Highland Open 2024 Results Round up

Elgin seemed like the fencing epicentre of the world when Elgin Duellist Fencing Club hosted the Highland Open Fencing Tournament at the end of last month (28 &  29 September).

A tournament record of 150 fencers from 32 clubs, from as far afield as the USA and  China, gathered at Elgin High School to compete in the most northernly nationally ranked fencing competition in the UK over the weekend.

A record number of 18 fencers from Elgin Duellist Fencing Club -ranging in age from 13 to 72- also took the brave step to compete in the Men’s and Women’s Epee,  Sabre and Foil categories and to fight against ex-Olympian, Commonwealth and national pentathlon champions.

There is a summary of results below but please read the full account in Elgin Duellists Highland Open Write Up here.

Summary of results:

Men’s Epee

1. Tristen Bell, Forth Valley Fencing Club

2. Alasdair Baker, Unaffiliated

3T. Will Miller, Eastbourne Fencing Club

3T. Duncan Readle, Dundee University Fencing Club

Women’s Epee

1.Ying Ki Lee, Braveheart Fencing Club

2. Laura Jamieson, Braveheart Fencing Club

3T.Mhairi Gifford, Shetland Fencing Club

3T. Avi Jaffe Tsang, St Andrews University Fencing Club

Men’s Sabre

1. Jack Geddes, Salle Ossian

2. Callum Kettles, Salle Ossian

3T. Gellert Neiszer, University of Glasgow Fencing Club

3T. Adrien Catte, Edinburgh Fencing Club

Women’s Sabre

1. Lucy Higham, Salle Ossian

2. Sophia Milne, Salle Ossian

3T. Rosalind Graham, Sancroft Blades Fencing Club

3T.Yue Shao, University of Glasgow Fencing Club

Men’s Foil

1. Lachlan Grant, St Andrews University Fencing Club

2. Gleb Iakovlev, Edinburgh University Fencing Club

3T. David Moody, Salle Solas

3T. Joe Joyce, Culloden Fencing Club

Women’s Foil

1.Chloe Campbell, Forth Valley Fencing Club

2. Ao Feng, Edinburgh University Fencing Club

3T. Lily Graham, Edinburgh Fencing Club

3T. Mhairi Gifford, Shetland Fencing Club

For Elgin Duellist club members, this may be the only time that they have an opportunity to compete against some of the top-ranking fencers in Scotland and further afield. With the nearest fencing tournaments usually held in the central belt of Scotland, we are delighted that so many of our club members competed and did so well. This is the highest proportion of Elgin Duellists that we have ever managed to get beyond the first direct elimination stage. We look forward to doing even better next year.

Pathways Squad - Coach Vacancy

Scottish Fencing is recruiting a Lead Weapons Coache – Sabre – on a consultancy basis as maternity cover, to our Pathways Squad for athletes looking to attend a qualifying event and the BYC in 2025.

The main goal of the Lead Weapons Coach (LWC) is to assist the Pathways group to create a positive learning environment that best prepares young athletes to perform to the best of their abilities whilst upholding Scottish Fencing’s culture, values and relevant policies. The Lead Weapons Coach will work with Pathways Squad members to ensure they are best prepared to perform at the qualifying event and BYC’s in 2025. The LWC will take responsibility for designing and delivering engaging scenario based fencing sessions for those athletes who specialise in their chosen weapon.

Lead Weapons Coach (LWC) Duties:

At Pathways sessions:

·         To design and deliver fencing training that nurture and develop young fencers.

·         Attend staff meeting, prior to Session 1, to work with other LWC, and the pathways group to design a fencing programme for Pathways athletes.

·         To work with other LWC, and the pathways group to create a positive, “development-first” learning environment for athletes, staff and parents.

At BYC qualifiers:

·         Provide coaching advice and support to individuals and other coaches as required. This may include providing warm ups and lessons to unaccompanied athletes.

·         Work with any club coaches attending to ensure the young person is put first and they are not made to feel conflicted between club and pathways coaches.

·         Promote and adhere to Scottish Fencing’s best practice guidance/code of ethics and behaviour including anti-discriminatory practice.

·         Assist Scottish Fencing to fulfil its responsibilities to safeguard young people including maintaining confidentiality,

Essential requirements:

·         Commitment to attend all Pathways sessions and qualifying event for BYC.

o   10th November

o   26th January

o   23rd February

o   17th March

o   13th April

·         Have a minimum Level 2 – preferably Level 3 (or working towards) - qualification in sabre.

·         Evidence of Continual Professional Development.

·         Understanding of Long-Term Athlete Development and Growth Mindset.

·         Great communication skills.

·         On the British Fencing Coaches Register. (Completed PVG, CWPS course and first aid)

·         Knowledge of Scottish Fencing’s role and responsibilities to safeguard the welfare of children.

What the LWC can expect:

·       £700 to cover all sessions and qualifying event

·       Scottish Fencing branded clothing.

·       Free CPD

·       The opportunity to support and develop young athletes.

How to Apply:

To apply, complete the jotform.

Please direct any questions to alan.martin@scottish-fencing.com.Deadline for applications is Wednesday, 2nd October at 12pm.

We Need to Talk about Performance - An Open Letter to the Scottish Fencing Community

Recent research carried out in Scotland found that “fencers are disappointed by the shallow and not well-organised support policies for student-athletes.”  There is an inclusive fencing community in Scotland and a desire for higher levels of performance, but access to resources appears to be the biggest barrier to fencers progression on an athletic career path.  This is not just a student-athlete problem, it affects any fencer from any club aspiring towards high performance.

So why are there no high performance pathway structures nor mention of performance in the latest iteration of SF’s sport strategy?  In the absence of any significant change in funding for high performance, it will, for the foreseeable future remain beyond the national governing body to take up this issue on its own. 

But is the lack of funding the end of the conversation?  What are the alternatives?  What if there was a another better way available to us? 

Currently, British Fencing require fencers to meet a certain performance standard before they are selected for the World and European teams.  This is expressed as an average percentage finish at international nominated events of 35-40% or an individual result of 8%.  That means regularly making last 32 stages or better of nominated international events.  If we accept this as an indicator of performance, then the question is how to deliver the QTT relevant to these performance goals.  Looking at the duration and frequency of training in high performing countries, this equates roughly to the following volumes of training, even before we start looking at quality:

Cadets       12-15 hour per week

Juniors       15-20 hours per week

Seniors       +20 hours per week

And the more training an athlete undertakes, the more support they need wrapped around them to balance their development and wellbeing needs as a person, as an athlete and as a fencer.

What about participation fencers, those who will never aspire to high performance and those who might be late developers?  When it comes to talent development systems, there are only three variables that are consistently highlighted as necessary and these are 1. to keep as MANY people in the sport 2. for as LONG as possible, 3. doing QUALITY work.  Fencers doing 2 hours a week or 22 hours a week are all part of this talent system.  It creates a powerful pyramid, one where everyone is contributing to everyone else’s participation, development or bid for high performance.

Currently, most clubs provide between 2-6 hours a week training opportunity for their members.  Even where there is collaboration between clubs, the best we see is around 8-10 hours per week.  This falls well short of the necessary QTT to give our fencers a fighting chance at performance events.  

There are certainly many disadvantages to being a small under-resourced sport, but there are also many advantages.  For example, the road to the Scotland Fencing Team is a short one, by which we mean that anyone can be motivated to aspire to and achieve a place on the Scotland Team as a first step towards high performance.  We have a small, agile population, with close-knit networks and a positive culture of belonging and togetherness from which there are opportunities to help each other, to share information and to develop stronger ties in ways that aren’t possible in bigger countries and sporting systems.  

Can we capitalise on this advantage?  If there is a will, we believe there will be a way.

Using the SPLISS model as our benchmark, the main barriers to high performance is a lack of or absence of the following:

1. Financial resources 

2. Governance, Management, Culture

3. High Performance Plan and Pathway

4. Talent identification and development structures

5. Athlete welfare support

6. Training Faciliites

7. Coach Development

8. Competition strucutre

9. Sport science, medicine and research

We are writing this letter to the fencing community to acknowledge the problems and the challenges and to make the first move towards establishing a high performance environment in Scotland.  This will mean taking very small steps to build a performance culture, facilities, resources and knowledge over the next few years.  And we need your help to do this.

We are aiming to build the programme from scratch over the next three years with a view to developing a performance programme that will provide the necessary QTT and access to resources to support the physical and psychological aspects of a fencer’s performance and in wellbein.  As we take these first small steps, we’d like to hear from anyone who would like to be part of this initiative, who has experience of working in high performance environments and in particular to anyone who can contribute directly to any of the nine areas highlighted above.  

We know that high perfomrance can’t be done by any one coach, club, or national governing body, but we believe that together, we can.  

Please do get in touch.

Phil Carson (prof.carson@yahoo.co.uk)

Keith Cook

De-linking Volunteers with Disclosure Scotland

Scottish Fencing and our member clubs are only entitled to PVG data for those currently working or volunteering in regulated roles in the sport. 

We are currently working on de-linking those no longer involved in the sport but in the past have had regulated roles. These people would have had PVG checks through Disclosure Scotland and will be linked to either Scottish Fencing or a Scottish fencing club.  We need to inform Disclosure Scotland that these people have left the sport and to de-link them to Scottish Fencing and/or any Scottish fencing club.

To help us with this process we emailed clubs and asked them to provide us with the names, membership numbers and the roles for those currently working in their clubs. 

We had asked for this information by 1 September.  

Because we have had such a poor response and because this is such an important legislative piece of work we are now putting out reminders by social media.  

Clubs now have until Tuesday 24 September to return this information – there will be no extensions.  After this date Scottish Fencing will take steps to de-link anyone not listed in a club return.   

If you are a coach this means you will be operating without insurance and committees will be liable for employing coaches and volunteers without PVG checks.  

As a reminder these are the regulated roles in fencing: 

• Coach 

• Welfare Officer 

• Parent Helper 

• Team manager  

To those clubs who have responded – thank you! 

Senior 5 Nations

This years 5 Nations event will be taking place in Derry on 16th November in the Foyle Arena.

Initially we are looking for notes of interest to see how many are interested in taking part in the event, from here selection criteria will be applied to decide the final teams taking part.

We can take 4 fencers in each discipline: 

Women's/Men's Foil

Women's/Men's Epee

Women's/Men's Sabre

Scottish Fencing are able to support the team by sending a team manager with no additional charge to those attending. If U18s are selected we will revert to taking a safeguarding lead and appointing captains for each team.

Please note that U18s will be required to travel with and be supervised by a parent, guardian or carer at all times.

Unfortunately we are unable to cover the costs of entries and levies for the event. This means that everyone competing will need to cover the costs which will be £75 each assuming a full quota of 24 take part. If there are less than 24 the cost per head will increase.(For example if 18 go the cost will be £100 per head). We will strive to get full teams selected and aim to have the maximum cost per head of £100.

Selections will be made from those that have completed the note of interest form below. Selection criteria will be published very soon and implemented if more than 4 apply for any of the teams.

Note of interest form

All notes of interest should be submitted by noon on Thursday 26th September.

New Results Round Up

To make sure we are celebrating the successes of as many fencers as possible we are introducing a results round up.

This will allow any fencers taking part in competitions out with Scotland to submit their results and a photo for inclusion in the round up.

For Scottish events we will ask organisers to send their results directly along with some photos.

You can also tag us in any social media posts about events you are attending and we will strive to share/like as many as we can.

To submit results please use the results round up form.

How one person can make it a success

After months of preparation Orkney Fencing Club held its first Wheelchair Fencing Taster Session.

Flyers had gone out through the Community Sports Hub and other potentially interested groups, posters had been given to the Sports Centre, and articles had been sent to the local media.

Preloved equipment had been donated by Viv Mills and people had rallied together to get it and the Wheelchair fencing frame(on loan from Scottish Fencing) to Orkney.

What could go wrong?  It seems everything could and did.  The sports centre forgot to put up the posters the local media didn’t run the article and the bus bringing the large group of seniors ended up double booked and they cancelled.

So, it was a slightly subdued me who met my fellow coaches and helpers at the sports centre.

We set everything up and in came the one person I had been hoping for.

A young person with mobility issues turned up despite not feeling well the day before.

A fabulous time was had by all and by the time a second more senior person came for a shot, we were all in high spirits.

The coaches and helpers had multiple bouts with the young person, improving their own wheelchair fencing skills and at the same time having fun with the young person.

Was it a success?

Absolutely, we have one potential wheelchair fencer coming to our next club session and the seniors have requested a session for when they can get their bus.

All we needed was one person and a huge team of willing volunteers.

North Section Training Camp, Shetland, July 2024

Shetland Fencing Club were the hosts of the annual North Section Summer Camp on the 6th and 7th July. They were joined at Clickimin Leisure Complex by fencing clubs from Orkney, Elgin, and Culloden.

The weekend consisted of 2 full days of training, run by Elgin coach Alasdair Urquhart, and a fun competition for fencers of all ages. The competition began with two rounds of poules, where fencers of all experience levels, from complete beginner to ex national fencers, fenced each other. The aim on this recreational format was to allow every fencer the same amount of fencing and to allow experienced fencers to mentor younger fencers and help them to learn refereeing. After this they were seeded into groups of more equal ages and ability, based on the results of the first rounds. Following this, each group had their own round of finals, where fencers took part in direct elimination fights to determine each groups’ winner. Each group was designated a colour instead of a ‘ranking’. Finals took part in a random order in front of the rest of the group cheering on.

The competition set-up allowed for the beginner level fencers to experience a competition format in a friendly environment, and gain valuable experience and support, fencing those of a more senior level.

The Competition structure also allowed, by ranking, the annual Viking Cup to be decided. This is the ‘Inter County’, held between Orkney and Shetland. Shetland Fencing Club won the Intercounty Cup this year. Having given a strong performance throughout the entire competition, Matthew Blance won the top-level group final, claiming his victory as first seed overall out of all thirty-five fencers present.

Both days of fencing were followed by a fun social at the Lerwick Boating Club, where the club had organised a meal, games, and the competition prizegiving.

The Shetland Fencing Club would like to thank Northlink Ferries for sponsoring the weekend, and for bringing fencers from Orkney, Elgin and Culloden to the island safely. They would also like to thank the staff at the Clickimin and the Lerwick Boating Club. A big thanks as well to all parents who volunteered their time at the weekend.

A picture of a group of people in their fencing kit together.

Strategy Update

Thank you to everyone that gave feedback in the last round of engagement. The information you are giving us is proving to be vital in creating a strategic plan for the whole sport.

We also ran our hashtag ‘#’ poll which gave some interesting results and has led to 4 being used. Each area will have it’s own hashtag which will allow communications to be more focused on social media. The full results of the poll can be viewed below.

To complete the final draft of the framework we are looking for your feedback ahead of our investment panel with sportscotland. Following the panel we will find out which parts of our strategy sportscotland will invest in. Generally they will only invest in the parts of the strategy that align with their own outcomes and the Active Scotland framework.

The final version of the strategic plan won’t be due until March next year following the final submission against our current strategy and the final sportscotland investment decisions across all sports. At this point we will be able to share an operational plan.

The final draft of the strategic framework can be viewed here

Please complete our short feedback form here. Feedback will close at 12 noon on Friday 16th August.

Highland Open Update - Entries Now Open

You will hopefully be pleased to know that plans for this years Highland Open are progressing well and entries are now live on Sport80!! Please see some further information about the competition below.

Enter the Highland Open

As always, the event is trying it’s best to keep entries fees as low as possible and are delighted to offer a substantial discount if you wish to enter two weapons. Enter the following discount code on the sport80 payment page when prompted to access this discount:

Highland2discount

As with many competitions, the event struggles to attract female sabreurs and the event is delighted to once again offer free entry to the women's sabre if you enter either the foil or epee. This means you can enter all three weapons. Please contact Robin directly on the number below for the 3 weapon discount code.

Entries will close at midnight on Tuesday 24 September!!

Everyone involved in the event is looking forward to welcoming everyone back to Elgin!

Should you have any questions or queries please don’t hesitate to contact Robin using the information below:

Robin Paterson

Elgin Duellist Fencing Club

Tel/text 07745011337

Email robin1andlinda1@yahoo.com