Minutes
Fencing North Committee Meeting – 13th April 2025
Meeting opened – 7:36pm via teams
Present: Peter Butler (PB)(President), Kirsten Hansen (KH) (Secretary/Media), Kyle McDonald (Auckland Swords Club)
Sam Tait (ST)(NZ Academy), Simone May (SM) (FeNZ Development Officer), Chantelle May (CM)(Pulse), Stuart
Campbell (SC) (NZ Academy)
Apologies: Amanda Hopkins
Minutes of last meeting: Minutes passed and approved (ST moved, SM seconded)
Finance: PB
Shared on screen, and accounts below were sent out before the meeting. PB discussed P&L. Grant for first Aid
course from Bluesky. This is for 20 people to attend a full day training and venue hire at St John.
PB moved that the finances were accurate. ST seconded.
Tournaments: (FC)
353 entries so far this year vs 307 last year
Fenton - less fencers than expected possibly due to assessment/exam time for Uni students. Also a non-ranking
tournament. Last year it was a ranking tournament for Epee.
Discussion around needing more ranking points competitions for FN. ½ the fencers are now in Auckland so there
should be more ranking points allocated.
ACTION – PB to take a discussion paper as part of FeNZ report to board.
Selection Policy (KH)
KH explained to the group how we have selected teams for the upcoming U15/17 Nationals at Easter Weekend.
is based on one of Mary Blacks (MB) options of team selection paper.
Fencers were asked to nominate themselves (advertised on socials and sent to clubs/coaches to pass on) for teams.
Fencers – depending on numbers were then selected for a pool of fencers (5-6 per team) going on NZ ranking. Teams
formed on individual results of the day.
ACTION – KH/PB to collate feedback from this selection.
KM suggested that a full team should be nominated and selected prior to event. Inviting fencers to be part of the
team well before the event so flights accordingly.
May be difficult to organise far in advance due to fencers not registering to later. KH needs to have contact email for
fencers to confirm placing.
Secondary School Ranking System for FN
No longer ranking points for Secondary School competitions. Discussion around how we would award fencers that
attend SS competitions. Suggestions of a points table which awards fencers/schools who attend all 3 events.
Recognition for top 3 individuals.
ACTION – PB/KM/ST to form a working group to come up with a ranking system for Fencing North SS.
Oceania Planning Committee
PB – We need a planning committee of 6-8 people to help with Oceania/National at labour weekend.
ACTION – KH to make up a poster for Socials. Send to PB for sign off first
Refund Policy
Needs to be documented and put on website. Other policies need to be added onto the website as well as meeting
minutes.
ACTION- FC to organise. FC to ask Katie Logan (KL) to get access for KH along with some guidance on how to add documents.
Health & Safety (FC)
5 finger injuries needing icepacks - minor injuries only
FeNZ (PB)
4 streams of work currently happening at FeNZ level.
1. Constitution review. Report from feedback being written to submit to the board. Constitution meeting
Tuesday night. Lawyer also engaged. Looking at aligning the regions - with Centrals constitution more
favoured.
2. Development plan – SM has meeting tomorrow with David Elder regarding plan
3. Commission review - SM and Will Bishop. Will go out for the board to review at the end of the week.
Discussion document to follow.
4. Selection Policy - KM will be presenting at the next board meeting. Have 1 document that has several
options for the board to choose from - Participation vs quality.
Other Business
Other Business
Referee Project Committee
PB talked about the importance of getting this in place. How do we develop Refs from clubs/regions? Ideally it wouldl
be good to have a group of fencers/Refs to project manage this. ST said he would chair the group and ask other to
join including Parth.
KM – asks parents to Ref at beginner club tournaments to get them involved.
Action – KH/PB to document a terms of reference for the group to move forward. ST to inform PB/KH who wll be on
the group.
Meeting closed 2052
Next meeting 4th May via teams