Fencing North Meeting - February 2019
Fencing North Meeting – February 25th 2019
Meeting Opened: 7:06pm
Present: David Elder, Amanda Hopkins, Katie Logan, Neil Young, Vicky Fan, Kyle Nankivell, Mary Black, Peter Butler.
Confirmation of the Previous Minutes: David moved that the minutes from January be accepted. Katie seconded. All in favour.
Matters Arising: As discussed in the January meeting, Fencing North has been working towards securing Trusts Arena as our home venue for 2019. Our agreement with Trusts has since been finalised.
Health and Safety: No incidents reported.
Treasurer’s Report: Amanda gave the Treasurer’s report and moved that it be accepted. Neil seconded. Motion carried.
Competitions: There are two upcoming competitions in March: the Ongley Open on the 4th and North Under-17s on the 17th (paired with a referee training course on the 16th).
Competition Calendar: The competition calendar has been finalised and the updated version will be available on the Fencing North and Fencing NZ websites.
Venue for NZ Secondary Schools: The Mount Albert Grammar School gym has been confirmed as our venue for National Secondary Schools.
FeNZ News:
New Membership Tiers: There has been considerable discussion in FeNZ about alternative types of affiliation, with the aim of getting as many fencers affiliated as possible. Two new membership tiers have been created. First, new fencers can sign up for a three-month free trial affiliation, during which they are covered by FeNZ liability insurance but may not compete in tournaments. Alternatively, fencers may affiliate with a club membership at $10/year, which allows entry in one social or novice competition. Clubs are urged to encourage all of their fencers to affiliate so that FeNZ membership more accurately reflects the actual number of fencers in New Zealand.
FeNZ Strategy Meeting: On February 23rd a FeNZ strategy meeting was held, which David, Amanda and Neil attended. They reported that the meeting was very productive. A record of the meeting and its results will soon be made publicly available on the FeNZ website.
FeNZ Minutes: Amanda reported that FeNZ will begin to publish minutes of its monthly meetings on its website.
Fencing North 2019 Goals and Strategy:
Club Feedback: David reported that he has been visiting all of the North clubs asking for feedback. He plans to table a full report in the following meeting, which Fencing North can use to guide its planning in future.
Tournament Assistance: The committee discussed a number of areas where Fencing North has need of further volunteer help. In particular, we would like to enlist more people to help with tournament organisation and operations, working with our DT. We encourage any fencers, parents or others who are interested in giving back to the sport to contact us.
Coach Coordinator: David suggested that Fencing North appoint someone to coordinate coaches in our region; for example, by keeping track of coaches’ clubs and specialties, ensuring communication between coaches and Fencing North and arranging coaching development. The committee will consider the exact scope of the role and potential candidates.
Publicity/Marketing Communications: David also suggested that Fencing North appoint a Marketing/Publicity Officer, who would write the monthly newsletter, advertise events and generally promote fencing and Fencing North. We invite anyone who might be interested in such a role to contact us.
Other Business:
FeNZ Insurance Policy: Recently there has been some confusion around how the FeNZ liability insurance policy applies to affiliated clubs. The committee agreed to submit a list of questions to Richard Johnston for clarification.
Tournament Format: The committee discussed the possibility of holding plate events to increase participation in tournaments. It was decided to hold plate events whenever practicable.
Committee Meeting Venue: Kyle proposed that the committee move to a different venue for future meetings, due to safety concerns surrounding our current hall. Neil seconded. All in favour.
Meeting Closed: 8:52pm.
The Crowd Goes Wild
A message from our President:
STOP PRESS - The Crowd Goes Wild on Sky Sport and Prime should feature a brief news item on Lena Jacob's recent victory either tonight (20th February) or tomorrow night! Spread the word!
Fencing North Meeting - January 2019
Fencing North Meeting – January 25th 2019
Meeting Opened: 7:05.
Present: David Elder, Amanda Hopkins, Jess Gracie, Katie Logan, Mary Black, Kyle Nankivell.
Confirmation of the Previous Minutes: Katie moved that the minutes from October 2018 be accepted. Jess seconded. Motion carried.
Matters Arising from the Previous Minutes: There were no matters arising.
Health and Safety: There have been no injuries or safety issues reported since our previous meeting.
Treasurer’s Report: Amanda gave the Treasurer’s Report. We have spent $4500 since our previous meeting, taking the account down to $29,000 total. Costs were largely made up of insurance and gym hire from 2018. David seconded Amanda’s report. The report was accepted.
Payments: Gym hire for last year’s training camp at Auckland Grammar is yet to be paid.
Competitions: The W. Dawn competition will be held on Ferbruary 9th at the Trusts Arena. More details will be available soon.
Competition Venue for 2019: There has been a widespread feeling that we have outgrown Massey High School as a competition venue: some events would need to be split over two days this year and the school has increased its hall hire fee. Therefore, the committee has been looking at potential new options since late last year. David and Mary reported that the Trusts Arena is an excellent potential option for this year. Although more expensive than Massey, it is a top-level venue with various options for larger and smaller competitions. We have been offered extremely favourable rates and plan to run the W. Dawn competition there as a trial.
David moved that subject to final testing, the successful conclusion of the W. Dawn competition and agreement of contractual terms and conditions, Fencing North adopt Trusts Arena as our home venue going forward. Amanda seconded. Motion carried.
It should be noted that some competitions will need to be moved to accommodate this new venue. The new calendar will be prepared and circulated as soon as negotiations have been completed. Regardless of whether we relocate or not, competitions fees will most likely need to be raised slightly in 2019.
Venue for National Secondary Schools: The Trusts Stadium will unfortunately not be available for the weekend of National Secondary Schools. However, Kyle Macdonald has notified us that Mount Albert Grammar School will offer Fencing North their gym for free in return for an equipment grant to the school fencing club.
Kyle Nankivell moved that we approve this deal subject to negotiation. Mary seconded. Motion carried.
FeNZ News: David and Amanda reported that FeNZ has scheduled a mid-term strategy session for February 23rd.
Other Business:
Committee Meeting Dates: The committee set the 2019 committee meetings for the final Monday of each month.
2019 Goals and Strategy: David presented some thoughts on Fencing North’s operational and future planning for discussion by the committee. Due to time constraints, further discussion and conclusions were left for a future meeting.
European Cadet Results: Fencing North would like to congratulate all of our fencers who recently competed in the Junior World Cup, Senior World Cup and European Cadet circuit. Well done especially to Lena Jacob, who achieved an amazing 8th place result in a world-class field at a European Cadet Circuit tournament.
New Clubs: Congratulations to Rangitoto College, Massey University and Phoenix Fencing for being recognised as official fencing clubs in 2018.
Meeting Closed: 8:57.
Fencing North AGM 2018
Fencing North Annual General Meeting 2018
Thursday 29th November
Outhwaite Hall, Grafton
Meeting Opened: 7:07pm
Present:
David Elder
Wendy Irwin
Henry Lockhart
Andi Liu
Nour Malak
Sunnie Sun
Ryan Yan
Peter Butler
Amanda Hopkins
Bryce Gracie
Jessica Gracie
Katie Logan
Apologies:
David Singh (Proxy: David Elder)
Matt Stanley (Proxy: Katie Logan)
Kyle Macdonald (Proxy: Peter Butler)
Mary Black (Proxy: Nour Malak)
Hannah Irwin (Proxy: Wendy Irwin)
Daljit Dhillon
Confirmation of Minutes of the 2017 AGM: Andi moved that the minutes from the previous AGM be accepted. Amanda seconded. The motion was carried with all in favour.
President’s Report: Bryce, the outgoing president, gave his report. On behalf of Fencing North, the executive thanked him for his service over the past two years.
Treasurer’s Report: Amanda presented the Treasurer’s Report. The Society has made a small loss over the course of this year, with some payments still outstanding. She recommended that we increase competition fees in 2019 to cover the increasing expenses of hall hire, referee per diems and Fencing North’s development aims. This will be discussed further by the executive in future meetings.
Jess seconded Amanda’s report. The motion was carried with all in favour.
Election of Executive Officers: There was a single nominee standing for each executive position:
President: David Elder
Vice-President: Jess Gracie
Treasurer: Amanda Hopkins
Secretary: Katie Logan
Henry moved that the nominees be elected as a bloc. Nour seconded. The officials were elected with all in favour.
Setting of Affiliation Fees for 2019: For 2018 to fee to affiliate to Fencing North was set to $0 for all members. Bryce recommended that the affiliation fee should remain at this level for 2019 in order to encourage as many new fencers as possible to affiliate. He also suggested that Fencing North use our voice on the Fencing New Zealand committee to advocate a tiered affiliation system to further encourage casual fencers.
Bryce moved that the affiliation fee be set at $0 for 2019. Jess seconded. Motion carried with majority in favour, one abstaining.
Meeting Closed: 8:26pm.
Phoenix Fencing
A youth fencing club for ages 10-16, promoting the love of swords and training the next generation of fencers. Come join us!
Location: Gym 2, Rangitoto College
564 East Coast Road
Mairangi Bay, Auckland
Weapons: Epee, Foil and Sabre.
Training Times: Saturdays 10-11am
Contact: Kyle Nankivell
Phone: 0274517044
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: www.phoenixfencing.org
Fencing North Meeting - October 2018
Fencing North Meeting – October 4th 2018
Meeting Opened: 7:05pm.
Present: Bryce Gracie, Jess Gracie, Katie Logan, Amanda Hopkins.
Apologies: Eric Buisman, Mary Black, Sunnie Sun, Nour Malak.
Previous Minutes: Jess moved that the previous minutes be accepted. Bryce seconded. Motion passed.
Matters Arising from the Previous Minutes: No matters arising.
Health and Safety: Jess reported that there were two incidents at National Under 20s: one concussion, and one minor injury requiring an ice pack. Reports were filed and transferred to the FeNZ Secretary. The use of cones and ropes to separate spectators from the pistes and separate rooms for bags worked well to prevent crowding.
Treasurer’s Report: Amanda presented the Treasurer’s Report. The society made a small loss on National Under 20s, although there are still some outstanding entry fees. The training camp run by Fencing North made a small profit. Bryce seconded that the report be accepted. Motion carried.
Amanda moved that the profit from the training camp be used to partially reimburse a private sponsor who underwrote the expenses. Bryce seconded. Motion carried.
Payments: Hall hire payments are due for the Auckland Grammar and Massey High School gyms.
Competitions: The North Open, Fencing North’s final competition for the year, will be held on the 6th of October. The draft calendar for next year will be circulated among the committee for feedback soon.
FeNZ News: There was no news to report from FeNZ, as there has not been a FeNZ meeting since the previous Fencing North meeting.
Other Business: The committee discussed the upcoming AGM, to be held on the 29th of November. There was consideration of potential constitutional changes. It was agreed that major constitutional changes should wait until the Incorporated Societies Act is updated in 2019.
Meeting Closed: 7:37pm.