional competition but often the number of entries does not support this and qualification is automatic. The entry fee is £11 (most of which goes straight to British Fencing) and must be paid before the closing date of Thursday 22nd February.

To enter, please contact Don McKenzie on 07732 781464 or don.a.mckenzie@btinternet.com with the following information:

  • Fencer’s name

  • Club

  • BF number 

  • Contact details (parent/guardian with contact number)

  • Sex

  • Age-group

  • Weapon

Don will provide details of how to pay the qualifier entry fee on contact.

Please note that it is the responsibility of the fencer or parent/guardian to ensure that the fencer has the appropriate BF membership. Once the details of qualifiers have been sent to British Fencing, they will invite qualifiers to enter the Finals (BYCs) via Sport80.

There is no option to fence out of age-group, and fencers who have qualified for a bye still have to enter the RQE and pay the entry fee.

Details of the BYCs can be found here https://www.britishfencing.com/2024-british-youth-championships/

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