Fencing North Committee Meeting – 27th May 2019
Meeting Opened: 7:10pm
Present: David Elder, Amanda Hopkins, Katie Logan, Mary Black, Murray McGuire-Barnes, Matt Houtman.
Confirmation of the Previous Minutes: Katie moved that the minutes of the April meeting be accepted. David seconded. All in favour.
Matters Arising: As discussed last meeting, proposed changes to the wording of the School/Club affiliation tiers have been drafted, but not yet put to the FeNZ board.
Murray rose some privacy issues with clubs releasing member information to Fencing North for affiliation collection. Amanda will look into drafting a privacy policy for Fencing North and Fencing New Zealand following the regulations of the privacy act.
The banners mentioned at previous meetings have been completed and will be displayed at future North fencing competitions.
Health and Safety: There were two incidents at North competitions in the previous month. During setup, a piste trolley tipped over onto a fencer’s leg and caused an ankle injury; David will look into getting the trolleys redesigned so that they are less prone to tipping. Another fencer suffered a twisted ankle on the concrete floor of the Genesis Lounge. Fencing North acknowledged that this different surface might caused difficultie, but also that it is normal practice for major competitions to fence on a concrete based; the organisers will monitor the situation to understand whether the surface is appropriate for our needs.
Treasurer’s Report: Amanda presented the Treasurer’s Report, noting that we are in better financial health following the successful tournaments this month. Mary seconded her report. Motion carried.
Payments: The executive signed off reimbursement for a number of expenses incurred by David on behalf of Fencing North in the previous month, to a value of c. $1000.
Amanda proposed the Fencing North write off a number of petty expenses both owing to and owed by the society from the previous year. David seconded. All in favour.
Competitions: There will be three competitions in the upcoming month: the Secondary School Teams events – foil on the 8th-9th, sabre and epee on the 16th – and the third Secondary School individual competition on the 29th.
Venue for June 16th: Due to an event at Trusts Arena on the 16th of June, we will not be able to use the main gym for the Sabre and Epee team event. Trusts has offered to facilitate finding an alternative venue; David will work with them to achieve this.
Naming of Tournaments: This year there has been confusion about the names of some tournaments – in particular, those named ‘Foil’, ‘Epee’ or ‘Sabre’ when they are in fact open for all three weapons. David proposed that we advertise these tournaments without the specific weapon in their names in future. Murray seconded. All in favour.
Large and Small Competitions: Following discussions after the previous Secondary School competition, the committee discussed how to implement better practices for running large competitions. The committee also discussed how to increase participation in the smaller open competitions.
Affiliations: David reported that a large number of fencers have competed in tournaments without being affiliated to Fencing New Zealand. In future Fencing North will enforce affiliation more strictly at competitions.
Tournament Sub-Committee: Katie proposed that Maja Saran be appointed to the tournament sub-committee. Amanda seconded. All in favour.
National Secondary School Teams: Fencing North will be holding the National Secondary Schools event in September this year. The teams event of this competition caused a lot of difficulty last year when the regions had to select regional teams on short notice. Katie suggested that the format of this competition should be discussed and set soon to avoid similar issues this year.
David proposed that we put together a subcommittee for organising this tournament, comprised of himself as Chair, Katie, Murray and whoever else thye should invite. Katie seconded. Motion carried.
FeNZ News: David reported the news from FeNZ:
A new automatic email address, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., has been set up to direct people to clubs and the Fencing New Zealand website. It will be advertised on Fencing North’s new banners.
Nour Malak from North has been selected to compete at Asian Champs. Best of luck to Nour.
FeNZ has put together a sub-committee to investigate a complaint laid against a coach. Fencing North would like to take the opportunity to remind all of our coaches that they are expected to behave with appropriate conduct at all times.
Other Business:
Fencing North Survey: Fencing North has commissioned a survey for members so that we can configure our goals for the short to mid-term future.
Fencing North Subscription: Our Fencing Time licence is up for renewal. The committee discussed whether it would be useful to purchase a server connection for simultaneous access on multiple computers; David will inquire about what is done at larger national competitions.
President’s DFA: David proposed that he be granted Delegated Financial Authority to spend up to $1000 without committee approval for this year. Katie seconded. Motion carried.
Gear Borrowing: Mary suggested that we come up with a centralised way of tracking borrowed Fencing North equipment. Katie will look into a solution for this.
Meeting Closed: 9:06pm.