British Veterans Championships

Scottish fencers and clubs had a good weekend in Oldham at the British Veterans Championships recently winning three of the six titles and medals in every event.  Sheila Anderson (WF), Mike Mackay (MF) and Georgina Usher (WE) all went home British champions.  There were silver medals for Hugh Kernohan (ME)  and Mo Mansoori (MS), and bronze medals for Nick Mort (MF), Ros Graham and Naomi Donaldson (WS).  Silvia Brown won the 70+ age-category medal in the Women's Sabre;  Hugh, Mo and Naomi won their age categories too.


Congratulations to the medal winners and all who competed.

To view full results, click here.

Thanks to Gillian Aghajan for the images.

DT Training opportunity


We are planning to run two DT training sessions online delivered by Alex Savin and Lorraine Rose. The sessions will cover the running of events, including how to timetable the poules/DE and plan referee cover. 

There will then be an opportunity for some people to practice at the Scottish Schools Championship under supervision from Alex who will support and provide feedback.


The sessions will take place online on the following dates and times:

28th May - 11.00am-1.30pm - via Zoom
30th May - 6.00pm-8.30pm - via Zoom


Places are limited and will be on a first come first served basis. If you would be interested in learning more about what is involved in running a fencing event and would like to register, please click here.

Coronation Champions Award

Coronation Champions Award 2023

David Barbour, Chair of the Foundation for Scottish Fencing been selected as one of the 500 official Coronation Champions!

The #CoronationChampionsAwards, launched by @RoyalVoluntaryService, is all about celebrating the work of extraordinary volunteers across the UK. A total of 500 volunteers have been selected as Coronation Champions out of 5,000 nominations and will receive an official Coronation Champions pin badge, a signed certificate from Their Majesties, and an invite to a Coronation Garden Party at Holyrood Palace.

David has worked tirelessly for the Foundation for Scottish Fencing for many years, supporting fencers and clubs and removing barriers to taking part in the sport. David isn’t alone in keeping the Foundation running, he has been supported by Fiona Morrison and Marie Steele and all three have done an amazing job to provide opportunities for young fencers to compete and enjoy the sport. Well done all!

Glasgow Open and GB Cup Qualifier

A note from David Moody, one of the organisers of this years Glasgow Open.

The 1st and 2nd of April saw the return of the Glasgow Open, back on for the first time since 2019! The event was a massive success, with over 140 entries across all 6 weapons and numerous fencers from the top 10 of the GB senior rankings. This was the first year that the event was organised as a collaboration between Salle Solas and Glasgow University Fencing Club, with invaluable support from Leon Paul Scotland, Glasgow West End Fencing Club, MX Medical, Paul Thompson (armoury), and our team of competent and professional referees. We aim to improve and grow our event in the future and would like to help facilitate events across Scotland, so if you have any feedback or you are thinking about organising an event of your own please get in touch with us at glasgow-open@sallesolas.scot .


WINNERS:

Men’s Epee: Alex Papadopoulous (Edinburgh Fencing Club)

Women’s Epee: Marie Gerardin (Edinburgh University Fencing Club)

Men’s Sabre: Rory McLellan (Edinburgh University Fencing Club)

Women’s Sabre: Nicole Saunders (Premier Sabre Academy)

Men’s Foil: Lachlan Grant (St Andrews University Fencing Club)

Women’s Foil: Katie Smith (Edinburgh Fencing Club)


Best club (The Dusty Memorial Trophy): Edinburgh Fencing Club

Best veteran: Naomi Donaldson (Sancroft Blades)

Best student: Alice Knowles (University of Strathclyde Fencing Club)

For full results click here.

Veteran Home Nations Quadrangular 2023

The Veteran Home Nations Quadrangular was held at Trinity College, Dublin recently. Scotland won Gold in both the Men’s and Women’s Sabre and Men’s Foil event. With three Gold medals, the Scotland team were equal with England for the first time in many years. Congratulations to England, who were the winners of the Justin Smith Trophy due to more second place finishes in the weapon events. Many congratulations to all who took part. Scotland look forward to hosting the event in 2024.

For the results table, please click here.

Livestream and Commentating training opportunity

When sports create opportunities for a wider audience to see and learn about a sport, they can attract new members and potential sponsors. With this aim, England Fencing now has the equipment needed to livestream fencing competitions and put events into the public space. 

Scottish Fencing is hosting the 5 Nations and along with the Scottish Open we could potentially livestream both tournaments. To do this we need trained volunteers who know how to use and look after England Fencing’s equipment. 

If you are interested in learning please contact us at admin@scottish-fencing.com The dates when we would need volunteers to be available are: 

  • Training: potential dates for training are 3-4 June (National Championships) or 17-18 June (England Youth Championships).  

  • Events: planned dates for the 5 Nations - 18 November and Scottish Open - 25-26 November. 

Potential volunteers will be required to commit to at least one training session and one event. Once we have an idea of interest we can look at logistics and make plans. 

Scottish Veterans Fencing Update

Having recovered from the Commonwealths we have appointed a new Sabre Team Captain, are enjoying competitions and continue to attract new veterans.

Richard Foster has taken over as Men’s Sabre captain, from Keith Davidson.  We thank Keith for all his work picking teams and organising events in Scotland, while looking forward to his continuing contribution as fencer and supporter.

EVF European Circuit

Mike McKay was 2nd in the Memorial Max Gunter in Munich and following Guildford is second in the European rankings, Sheila Anderson and Viv Frith are 1st, in their respective categories.

Guildford produced a host of good results, with several people achieving best British fencer while the European fencers took the medals. Congratulations to everyone who competed.

·       WS Cat 4We had a clean sweep with Viv Firth 1, Silvia Brown 2, Yvonne Walls 3

·       MF Cat 2 – Won by Mike McKay

·       WS Cat 2 – Michele Narey 2nd

·       MS Cat 1 – Mo Mansoori 2nd

·       WF Cat 1 – Beatrice Taylor 3rd

·       WF Cat 3 – Sheila Anderson 3rd

BVF Age groups Leon Paul Centre, two good weekends of fencing.

·       WS Cat 4Congratulations on a second clean sweep, Viv Firth 1, Yvonne Walls 2, Silvia Brown 3

·       ME Cat 3 – Won by Hugh Kernohan

·       WE Cat 2 – Won by Georgia Usher, the highest placed British fencer in Guildford

·       WE Cat 3 – Maggie Tait 2nd, a good return to the podium

·       WF Cat 3 – Sheila Anderson 2nd

·       MS Cat 1 – Mo Mansoori 2nd, sustaining his Guildford performance

·       MF Cat 2 – Nick Mort 3rd, good to see Nick amongst the medals

·       MS Cat 3 – Julian Ghost 3rd, he was also the highest placed British fencer in Guildford

Teams are announced for Dublin and we are looking forward to future events. For more information on Veterans fencing and to get involved please click here.

People Development Consultation

Scottish Fencing recognise that People Development is a key area to the development of the sport. A strong and resilient workforce is essential to the future growth and sustainability of fencing in Scotland. As part of our 2022-2025 strategy, we have committed to undertaking a People Development consultation with the fencing membership. 

We have created a short survey which is open for anyone with an interest in the development of the sport to complete and have your say. The findings from the consultation will be used to develop an action plan for the delivery of education and support which meets the needs of the fencing community. The survey will only take 5 minutes to complete and we would love to hear your thoughts! 

To complete the survey, Click here.

The survey will remain open until midnight on 12th March.

Scottish Youth Championships 2023

The Scottish Youth Championships took place over the weekend at Salle Holyrood Fencing Club. Over 70 fencers competed across all weapons and age-groups throughout the weekend. Congratulations to everyone who took part.

Scottish Fencing would like to extend our thanks to all of the volunteers who came along to help with DT, Refereeing, Floor Manager throughout the weekend and helped to make the event a success.

Full results can be found below.

Epee

Under 15 Women’s Epee

Under 17 Women’s Epee

Under 20 Women’s Epee

Under 13 Men’s Epee

Under 15 Men’s Epee

Under 17 Men’s Epee

Under 20 Men’s Epee

Foil

Under 13 Women’s Foil

Under 15 Women’s Foil

Under 17 Women’s Foil

Under 20 Women’s Foil

Under 13 Men’s Foil

Under 15 Men’s Foil

Under 17 Men’s Foil

Under 20 Men’s Foil

Sabre

Under 13 Women’s Sabre

Under 15 Women’s Sabre

Under 17 Women’s Sabre

Under 13 Men’s Sabre

Under 15 Men’s Sabre

Under 17 Men’s Sabre

Under 20 Men’s Sabre

Veterans Home Nations 2023

The Scotland team has been finalised for this year’s Veterans Home Nations match in Dublin on 25 March. The weapon teams are:

Women’s Foil

Sheila Anderson, Ruth Davidson, Louisa Dawson, Helen Pitt

Men’s Foil

Ian Fielding, Mike McKay, Paul Stanbridge

Women’s Epee

Karen Grant, Lorna Smith, Maggie Tait

Men’s Epee

Andrew Brown, Hugh Kernohan, George Liston

Women’s Sabre

Silvia Brown, Viv Frith, Roz Graham, Michele Narey

Men’s Sabre

Keith Davidson, Richard Foster, Mo Mansoori, Kev Milne