Scottish Secondary Schools Championship round-up

Over the weekend the Scottish Secondary Schools Championship took place at Bathgate Academy. This was the first time the event had been held since before the pandemic and it was great to see so many fencers over the two days. The event has a tremendous history and some impressive trophies. Overall, 60 fencers took part across Under 14, Under 16 and Over 16 age groups. It was also nice to see some fencers take part in all three weapons to compete for the three weapon trophies.

Scottish Fencing would like to extend our appreciation to everyone involved in the running of the event. A special thank you to Kevin, Wendy and the members of West Lothian Fencing Club who helped with a number of roles over the two days and kindly allowed us to set up during their club time on Friday evening. The club also provided a tuck shop and the home baking received many compliments.

The referees are crucial to any event and a big thank you goes to all of the referees for their efforts over a busy two days.

Many thanks to The Foundation for Scottish Fencing and David Barbour who ensured the event ran smoothly. Thanks also to Fiona Morrison, Lorna Smith and Wendy Hearty who were the DT’s over the weekend, Paul Thompson, our armourer.

Overall Best School – Dunblane High School

The winners of the three weapon trophies were:

Under 16 Girls - Zoe Wagstaff

Over 16 Girls - Sophie Schofield

Under 14 Boys - Euan Drummond Murray

Under 16 Boys - David Kelly

Over 16 Boys - Jaimie Cook

Full results from the weekend can be found here.

Congratulations to everyone who took part.

Best wishes

Stan Stoodley

Scottish Fencing President

Scottish Fencing Volunteer Lead Safeguarding Officer

The Board of Scottish Fencing are looking to recruit a Volunteer Lead Safeguarding Officer who will Support the Scottish Fencing Board and staff team with the effective development and implementation of Safeguarding policies and procedures throughout the sport in Scotland.

This is a key role within the organisation and we are seeking a  motivated individual with exceptional communication skills, sound judgement and experience of adult and child wellbeing and protection.

For more information please see the full advert and role description below.

SF Volunteer Lead Safeguarding Officer Advert

SF Volunteer Lead Safeguarding Officer Role Description

Master Armourer - award congratulations to Malcolm Napier Holford

Congratulations to Malcolm Napier Holford. He has just been awarded the award of Master Armourer, by the Guild of Armourers. A first in Scotland!

 Malcom started looking after his own kit in the 1980's as his coach insisted he should. Professor Bracewell, taught him some basic principles and gave him some great advice, which is still valid now "look after your own kit, remove that variable, then you can only do your best". 

 From then Malcolm slowly learnt more, working up from apprentice armourer, journeyman to armourer by way of written tests and practical assessments. 

 Armourers as well as setting up and stripping down kit at events are also responsible for advising on how health and safety rules are applied. Malcolm currently looks after the equipment for Scottish Fencing and West Fife fencing club. He helps and trains fencers on how to look after and maintain their equipment. He also advises Scottish Fencing on the application of material and organisation rules to ensure the safety of all involved. A very important role.

 Malcom says:

 “What I enjoy is the challenge of never knowing what has gone wrong, finding the fault and fixing it. Over the years, I have been to lots of events including FIE and Commonwealth as a lead armourer. Now getting awarded my Master Armourer is a great honour. And the first in Scotland.”

 Congratulations, Malcolm.

 If you are inspired by Malcolm’s story and also like fixing things get in touch with Scottish Fencing as we are looking to train more armourers and get more people involved in this important role. Email us at admin@scottish-fencing.com. 

Recruitment - Club and Community Development Manager

Scottish Fencing is looking to recruit a motivated individual with excellent communication and networking skills to support fencing clubs and the wider fencing community. The intention for this role is to support the growth and benefit of fencing across Scotland as a driving force for inclusion and change within the sporting community. 

This is a dynamic period for Scottish Fencing and we are looking for an individual who will support and build the growing presence of fencing within Scotland through supporting & encouraging fencing clubs and communities to participate in innovative development & inclusion activities  

The above is a snapshot of the role, for the full advert and job description please click on the links below.

For an informal conversation about the role, please reach out directly to Clare Queen, Scottish Fencing COO/Head of Pathways on clare.queen@scottish-fencing.com

CCDM Full Advert

CCDM Job Description

SF Application form

Equality Monitoring Form

Closing date is 5pm 22 June 2022

Scottish Fencing strategy sub-groups

Scottish Fencing are seeking volunteers from within the fencing community to support the staff team and Board with the roll out of the new Scottish Fencing strategy, #ForgingTheFuture 2022-2025.

Our strategy places strong clubs and pathways at the heart of what we do but also sets out our mission to create an inclusive sporting community where the power of fencing drives social change.  

We plan to establish sub-groups for the following key areas of our strategy (Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, Women & Girls, People Development, Competition Management and Events). The sub-groups will be led by the Scottish Fencing board and staff team and will include members of the fencing community who are passionate about bringing the objectives in our strategy to life. If you are committed to supporting us on this journey and feel you have the skills and experience to contribute, we would love to hear from you.

To view the strategy, click below

Forging the Future strategy 2022-2025

Further information about the scope of the sub-groups can be found in the draft Terms of Reference below. These Terms of Reference are draft and will be agreed and finalised by members of each sub-group.

Women & Girls sub-group draft Terms of Reference

People Development sub-group draft Terms of Reference

Equality, diversity & Inclusion sub-group draft Terms of Reference

Events sub-group draft Terms of Reference

Competition Management sub-group draft Terms of Reference 

To register your interest for any of the sub-groups please complete the online form by clicking here.

The registration period will close on Wednesday 22nd June at 5pm.

John McKenzie

Scottish Fencing is sad to report the death on 18 May of John McKenzie, a former international epeeist, Scottish Champion, and a dedicated coach who introduced many school children to fencing over a long period. His family have our condolences and sympathy.

The funeral will be held at 11.30am on Thursday 9 June at Dunfermline Crematorium.

John contributed much to fencing in Scotland and a full obituary will be published later. He had a strong interest in the history of the sport here and assembled a collection of historical material. In the last few months he and his daughter Tracy completed and digitised a full set of the newsletters of the Scottish Amateur Fencing Union, running from 1959 to 1990. These have been presented to Scottish Fencing and we have a project to index them and make them available through the website as a memorial to John.

John also tracked down and preserved two magnificent trophies, presented by two of the founder members of the Scottish Amateur Fencing Union, P J Ford and W G Burn Murdoch, in 1922 and 1933 respectively. He passed these into our hands for safe-keeping and further research.

Trophy presented by W G Burn Murdoch, 1933

Trophy present by P J Ford, 1922

2022 CFC Codes of Conduct for Athletes and Fencers

Below are the codes of conduct for athletes and parents of athletes for the 2022 Commonwealth Fencing Championships.

As well as signing up to these we also need some additional information for entries and to plan training. The link to the 2022 CFC jotform is here. Please complete this by 16 May 2022.

Code of Conduct Athletes

Code of Conduct Parents/Guardian/Carers

Thanking everyone in advance!

2022 CFC London logo

Team Announcement - Commonwealth Fencing Championship 2022

Scottish Fencing are pleased to announce the fencers and coaching team who will represent Scotland at this years’ Commonwealth Fencing Championships. The event take place at the University of East London SportsDock from 9-20 August.

Congratulation to all of the fencers, we look forward to cheering you on in August.

Please click the links below to view the teams

Cadets – Juniors – Seniors – Veterans – Wheelchair

To view the coaching team who will support the Scotland team click here

Selection Committee

Paul Vaughan, Scottish Fencing Performance Director

Hugh Kernohan, Scottish Fencing Governance Director

Keith Cook, Scottish Fencing Performance Consultant 

Charity McCardle

Clare Queen, Scottish Fencing COO/Head of Pathways

Recruitment - Volunteer Team Manager - Commonwealth Fencing Championships

Scottish Fencing are seeking a suitability qualified person to act as Team Manager for the Junior, Cadet and Veteran Scotland teams at the Commonwealth Fencing Championships being held at the University of East London SportsDock between the 12th and 20th August 2022.

The aim of the Team Manager is to create a professional and responsible squad environment allowing athletes to perform to the best of their abilities whilst upholding Scottish Fencing’s culture, values and relevant policies. The Team Manager will contribute to the planning and preparation of the Scotland Team before and during the event, and will be the first point of contact for the fencers, coaches and parents throughout the event, using problem solving skills to manage any issues that arise.

For the full advert and further information, please click the links below.

Team Manager Advert

Team Manager Role Description

Equality Monitoring Form

Veterans Quad, Bristol 2022

The Scottish Veterans Team for the Quad was notable this year for 9 of the 22 selected, fencing in their first Home Nations event for Scotland. 

With Hugh Kernohan confined through covid the men’s epee team were all debutants. Their highlight was storming back in their last three fights against Wales from 22-30 down to lose 43-44 in overtime. A rousing match to watch.

Woman’s epee bucked the trend with no debutants. In fact, Karen Grant, Maggie Tait and Lorna Smith have fenced together in 8 Quads and 3 Commonwealths since 2013.

For women’s sabre it was great to have a team of four sabreurs, with the youngest vet Roz Graham and the oldest female vet Viv Frith in the team. 

The 'highlight' for men's foil was a very high-quality match with England which ended in an agonising 44-45 loss. At 44-44 a strong lunge attack for Scotland landed off target on a mask wire tag. England then took the final hit on the very next action with a piste length series of attacks finally ending with the hit arriving as Scotland reached the back line. 

England won the overall event with Ireland the only other nation to achieve a weapon win at women’s foil. It was an enjoyable weekend and good practice for the Commonwealths in August, telling us where work is required.

We look forward to the next event in Dublin in 2023 and Scotland in 2024.

Earning their first cap for Scotland were:

• Ruth Davidson - WF

• Malcolm Downie - ME

• Niall Campbell - ME

• Andrew Brown - ME

• Rory Gibson - MF

• Roz Graham - WS

• Yvonne Walls - WS

• Richard Foster - MS

• Lindsay Rodgers - MS