Fencing North Constitution

This constitution was last updated in April 2020.

Fencing North

Competition Entry Agreement

Fencers wishing to enter our competitions must be 13 or older on the day, except for cadets where the minimum age is 11. For age banded competitons the age calculation date is the 01/JAN.

Please check the current COVID regulations : here

At Fencing North we wish to safeguard the health of our community. We reserve the right for to ask any spectator or competitor who is visibly unwell at an event to please leave the venue.

Please keep checking these rules as MOH requirements change.

Competition Sign Up

Registration will be online.

Registration Site Is currently Humanitix.

There will be a link to the registration via the calendar on the  Fencing North Website{jcomments on}

Cut Off Times To ensure a well organised tournament entries will close at 23.55h on the Thursday a week prior to the competition.

Late entries - May be accepted at the discretion of the DT (Tournament Director) and are subject to availability. There is a late fee if an entry is accepted.

Check In - as published by the organisers.

Late arrival to competition – Cut off time is at the sole discretion of the DT. We will make an effort trying to reach you. You will be called 3 times before we scratch you from the event. If you are late you please inform us. We can hold up the competition for a little while, while getting started on other things.

Multiple weapons entries- please check with the organisers before entering. FENZ rule is that if you have entered multiple weapons, you will finish the event that you have started and will be scratched from the then starting event.

Withdrawal – Please inform the organisers as soon as possible if you wish to withdraw from an event.

Entry Fees/Refunds All entry fees will be paid online via the registration website. Please see the landing page of each competition for the entry fees.

Refunds are only given if we have to cancel an event. There can be a discretionary refund in case of illness, or a family emergency.. Please contact the DT.

Competition Format

You are entering a mixed competition until there are a minimum of 6 fencers per gender per weapon in which case we can separate the genders. It is at the discretion of the DT to run separate or combined events. The preference of the fencers on the day of the competition will be taken into account.

 Affiliation:

To compete in Fencing North competitions you must be affiliated with Fencing New Zealand as a full competitive member.

Affiliation with Fencing New Zealand is now via the SPORTY platform. Link to FeNZ affiliation portal is below;

https://www.fencing.org.nz/membership-2

Any questions re your FeNZ affiliation should be directed to

FeNZ Secretary General - Amanda Hopkins This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The DT will be checking affiliations prior to competitions.

Minimum Equipment Requirements:

LINK to Fencing NZ Equipment Standards

Protective clothing: 350N jacket with an 800N plastron to make 1150N combined (please note for international competitions like Oceania's for example you will need 800N Jackett and 800N plastron)

Glove, Breeches+Long Socks, Chest Protector (women).

The sabre glove needs to be 800N.

Working Electric Equipment (where applicable to your weapon): Weapon, Body Wire, Mask Wire, Lamé, 350N Mask (with electric bib for foil), Cuff/Gauntlet.

Please note that all masks must have two methods of securing them to your head (e.g. tongue and strap, double safety strap). Masks with frayed or worn elastic are unsafe and may be rejected.

Blades do not need to have an FIE stamp at regional competitions.

Epees: Leon Paul SR­1 blades with the V profile stamped 2013 to 2015 will not be accepted.

Leon Paul X-Change Masks: Require the secondary safety strap.

If a higher standard of equipment is available we recommend that you use it.

Full attire must be worn at all ranking competitions including breeches.

Track suits and track suit trousers are not suitable for a fencing competition. This rule was introduced in 2020 and the decision was made for safety reasons.

If you don’t own the full attire please see your coach or club or send an email to us. We will try our best to help.

If you seriously tried and failed to acquire a part of the whites you lack, we may be able to make an exception. You must obtain that in writing (via email to the tournament organiser) by least the Thursday before the event. Entry is at the discretion of the DT and head referee.

Every fencer takes full responsibility to wear suitable whites and mask in good working order. There can be no claim laid against Fencing North for failing to do so.

Whites or club/school tracksuit are to be worn for presentations and/or podium.

Trans Gender Policy

We have adopted the IOC trans gender policy. Please read here.

If you wish to choose your gender or are a gender fluid fencer please contact the Head of Tournaments directly for the best solution.

Set up/ closing:

Every fencer is expected to help with set up and taking it down at the end. We fully understand that it can be disruptive for competitors and we do accept family members and friends helping instead.

Our organisation is made up of volunteers, mainly families of fencers or fencers themselves.

Our objective is to have a well run & fun tournament. Your positive support makes a better event for all.

Contact

If you have questions or seek clarification on any matter regarding tournaments that can not be answered by your coach

Please contact us via the contact link in About Fencing North.

Legal

U14s must be under supervision of a parent, guardian or nominated responsible adult. Please make arrangements accordingly.

Your entry into a Fencing North competition constitutes acknowledgement of the Terms and Conditions of this document. Participation remains the discretion of the DT (Tournament Director).

This document may be updated at Fencing North's discretion. It is advised that you reread this document when you enter each tournament.

Photography:

Photography is allowed at all Fencing North competitions. The competition venue is considered a public space.

Non public spaces with full respect of privacy are the changing rooms and the toilets. No photography is allowed in there.

Please do not change in public spaces. If you do, you waive your right to privacy.

Pictures taken at the event can be published on social media, the internet and printed media by Fencing North. This includes spectators and officials.

See nzlaw.co.nz for more details.

Fencing North

Fencing North Sponsor
February 2020

Fencing North Committee Meeting

3^rd February, 2020

Meeting Opened: 7:04pm

Present: David Elder, Katie Logan, Amanda Hopkins, James Harwood, Peter Butler, Maja Saran, Rhys Greensill, Ryan Yan, Sunnie Sun.

Apologies: Judit Fliszar.

Confirmation of the Previous Minutes:

November Meeting: David moved that the minutes for November 2019 be accepted as correct. Maja seconded. Motion carried.

December Meeting: David moved that the minutes for December 2019 be accepted as correct. Sunnie seconded. Motion carried.

Treasurer’s Report: The Treasurer’s Report was deferred due to time constraints. Fencing North has not made any significant financial transactions since the previous meeting.

Competitions: There is one regional tournament in the upcoming month: the W Dawn on the 23^rd of February.  

Competition Organisation: Maja and Peter reported on the current status of tournament organisation. The main points were:

• The W Dawn competition details and entry form are already online. This competitions and others this year will be using RegisterNow, an online event registration service. All payment will also be online, with RegisterNow charging a small (3%) fee to each person who enters.
• For the W Dawn, entries will close on the Wednesday before the competition and there will be a late fee after that. The timetable may be changed closer to the time based on entry numbers.
• Peter and Maja have created a tournament terms and conditions document or entry agreement, which all competitors must agree to in order to enter competitions. This document is available on the Fencing North website (Useful Files section) and is intended to be a living document, changing to reflect improvements to procedures and expectations of fencers.
• The committee discussed the current state of the Fencing Time system. Currently our Fencing Time database is very messy, with many fencers entered multiple times. This causes issues between Fencing North competition results and Fencing New Zealand rankings, and is not easy to fix with the current database. To begin enforcing consistency, Maja has asked for all fencers to sign up to RegisterNow using their passport name; this also brings us in line with international standards. Rhys pointed out that a database ID would be the obvious way of ensuring that there was only one version of each fencer. Katie and Maja will investigate possibilities for resolving these issues.
• Currently there is no one willing to act as head referee or referee coordinator for this year. It is vital that someone put their hand up to help resolve issues with referee motivation and payment this year.
• The committee discussed the Oceanic Juniors competition, which is coming up quickly for the end of May. David has accepted the role of organiser for this competition, and is planning to put together a subcommittee.
  David has currently secured a preliminary booking at the West Wave Recreation Centre; however, he is still exploring other venues such as the Diocesan School Gym.
  There was also discussion of the need to provide or find skilled referees, with the conclusion that we will likely need to either require that regional fencing teams contribute referees, or increase the entry fee to cover flights.
  David, Peter and Maja will meet to discuss the tournament requirements and talk to the NZ Officiating Commission.
• For President’s Cup we have a booking at Te Pai Netball Centre, although it may be possible to get a booking at Diocesan if it is suitable.

Club Competitions:
James presented the committee with his plans for the 2020 Auckland University Fencing Epee Invitational. This will be held on Easter Saturday and will be a fun, informal competition with prize money available.
Sunnie and Ryan presented their plans for a Massey University Fencing Sabre competition, likely to be held on Easter Sunday. They plan to give every person who enters the competition a new electric sabre to encourage further participation in regional competitions this year.
Both of these competitions will be advertised on the Fencing North website and Facebook page.

Referee Development Course: The first two sessions of this course were very successful, although it has been on hold for a while due to Anya being away. It should start up again soon as a feeder for our regional competitions.

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

• Fencing New Zealand has introduced new membership requirements for clubs in order to better capture the number of fencers in the country. This year, instead of asking individuals to sign up for free affiliation tiers, their club will sign them up by providing information to Fencing New Zealand. This is very important for building up the infrastructure of the sport. For more information, email Amanda Hopkins (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
• Neil Young has resigned from the position of Health and Safety Officer for FeNZ.
• The FeNZ AGM is approaching on the 15^th of March. There are no positions up for re-election, but Hamish Bulmer has put forward a national mask design for approval.

Other Business:

Setting of Meeting Dates for 2020: David set the meetings for 2020 to the last Monday of the month (at the executive’s discretion).

Fundraising: Rhys and David reported on the current state of Fencing North’s funding applications.

• Our application to the Trillian Trust was rejected because we could not provide a current Tax Exemption Certificate. David has applied to the IRD for one and we will apply to Trillian again when it is available.
• Our application to The Trusts Community Foundation is currently being considered and should be answered in the next two weeks.
• The NZ Community Trust now has a single funding cycle in August/September.
• Other possible options for funding are the Four Winds trust and reapplying for the Auckland Council Grant.

Promotion: David mentioned that there was a possible chance for fencing to be played on Sky Sport Next, which would be a huge advertisement for the sport.

Meeting Closed: 9:00pm.

Important Notice: The date of the Ongley Open has been changed from the 15th of March (Sunday) to the 14th (Saturday). See the full calendar here.

It is with great sadness that Fencing North has to advise that on Tuesday 14th January 2020, Linda Boyd, mother of Alice Boyd and past treasurer of Fencing North passed away ❤️

She fought a strong and brave battle for 10 months and never lost positivity. Her funeral and celebration of her life will be held on Wednesday 22nd of January at 11am, at All Saints Anglican Church, Howick.

At Linda’s request, please wear bright and cheerful colours ? Anyone and everyone are invited, she touched the lives of so many so please come and celebrate her beautiful life with her family.

Fencing North Special Committee Meeting – 1^st December 2019

Meeting Opened: 2:50pm.

Present: David Elder, Amanda Hopkins, Katie Logan, Maja Saran, Ryan Yan, Sunnie Sun, Daniel Shi, Mary Black.

Apologies: Sam Kenney (proxy: David Elder), Peter Butler (proxy: Maja Saran), Andi Liu (proxy: Katie Logan).

Appointment of the Head of Tournaments, 2019: David proposed that Maja Saran be appointed Head of Tournaments for 2019. Mary seconded. The motion passed with all in favour, and the committee expressed their thanks and congratulations to Maja for taking on the role.

Meeting Closed: 2:51pm.

Fencing North Annual General Meeting 2019
Onehunga Community Centre
2pm, 1^st December

Meeting Opened: 2:11pm.

Present:
David Elder
Amanda Hopkins
Katie Logan
Maja Saran
Ryan Yan
Sunnie Sun
Daniel Shi
Mary Black

Apologies:
Sam Kenney (proxy: David Elder)
Peter Butler (proxy: Maja Saran)
Andi Liu (proxy: Katie Logan)

Confirmation of the Previous Minutes: Sunnie moved that the minutes from the 2018 AGM be accepted as correct. Katie seconded. Carried with all in favour.

President’s Report: David gave the President’s Report. Mary seconded David’s report. The report was accepted with all in favour.
The report will circulated to all members via email.

Treasurer’s Report: Amanda presented and discussed the financial statements for 2019. The society has made a significant loss this year. Amanda recommended some areas where expenditures could be decreased, as well as that Fencing North should seek funding to offset hall hire in 2020.
Katie seconded Amanda’s report. The report was accepted with all in favour.

Election of Executive Officers: One nomination was received for each executive position:

• President: David Elder
• Vice President: Sunnie Sun
• Treasurer: Amanda Hopkins
• Secretary: Katie Logan

Mary moved that the nominees be elected as a bloc. Maja seconded. The officers were elected with all in favour.

Amendments to the Constitution: A proposed set of amendments to the Fencing North Constitution was tabled by Katie Logan (second: Amanda Hopkins), for the purpose of creating the new executive position of Head of Tournaments. This is to be an appointed position charged with running Fencing North tournaments.

Following some discussion, some minor changes to the wording of the initially proposed article 12.5 were made. The full text of the amendments is attached.

David moved that the amendments to the constitution, with the changes noted at this meeting, be accepted altogether. Katie seconded. The motion passed with all in favour.

The meeting discussed further the possibility of rewriting the Fencing North Constitution entirely to bring it into the modern day. However, Amanda noted that the Incorporated Societies Act is likely to be completely replaced c. 2021, and it would be counterproductive for us to change our constitution before knowing the stipulations of the new Act.

Setting of Affiliation Fees for 2020: In recent years, the cost to affiliate to Fencing North has been free for all membership tiers. Although Fencing North has lost money this year, increasing affiliation fees would likely only bring in a fraction of what is earned through events. Further, Fencing New Zealand will be increasing its affiliation fee in 2020. Fencing North remains dedicated to reducing barriers to entry by retaining a low affiliation fee.

David proposed that the Fencing North affiliation fee remain at $0 for all membership tiers. Maja seconded. The motion was carried with all in favour.

Meeting Closed: 2:49pm.

Appendix: Amendments to the Fencing North Constitution

Amendment to Article 10.1
Current Text: The management of the business and affairs of the Council shall be vested in the Executive which shall consist of a President, Vice-President, Secretary, Minute Secretary (if required), Treasurer and Delegates.
Proposed Text: The management of the business and affairs of the Council shall be vested in the Executive which shall consist of a President, Vice-President, Secretary, Minute Secretary (if required), Treasurer, Head of Tournaments and Club Delegates.

Amendment to Article 10.2
Current Text: The Officers shall be elected at the annual general meeting of the Council and shall hold office until the conclusion of the next annual general meeting when they shall retire.
Proposed Text: The President, Vice-President, Secretary, Minute Secretary (if required) and Treasurer shall be elected at the annual general meeting of the Council and shall hold office until the conclusion of the next annual general meeting when they shall retire.

Addition of Article 10.7
The Head of Tournaments shall be appointed by the Executive at any meeting of the Executive, and shall hold office until the conclusion of the next annual general meeting when they shall retire. The Head of Tournaments may be removed from that position at any meeting of the Executive by a majority of at least three-fifths of the Individual Members present, in person or by proxy.

Addition of Article 12.5
The Head of Tournaments shall ensure the organisation of all tournaments for which the Council is responsible.

Fencing North Committee Meeting – 25^th November 2019

Meeting Opened: 7:15pm.

Present: David Elder, Katie Logan, Amanda Hopkins, Maja Saran, Peter Butler, Ryan Yan, Sunnie Sun.

Apologies: Mary Black (proxy: David Elder).

Confirmation of the Previous Minutes: Katie moved that the minutes from October be accepted. David seconded. Motion carried.

Matters Arising: David reported that the referee development course announced at the last meeting was now underway.

Health and Safety: There were no health and safety incidents or issues reported this month. Action point: David will talk to Neil Young (FeNZ Health and Safety Officer) regarding Fencing North’s obligations for health and safety.

Treasurer’s Report: Amanda gave the treasurer’s report for November. She noted that Fencing North owed Oliver Agnew $865 for website fees over the past three years. David seconded her report. The report was accepted.
There was also discussion of the society’s liability insurance and whether it was possible to decrease our insurance fees by contracting independently rather than through FeNZ. David pointed out that Trusts required a high level of liability insurance. Action point to Amanda to look into alternative insurance models.

Competitions:

Tournament Calendar: The committee inspected the draft calendar for 2020, which is largely booked with Trusts and almost ready to release. However, we are currently still missing venues for both of our National events; David is looking into options.

Head of Tournaments/Tournament Team: Maja as prospective Head of Tournaments presented her plans for putting together a tournament team for 2020. She mentioned that she had discussed some of her plans with the Head of the NZ Fencing Officiating Commission and gained his approval.
The committee discussed the need for a Head of Referees for the region; this person would not necessarily be the Head Referee at each competition, but would be largely involved in coordination of referees in the region as a whole.
There was also some discussion around ensuring the availability of first aid-trained officials at competitions, and doing stocktake and repair of competition equipment before the end of the year.

FeNZ News: David and Amanda reported the FeNZ news.

FeNZ has produced and will soon be circulating an affiliation spreadsheet to clubs. All clubs will be requested to affiliate all of their members to the free social affiliation tier next year.

Judit Fliszar is currently attending a coaching development course being held in Christchurch as part of the FeNZ High Performance Development program.

Fencing North would like to express its congratulations to two fencers from our region: to Lena Jacob, who has been selected to attend the OFC Junior Worlds Training Camp; and to Rebecca Jameson, who has achieved the Oceanic Olympic qualification for Modern Pentathlon.

Other Business:

Fundraising – Trillian Trust: David moved the following:
Fencing North shall apply to Trillian Trust for UKP 13,898 (est. NZD 27,935), that being UKP 10,157 towards the cost of four new Sectional Pistes for running tournaments, and UKP 3,741 towards the cost the associated piste trolleys to carry them.
Peter seconded. The motion was carried.

Meeting Closed: 9:12pm.