Fencing North Committee Meeting – 29th June 2020
Meeting Opened: 7:11pm.
Present: David Elder, Amanda Hopkins, Sunnie Sun, Katie Logan, Maja Saran, Judit Fliszar, Rhys Greensill.
Apologies: Matthew Houtman.
Confirmation of the Previous Minutes: David moved that the minutes for May be accepted as correct. Rhys seconded. Motion carried.
Matters Arising: There were no matters arising.
Treasurer’s Report: Amanda gave the Treasurer’s Report. The deposit has been paid for the fabric pistes funded by our TTCF grant. Some money has also gone out for the new podium and the Bubble Ensemble shirts, which should be paid back by those who purchased them. Maja and Amanda agreed that fencers would not be allowed to enter competitions until they had paid what was owed.
After the final payment for the pistes, the bank account will be around $29,000.
Amanda moved that her report be accepted. David seconded. Motion carried.
Competitions:
Bubble Ensemble: Maja reported on the Bubble Ensemble that was held on the previous Saturday. The competition was very successful with 48 fencers in total. We brought in around $1387, including $242 in donations.
The event had to run to a tight timetable so that we could be out of the gym in time for an event at Trusts. The event successfully ran to time. Maja noted that the lack of referees was a factor in slowing down the event, as it limited the number of DE bouts that could be run at once.
Maja reported that she was forced to limit entry sales in the lead up to the event. This is because we had only booked a single court at Trusts, and practically it would not have been possible to run to time with more than 50 competitors.
David organised dry fit t-shirts for the event, which sold well with only one left over.
Upcoming Tournaments: In the next two months, Fencing North is holding the Fenton Open, Secondary Schools Individuals and Secondary Schools Teams competitions.
Maja noted that the SS foil teams competition was on the same Saturday as an engineering event at Auckland University that might conflict for some fencers. We will consider holding the competition on one day only (the Sunday) to avoid the conflict. The format would need to be a direct elimination with a plate round, rather than the full poule and DE structure.
National Events: David announced that Fencing North has been pegged to host NZ open nationals on the 24th-26th of October. We are still planning to hold Oceanic U20s in December if it seems like the borders are going to open to the relevant countries. If not, we will hold the NZ U20s, probably on an earlier date to avoid conflicts with school exams.
Competition Enquiries: If anyone has questions or complaints about competitions, please bring them directly to Maja as Head of Tournaments, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. On the day, they can also discuss any issues with David as President.
Fencing North would like to encourage people to consider how they can personally help to improve tournaments.
Health and Safety: There were no health and safety incidents this month. David agreed to collect any relevant forms until a health and safety officer can be found.
Fundraising: Rhys reported that sporting trusts have now opened their funding pools again. To support upcoming funding applications, David moved the following resolutions:
- Fencing North resolves to apply to the Albert-Eden Local Board Quick Response Grant for the value of $2060, for the purpose of running a St Johns First Aid course for coaches, referees and other volunteers within the community.
- Fencing North resolves to apply to the Four Winds Foundation for the value of up to $17,500, for the purpose of buying four sectional metal pistes.
- Fencing North resolves to apply to the NZ Community Trust for the value of $15,420, for the purpose of running a coaching development course.
- Fencing North resolves to apply to the Trillian Trust for the value of 2,242.5, for the purpose of purchasing two trolleys for metal sectional pistes.
Judit seconded these resolutions. Motion carried with all in favour.
FeNZ News: David and Amanda reported the news from Fencing New Zealand.
Fencing New Zealand has confirmed the national event calendar for the rest of the year. The South Island and North Island Champs have been cancelled. Fencing Central will hold the President’s Cup in August. NZ Secondary Schools Champs will be held in Christchurch in September. Fencing North will hold NZ Open Nationals in October, and Oceanic or National U20s sometime in the latter part of the year.
Following discussion around the privacy of members’ data, as brought up in previous Fencing North meetings, FeNZ has decided to remove all public member data from the website. This can now only be accessed by administrators. David noted that there should no longer be any objections to clubs providing membership information to FeNZ.
Mark Rance is now the deputy chair of the Oceanic Fencing Committee. He has reported that if Fiji joins the fencing zone, we will have enough countries to run Oceanic Junior Olympic Qualifiers.
Meeting Closed: 9:05pm.