Fencing North Committee Meeting – 31^st August 2020

Meeting Opened: 7:00pm

Present: David Elder, Amanda Hopkins, Rhys Greensill, Sunnie Sun, Peter Butler, James Harwood.

Apologies: Maja Saran, Ryan Yan.

Confirmation of the Previous Minutes: Sunnie moved that the minutes for July be accepted as correct. Amanda seconded. Motion carried.

Matters Arising: David reported that we have now received both fabric pistes from Daniel Chan. The full invoice is still pending.
  Following the decision from last month, the senior referees selected Felix, Ewa and Charlie to attend the referee development course at the national secondary schools. However, that event has since been cancelled. Only Felix had purchased flights and been refunded by Fencing North. He has received credit for the flights, which Fencing North can use to send him to another course in the future.

Treasurer’s Report: Amanda gave the Treasurer’s Report. Fencing North currently has a surplus of approx. $7000, but pending expenses of approx. $7500 (with some costs and profits not yet accounted for). Some of the overall loss is due to the fact that we have not been able to hold most of the profitable secondary schools tournaments this year; however, this has been offset by the success of the other tournaments. She emphasised that we need to create a budget for tournaments to rationalise our costs and ensure that we do not continue to lose money. Amanda will work on this with Maja.
  Amanda moved that her report be accepted. Katie seconded. Motion carried.

Approval of Payments: The Larsen Open tournament brought in $729 of profit, which we had agreed to pass on to Waikato Swords club to support their operations. David moved that Fencing North pay this money to Waikato Swords Club. Katie seconded. All in favour.
  The committee discussed whether in future we would continue to pass on all of the profits of a tournament to the club running it. Opinion was divided: on the one hand, clubs would prefer to see the benefit of running tournaments come entirely to them; on the other, Fencing North has considerable fixed costs and relies on tournaments as its only source of income. It was agreed to shelve the issue for a full discussion at a later point.  

Covid19 – Current Status: Since the last meeting, Auckland has been at Alert Level 3 for three weeks and the rest of the country was at Level 2. As of the meeting, the whole country was at Level 2, but Auckland had additional restrictions limiting gatherings to 10 people.

Maja had noted that we could hold competitions at Level 2, with the appropriate limitations on numbers and implementation of distancing and hygiene. However, it would be impossible to hold tournaments at ‘Level 2.5’ with the additional gathering limitations. David will draft an announcement to this effect for the members of Fencing North.

Due to the change in alert levels, both the President’s Cup and NZ Secondary School Champs have been nominally postponed. The FeNZ board is considering whether either of these competitions will go ahead later in the year or next year. Currently the first weekend of February is pencilled in for the National U20s tournament.

Fencing North has begun organising the NZ National Senior/Veteran Champs, with a committee of David, Maja, Heather Claydon, Katie, Pete and Angus MacMorland. However, at this stage it is unclear whether the competition will be able to go ahead, as it cannot be held unless the entire country is at Level 1. Next week, or following any government announcements, the FeNZ Covid Committee will decide whether the competition should be opened for registrations.

Competitions: In the previous month, the Larsen competition in Hamilton was very successful, with a large number of Auckland fencers travelling to participate. It is likely that Waikato Swords will propose holding the tournament again next year, although it may also be moved the Whangarei.

The move to Level 3 forced us to postpone the Secondary School Sabre/Epee Teams event. This has been moved to later in the year in a newly revised Fencing North calendar. Note that the calendar is still subject to change, and fencers should always check the most up-to-date version on our website.

The next competitions upcoming are North age group events on the 19^th-20^th of September. At this stage it is not clear whether these tournaments will be able to go ahead, but the committee agreed that Fencing North could begin advertising and refund fencers if the competition was cancelled.

Fundraising: Rhys reported the current fundraising status. Fencing North has been successful in its application to the Auckland Council for funding for fabric pistes, with a grant of $13,500. This is complicated by the fact that we have already purchased two fabric pistes with other funding.  When we receive our funding agreement, he will confirm what we are required to spend the money on.

Rhys has sent an application to the Lion Foundation for the coaching development course. In addition, an application to Four Winds for sectional pistes is almost ready to be submitted, waiting only for updated quotes. We should soon receive an update on our application to the Albert Eden local board for the first aid course.

The next funding priority is the NZ Nationals event. Should that go ahead, it is expected to cost approx. $14,000.

The committee discussed a new funding opportunity from Sport NZ, that is open to almost any sporting organisation which has been impacted by Covid19. Rhys agreed to apply to this fund on behalf of Fencing North, as we have not been able to hold our most profitable competitions this year but we still have fixed costs and depreciation to cover. Fencing North encourages our clubs to apply via the Aktive website here.

FeNZ News: David and Amanda reported the news from Fencing New Zealand.

Alice Boyd has been appointed to the role of Health and Safety Officer for FeNZ. In addition, Hamish Bulmer has been appointed to the FeNZ Officiating Commission, and Richard Johnson has become the FeNZ Privacy Officer.

The World University Games is being held in Chengu, China in August 2021. University fencers are encouraged to apply to attend.

David reported that FeNZ now has a transgender fencer policy. Katie will update Fencing North’s transgender policy to reflect the FeNZ one.

There was further discussion about how the national school team competitions should be handled in future. Hamish Clarke is to put together a subcommittee to sort out the issue.

Other Business: The committee discussed the Fencing North Christmas party for this year. We pencilled in the location of Amanda’s house and a date of the 29^th of November.

Meeting Closed: 8:46pm.

See the below announcement from FeNZ:

https://www.fencing.org.nz/news/179-2020-new-zealand-secondary-schools-championships-cancelled?fbclid=IwAR347m4cmcPx4m96Z4uc6nPVT1iA4DnzPvsPN2YVi00e9lobXAQurJgH4Es

Fencing North is absolutely thrilled to announce the start of the FeNZ Coaching Development Course here in the North at 6.00pm this coming Monday (25^th).

This first event is a general introduction to coaching presented via Zoom by North Harbour Sport’s Shaun Matthews and our own Judit Fliszar. You don’t even have to leave the comfort of your own home to attend and let’s face it – there’s not a lot of better things to do in a level 3 lockdown huh!

Are you ready to inspire, connect and empower others and create positive sporting experiences? Whether you’re just starting out coaching at school, at your club or within the community, Coach Emerge is designed to  help you learn about the coaching process, experience fun sport activities and learn new techniques that will provide you with the foundation to run your own coaching sessions. 

This interactive evening is the first in a long term series of courses designed to develop our coaches to ultimately gain a qualification within the Oceania Fencing Masters Academy – the FIE recognized body for coach development in the Oceania Region.

Other sessions, including an important first aid course will be announced shortly.

This series is planned to be absolutely free and open to anyone who has already registered with the FeNZ Coaching Commission.

If you haven’t registered yet, it’s not too late.

Email Judit Fliszar This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Dave Barson This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or ask your club secretary for a copy of the registration pack that was sent out in May.

This is an exciting time for our sport, so get into it and help us develop it to become even more amazing than it currently is.

Hi all, with the annoucement that Auckland will be at Level 3 until (at least) the 26th of August, the SS Sabre/Epee teams event next weekend has been POSTPONED. We fully intend to hold this competition later in the year, so watch this space - we'll make an annoucement about calendar changes as soon as the dust has settled.

Hope everyone is doing well in your bubbles - let's nip this thing in the bud so we can get back into it.

Fencing North Committee Meeting – 3rd August 2020

(Note: The July meeting was held in ealy August due to an administrative error.)

Meeting Opened: 7:04pm

Present: Sunnie Sun, Katie Logan, Amanda Hopkins, Rhys Greensill, Mary Black, Maja Saran, Matt Stanley, Matt Houtman.           

Apologies: David Elder, Kyle Nankivell, Neil Young.

Confirmation of the Previous Minutes: Katie moved that the minutes for June be accepted as correct. Rhys seconded. Motion carried.

Matters Arising: The two fabric pistes that were ordered have arrived in the country, but one of them was damaged in transit. We have paid for the undamaged one and requested a replacement for the damaged one.

Treasurer’s Report: Amanda gave the Treasurer’s Report. Fencing North is currently up c. $6500 for the year, but we still owe some money for the fabric pistes and hall hire. Amanda thanked the competition organisers for doing such a good job of increasing the turnout at competitions so we can continue to break even or make a profit.
We still do not have payment details from Oliver for our website fees. We need to transfer the website hosting costs to Fencing North.
Amanda moved that her report be accepted. Sunnie seconded. Motion carried.

Competitions:

SS Individuals and Foil Teams: Maja reported that the competitions were very successful. She is working on a report for the executive and will send Katie the details of team entries for invoicing.

Larsen Open: The Larsen Open will be held in Hamilton on the 8^th of August. Nicole Martin is coming up from Wellington to DT the tournament. We plan to run this tournament in Whangarei next year and continue moving it around the region. Maja noted that next time it would be better to create clear expectations for who is doing what, as currently it is a bit confusing.

SS Sabre/Epee Teams: This tournament is coming up on the 23^rd of August. This time Maja will use a late fee to encourage people to enter teams earlier, as in the previous competition there were entries coming in the night before.

North Opens: This is currently scheduled for the 18^th of October, but this is only a week before the weekend of National Opens. Maja suggested moving the competition earlier in October, or later to the start of December. The committee agreed in principle that the tournament should be moved; the tournament team will work out the details and communicate this with Fencing North members.

Oceanic/National U20s: The Oceanic Fencing Commission has decided that Oceanic U20s will not be held this year, as there is no guarantee that the borders will be open. FeNZ has also decided that the end of this year is too busy to hold the NZ U20s competitions, so the competition may be moved to early next year. Fencers who qualified for the tournament in 2020 would be permitted to enter this event. Katie will communicate with our members about these changes.

Regional Teams at NZSS: Fencing North has again been invited to select and send teams to the NZ Secondary Schools championship. Following resolutions from previous years (see the minutes from August 2018 and July 2019), we initially invited schools only to nominate teams. However, many club representatives wished to change the policy so that composite teams (from more than one school) would be allowed.
Following discussion, Katie proposed the following: That Fencing North will allow nominations of both school and composite teams. Students will be expected to join a school team if that is possible, and may form a composite team only if they cannot create a school team. If selection is required, the A teams of each school will be preferred in the selection. If there are more team slots available, then composite teams and any additional school teams may be selected to fill them.
Maja seconded. Motion carried.
More information about our team selection policy is available here.

Referee Development at NZSS: The committee went over a proposal from David to send development referees to the NZSS competition. This is a valuable opportunity, as it gives referees the chance to become ‘qualified’ as national level referees, which is beneficial for running national competitions in the North region. However, Amanda was concerned about going over budget by sending too many referees.
Rhys proposed that Fencing North send three referees for development, and take advice from our senior referees (Anya, Neil and Laura) about who those should be. Amanda seconded. Motion carried.

Health and Safety: This month there were no reported incidents at Fencing North competitions. Maja noted that we still do not have a health and safety officer. For now, Maja is keeping any incident forms that are filled out.

Fundraising: Rhys reported that he has put through and application to the Albert-Eden board for money to run a first aid course, and that he has prepared applications for aluminium pistes (to Four Winds) and the coaching course (to the Lion Foundation). He needs new quotes to complete these applications.

FeNZ News: Amanda reported the news from Fencing New Zealand. FeNZ has received some money from Sport NZ and the FIE, which will go towards covering operating costs such as insurance and website fees. There may be some additional funding available to the regions. FeNZ will also receive the regular equipment grant from the FIE, which will go towards a top end scoring box and new reels.
Although the national body has received money from Sport NZ, we are still not officially partnered with them, so there is no money available to clubs through them currently.
FeNZ is still looking for nominations for the Officiating Commission and a Health and Safety Officer.

Other Business:

Officers: Maja suggested that Fencing North should look for a Welfare Officer: the first point of contact for anyone who is in distress, with a protocol to follow when members have personal issues.
Katie suggested that she might put a ‘Volunteers Wanted’ page on the website.

Meeting Closed: 9:05pm.

The entry form for the Fencing North Secondary School Sabre and Epee teams competition is now live! Get your teams in HERE.

By entering you agree to our entry agreement HERE.

If you cannot view the results below, use this link.

If you cannot view the results below, use this link.

Document updated 12 Aug 2022 - Please read carefully

This article describes the process Fencing North will use to select teams for the upcoming National Secondary Schools Championship. 2-4^th Sept 2022

Note: The Individual Competition is Open Entry. No selection is required.

Teams Event

The NZ National Secondary Schools Champs are being held in Auckland on 2-4^th September 2022. For more information and the timetable, see the event page HERE.

Competition Format

There are 6 separate competitions

Mens & Womens x Sabre,Foil & Epee. (No mixed gender Teams)

Team Maximum 4 people.

Allocation of Teams

Maximum 8 Teams

2 Teams per Region - (North, Central, MidSouth and South).

Should any of the eight team slots remain unfilled, then teams are offered those slots from a wait list. Prioritised as follows:

The first empty slot is offered to the third ranked team from the HOST region (in this case the North region). Remaining slots are offered to teams from the wait list, on a first come, first served basis. The wait list is based on the date and time of receipt of team nominations. 

Selection Rules

Team Composition 

New Zealand Secondary Schools Sports Council rules state that in order to represent a school, a student must be a bona fide student in Y9 or above at the school of representation so a school can neither incorporate fencers from another school nor have someone enter into another school’s team. 

Composite teams are defined as having members from schools where neither school can form a team on their own. Composite teams cannot incorporate “spare” fencers left over after formation of legitimate representative school teams.

At National Championship level all events are gender separated, therefore no mixed gender teams can be nominated by schools.

(A possible exception to this rule may be that if there are resources available (time, pistes and referees) it may be possible to run a secondary non - championship “plate event”, where mixed  gender teams may be acceptable]

Creating a team

Fencing North has called for team nominations from schools and clubs. The teams that can enter are as follows:

• Teams may be school teams, or composite teams (with members from more than one school).
• If a school team cannot form a team (e.g. there are not enough fencers in the school to form a team), then a composite team may be created. 
• If you can form a school team you must do so.
• Once the first school team is formed, additional fencers may not be loaned to other schools.
• Teams must be single gender.
• All team members should be entered in at least one individual event.
• The named teams may consist of up to four members. 
• Fencers may be on more than one team (for different weapons) as long as they can schedule it in the timetable.
• School coaches submitting more than one team per competition must advise the rankings. A,B or C teams.

If you would like to be in a team for Nationals, talk to your coach, captain or teacher-in-charge. They must email the team details to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by Sunday 21^st August @ 23.00.

(If you would like to join a composite team but you do not have teammates yet, see further below.)

Fencing North Regional Team Selection

• Fencing North will initially select 2 teams for each competition.
• The results of Team placings at the Fencing North regional SS teams competitions will take precedence. The national rankings of individual fencers and the results at the North regional SS individual competitions may also be considered.
• All teams nominated will be ranked. Firstly the A teams of each school, then composite teams, then additional school teams.

The 2 highest ranking teams will be offered the first 2 automatic slots.

Should additional slots become available because other regions are unable to fulfil their allocations then teams on the wait list will be offered entry to the competition.

Unfortunately, there is a limited number of teams who can compete in the competition. We hope that we can enter all of the teams who want to compete from Fencing North. However, there is a possibility that Fencing North will not be allowed to enter all of the teams that we want to include. 

The results of the selection will be reported to the coach/captain/teacher-in-charge by Friday 26^th August.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to be selected to enter as an individual?
No! Go ahead and enter the competition.

What is the team entry fee?
The team entry fee is $90 per team. If it is a school team, this will be invoiced  to the school after the team has been officially selected.  If it is a composite, it will either be invoiced to the coach, or directly to each individual feq1ncer.

We will ask you to pay by internet banking, and if you have not paid you may not be permitted to enter Fencing North tournaments.

I don't have anyone to form a team with. How can I find a composite team?
In the first instance speak to your coach about this, but otherwise email Fiona at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., and we will do our best to help.

Why don’t you just use the national rankings to select?

Previously we have used national rankings to select teams but due to the Covid situation competitions have been disrupted over the past year. This means that the national rankings may not include all fencers and may not reflect the trust status of all fencers.

We have decided to use the results from the regional secondary school competitions to give us a better understanding of the levels of the individual fencers and teams this year.

Do I need to attend the regional competitions to be selected for a national team?
No, this is not necessary. We are just using the results from these competitions to get a better idea of your ranking. If you do not attend, we will have less data to work with, but you can still be selected for the national teams competition.

What are the rules for entering the North regional teams competition?
The rules for the regional teams competition are different. In this competition, you can enter composite teams (from more than one school) and mixed gender teams.

Who should I talk to about this?
If you want to join a team, talk to your coach, captain or teacher-in-charge. If you want more information about the process, email Fiona at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

Why am I finding out about this so late?
 Fencing competitions in NZ have been affected by the ever changing Covid situation with changes in tournament dates and locations.

Peter Butler – President

Fiona Campbell – Head of Tournaments. 

See the live results for the Fenton below!

If you can't see anything, try this link.