Katie Logan
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 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 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.
Fencing North Annual General Meeting
Wednesday 29th November 2017, 7:00pm
Parnell Community Centre, Parnell
Present:
Jess Gracie (Secretary)
Bryce Gracie (President)
Katie Logan
Amanda Hopkins
Oliver Agnew (via Phone)
Andi Liu
Hannah Irwin
David Irwin
Canny Peng
Owain Llyod Davies
Rob Ogg
Vicky Fan
Neil Young
Jess Kaiser
Apologies:
Laura Harvey
Meeting starts 7:00pm:
Minutes from previous meeting:
Motion that SGM be held in January to accept meeting minutes from 2016 AGM.
President’s Report:
Bryce presented a verbal presidents report.
Treasurer’s Report:
Oliver presented his report. Katie moves that we accept the treasurers report, Amanda seconds.
Election of the Executive Officers:
There was only one nominee standing for each position and all were voted in unopposed.
President – Bryce Gracie
Vice President – Eric Busiman
Secretary – Katie Logan
Tresurer – Amanda Hopkins
Setting of Affiliation Fees for 2018:
Amanda moves that we set the fees for Fencing North at $0, Bryce seconds.
Meeting closed at 8.38pm
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.
Specialise in Sabre advanced lessons.
Location: Massey University Recreation Centre, Albany
Weapons: Epee, Foil and Sabre.
Training Times: Fridays 19:00-20:30, Sundays 13:30-15:00
Contact: Sunnie Sun
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Ph:02108299661
Fencing North Meeting – 6th September 2018
Meeting Opened: 7:04pm.
Present: Bryce Gracie, Jess Gracie, Amanda Hopkins, Katie Logan, Nour Malak.
Apologies: Mary Black, Adrian Roberts, Steve King.
Previous Minutes: Katie moved that the minutes from August be accepted. Jess seconded. Motion passed.
Matters Arising from the Previous Minutes: Nour Malak was appointed the Youth Representative for Fencing North. She reported that the high school fencers in our region have been quite confused recently about the situation surrounding the National Secondary School team events and somewhat concerned about the balance of the competition. Fencing North will take this feedback on board when handling such situations in the future.
In the previous meeting, the committee discussed a request by Fencing MidSouth for each region to put in money towards video refereeing equipment. Since then, Fencing MidSouth has withdrawn that request and purchased the equipment themselves.
There was further discussion of potential options for gyms that could be hired for competitions in 2019.
Health and Safety: There have been no reported incidents since the previous meeting. Henry Lockhart was appointed the Safety Officer for Fencing North, as of the Pickworth Open.
Treasurer’s Report: Amanda presented the Treasurer’s Report to the committee and moved that it be accepted. Bryce seconded. Motion passed.
Payments: Fencing North must pay a $500 deposit to Auckland Grammar School for hall hire for the upcoming training camp.
Competitions: There will are two competitions scheduled for the following month: the Pickworth Open competition on the 15th of September, and the New Zealand National Under-20s Championships.
The Fencing North committee had hoped to run a regional team event at the National U20s. Unfortunately, this will not be possible this year due to complications in its organisation.
The committee discussed the scheduling of the Secondary School circuit for 2019. There have been mixed responses from schools about the relative order of team and individual events; however, there is a strong argument for putting the school team events earlier in the year so that teams can be selected more easily for the National event in future. The committee agreed that a good option would be to split up the individual competitions, holding one earlier in the year, then the others after the team events.
Fencing North has run out of gold and silver medals and is low on bronze. Jess moved that Fencing North should order a run of medals (100 gold, 100 silver, 150 bronze) which would last for the next two years, at c. $1700 in total. Nour seconded. Motion passed.
FeNZ News: Bryce and Amanda reported news from the last FeNZ meeting.
FeNZ is currently revising its planned forward calendar for national competitions.
FeNZ has finalised a Code of Conduct for coaches, to be published on their website. There has also been a suggestion that each fencer must agree to the general Code of Conduct upon affiliation.
Recently FeNZ has implemented a country-wide liability insurance policy, which will apply to all affiliated fencers in New Zealand. Each region will pay a share of material damage insurance; this will replace Fencing North’s existing assets insurance.
There have been calls for nominations for two positions: for the role of team manager for Senior Commonwealths, and for members of a Competitions Subcommittee. Bryce proposed that Fencing North nominate Jess Gracie for the Competitions Subcommittee. Katie seconded. Motion passed.
A Level 1 Foil Coaching course will be held in Christchurch across the 5th-7th and 12th-14th of October. This course is intended for fencers who wish to begin coaching others.
Other Business:
New Zealand National Open Teams: Fencing MidSouth has recently announced that there will be a regional team event at the Open Nationals in October this year. The committee decided that Fencing North would put out a call for nominations for selection, which would then be passed to a selections subcommittee. Fencing North’s selected teams would be published by the 23rd of September. Bryce moved that this process be implemented. Amanda seconded. Motion passed.
Fencing North AGM: The Fencing North AGM will be held on the 29th of November. Formal notice and calls for executive nominations will be circulated closer to the time.
Jim Reeve: We are saddened to report the passing of Jim Reeve, long-time fencer and coach in the North region. Fencing North would like to extend our condolences to Jim’s family, friends and club for their loss.
Meeting Closed: 8:04pm.
Fencing North Committee Meeting – August 7th 2018
Meeting Opened: 7:03pm
Present: Bryce Gracie, Amanda Hopkins, Katie Logan, Jess Gracie, Murray McGuire-Barnes, Adrian Roberts.
Apologies: Mary Black, Stephen King, Matt Stanley.
Previous Minutes: Katie moved that the previous minutes be accepted. Bryce seconded. Motion carried.
Matters Arising from the Previous Minutes: Amanda reported that the fencers who travelled to Oceania Cadets in 2017 have been identified. Katie will contact them for reimbursement of their entry fees.
Katie reported that our initial candidate for the position of Safety Officer declined the role. The committee discussed potential other candidates.
As resolved in the previous meeting, a Refereeing Subcommittee was formed, currently consisting of Laura Harvey, Anya Kamynina and Neil Young.
The committee discussed the Code of Conduct presented by Bryce. This would be a living document applying to all persons attending Fencing North events. Adrian moved that the Code of Conduct be accepted. Katie seconded. Motion passed.
There was further discussion of options for changing the competition venue next year. Jess pointed out that Massey High School had increased their hall hire, making a change of venue even more attractive.
Health and Safety: Jess reported that there had been one minor injury at the recent Secondary Schools foil team event. This was reported to the DT and an incident report form was filed.
Treasurer’s Report: Amanda presented the treasurer’s report. She also moved that the treasurer’s report from July be accepted. Bryce seconded. Motion carried.
Payments: There are two payments for referee per diems outstanding. Vouchers for volunteer referees are still outstanding.
Competitions: There are three competitions in the following month: the final two competitions of the Secondary School team circuit, and the Fenton Open competition.
Jess made a number of suggestions for consideration regarding the organisation of Fencing North competitions in 2019:
The Secondary School individual circuit has become too large to be comfortably run over four days as it has been in the past. Jess recommended that in 2019 the circuit be split over six weekends – three for foil, and three for sabre and epee.
There was discussion of ways to encourage beginner fencers to begin coming to competitions. Jess suggested that a new competition format could be introduced for some events: the Sharks and Minnows format, available on the Fencing Time software. This format allows fencers to be divided into tiers while still providing accurate rankings. However, this format would need FeNZ approval before it could be used. Jess also suggested swapping the position of the Secondary School individual and team events in the calendar as a potential way of encouraging new fencers to come to competitions.
Currently the regional Under-15 and Under-17 events are held over a single weekend. Jess recommended separating these again in 2019, and organising a referee development course to accompany each event.
A document received prior to the meeting from Matt Stanley, representing Whangarei Girls High and Whangarei Swords Club, was read to the committee. The document protested the exclusion of composite teams from the Secondary Schools team circuit this year, and made recommendations for the running of the event in 2019. The committee discussed the submission and agreed that the exclusion of composite teams from these competitions had been unpopular and was contrary to Fencing North’s aim of increasing participation at all levels. Therefore, it was agreed that the event should allow composite teams in 2019, as well as offering a composite team round alongside the upcoming school foil team final on the 18th of August. It was suggested that school clubs be canvassed for their opinions on the matter, since they are the most affected by composite teams in the competition. Various ways of regulating the composition of composite teams were discussed.
National Secondary School Teams: In the previous month, Fencing MidSouth made the announcement that the upcoming National Secondary School teams event would be run on the basis of selected regional teams rather than school teams as in the past few years.
On the 26th of July an ad hoc meeting of the committee was held to determine the selection method for these teams. The two options presented for voting were as follows: selection of individual fencers, based on the national rankings, to be combined into regional composite teams; and selection of schools to send teams, also based on national rankings. Votes were taken both by email before the meeting and from those present. The second option (school teams) was passed by a majority. At that meeting also preliminary selections were made and approved by those present, to be confirmed at the regular committee meeting on the 7th of August.
Confirmation of Preliminary Team Selections: Adrian moved that the preliminary team selections be confirmed with slight emendations. Jess seconded. Motion passed. Katie will contact the selected schools and organise entering their teams into the competition.
Formal Objection to the Regional Team Format: The decision to move to a regional team format has been extremely unpopular in the North region. It had been decided that Bryce, on behalf of Fencing North, would present a formal objection to this change at the FeNZ committee on the 8th of August. Murray moved to ratify this formal objection. Jess seconded. Motion carried.
Proposed Training Camp: Amanda reported a proposal from Anya that she run a training camp after the National Juniors Championship in Auckland this year. The committee discussed what Fencing North’s role should be in the organisation of training camps. It was decided that the committee should take a more active role in running camps, but that there should be a more formal process of applying for Fencing North support. Bryce moved that Fencing North take on an organisational role in this upcoming training camp, including providing capital where needed and earning profits where merited. Jess seconded. Motion passed.
FeNZ News: Apart from upcoming discussion of the National Secondary Teams event, there was no other notable FeNZ news.
Other Business: MidSouth has made a request for contributions from the other regions to purchase video refereeing equipment. This equipment would be hosted in the MidSouth region, but would be available to lend to other regions. Bryce will circulate further information for consideration.
Meeting Closed: 9:23pm.
Fencing North Committee Meeting – July 6th 2018
Meeting Opened: 7.13pm.
Present: Bryce Gracie, Jess Gracie, Mary Black, Adrian Roberts, Katie Logan.
Apologies: Judit Fliszar, Laura Harvey.
Previous Minutes: There was no meeting in June due to the lack of a quorum. Amanda moved that we accept the minutes for the May meeting. Katie seconded. Motion carried.
Matters arising from the Previous Minutes: We have yet to reimburse entry fees for the Oceania Cadet champs, as resolved in September 2017. Amanda will continue to work on this.
Katie has been unable to contact the nominated candidate for Youth Representative. She will continue to attempt to contact this candidate, and if unable the committee will look into other ways of appointing a representative.
Health and Safety: Jess reported that there have been several incident reports filed in the last two months: three from North Islands and one from Secondary Schools. All incidents were handled with due process using the Injury Reporting Form. At the Secondary Schools competitions, the officials identified an increasing hazard from fencers and guests crossing the pistes while fencing was in progress. This was mitigated by setting up rope barriers to mark the boundaries of the fencing area.
Amanda reported that FeNZ is appointing a Safety Officer, and suggested that Fencing North do the same. This position would involve collating Accident and Injury Forms, identifying and mitigating hazards at Fencing North events and reporting any significant issues to Fencing North. Katie is to look into potential candidates for this appointment.
Treasurer’s Report: Amanda presented the treasurer’s report. Entry fees from the Secondary Schools competitions and several from North Islands remain to be banked.
Payments: We have not yet purchased most of the vouchers for referees at recent competitions.
There was discussion around whether Fencing North should give monetary support to fencers travelling to Commonwealth Juniors this year. This opened up the larger issue of Fencing North’s overall strategy for supporting our high-level fencers at overseas competitions. It was decided that this strategy discussion be part of the agenda for the following meeting.
Competitions: Jess reported that the recent Secondary School competitions were a great success, with over a hundred competitors at most of the competitions. In the next month there is only one competition, the Macleavy Sabre on July 14th.
Jess observed that this round of competitions proved that the gym at Massey High School was too small for the Secondary School competitions, and that it was becoming extremely difficult to run these competitions on a single day. Jess and Bryce have been looking into the possibility of hiring a larger gym, and suggested Massey University as a possible candidate. This gym is larger, more easily accessible by public transport and relatively affordable; further Fencing North could hire only half of the gym for smaller competitions. Bryce and Jess will continue looking into the situation at Massey University (including ongoing issues such as equipment storage), as well as considering other options, especially in more central locations.
FeNZ News: Amanda reported that FeNZ has received an offer from FIE of 5000 Swiss Francs’ worth of equipment. It is not yet known what proportion of this grant Fencing North will receive, but FeNZ has asked for submissions for the types of equipment each region would like. The committee decided to request jackets, plastrons and masks, which can then be distributed.
Other Business:
Referee Leadership: A few recent incidents at competitions have shown that there is a need for leadership among referees. Amanda suggested that we form a small Refereeing Subcommittee made up of experienced and involved referees. Members of this subcommittee would have authority over and responsibility for referees at competitions, and would provide support for developing referees. This subcommittee would also provide an official channel for escalating and resolving any issues arising between referees and other people at competitions.
Katie moved that this suggested be accepted. Mary seconded. Motion carried. Amanda is to approach potential candidates for this subcommittee.
Code of Conduct: Bryce presented a draft version of a Fencing North Code of Conduct for comment. This Code would be posted at the door at any Fencing North event, and apply to all people attending.
Training Camp: A training camp being organised by Anya, to be held in early October, was discussed.
North Harbour Fencing Club: Adrian reported that the North Harbour Fencing Club is in the process of closing, only waiting for the final reports to be submitted. It has closed its bank account according to its constitution, with remaining funds of $120 devolving to Fencing North. The majority of the club’s fencers have become members of JF Fencing School, and NHFC wishes them all the best.
Meeting Closed: 9:17pm.
Fencing North Committee Meeting – May 3rd 2018
Meeting Opened: 7:14pm
Present: Bryce Gracie, Amanda Hopkins, Katie Logan, David Irwin, Jess Gracie (late).
Apologies: Mary Black.
Previous Minutes: Amanda moved that we accept the previous minutes. Bryce seconded. Motion carried.
Matters arising from the Previous Minutes: Jess has been in contact with Daniel Chan of Mainland Fencing. He is offering a wireless scoring box to the school with the highest cumulative individual results.
Health and Safety: There have been no health and safety incidents reported in 2018 at Fencing North competitions so far.
There was discussion of first aid proficiency within Fencing North. There are usually at least two people with current first aid certificates at Fencing North competitions. To increase these numbers, it was suggested that Fencing North might either fund or organise first aid courses for a certain number of members.
FeNZ now has an official Action and Injury Reporting Form, which is available for download on the FeNZ website. Fencing North will be using this form to report any incidents occurring at Fencing North events, and encourages schools and clubs to use this form in the absence of any formal club procedures.
Treasurer’s Report: Amanda verbally presented the Treasurer’s Report. Amanda moved that her report be accepted. Jess seconded. Motion carried.
Payments: No payments have been made since the previous meeting. A few payments are outstanding. As approved by email vote in the previous month, Fencing North shall reimburse the flights of Bruce Ng and Christine Chen, who participated in a referee training event in Wellington. Also approved by email vote were subsidies for participants in a training course for epee coaching, run by Kyle Macdonald. Finally, in September 2017 it was resolved to reimburse the individual entry fees for North fencers competing at the 2018 Oceania Cadet Championship in New Caledonia. Amanda will find the names of these fencers and contact them for reimbursement.
Competitions: Jess presented the current competition situation to the committee. In the following month, Fencing North will be holding the Secondary School circuit and North Islands.
Organisational matters for North Islands were discussed. The entry fee for the open event was set at $55 for the first weapon, and $25 for subsequent weapons. The entry fee for the veterans event was set at $35.
FeNZ News: Bryce and Amanda shared news from FeNZ. FeNZ will not adopt the new requirements for mask fastenings and padded chest protectors which will be implemented at FIE competitions after the upcoming World Champs. However, FeNZ will require more stringent checking of mask fastenings by referees at the piste.
Other Business: Both the referee training course in Wellington and the first session of the epee coach training course have been reported as successes.
Youth Representative: Fencing North has received the resignation of our youth representative, Jessica Kaiser. Applications will be opened for a new youth representative, to be selected at the next committee meeting.
Meeting Closed: 8:21pm.