Fencing North Meeting – 29th April 2019
Meeting Opened: 7:13pm
Present: David Elder, Amanda Hopkins, Katie Logan, Vicky Fan, Neil Young, Mary Black, Kyle Nankivell, Matt Houtman, Judit Fliszar, Ryan Yan, Sunnie Sun, Murray McGuire-Barnes, Matt Stanley.
Confirmation of the Previous Minutes: David moved that the minutes for March be accepted. Neil seconded. Motion carried.
Matters Arising: The committee discussed the new affiliation tiers which were mentioned at the previous meeting and have recently been placed on the FeNZ website. Judit pointed out that the wording of the new tiers is very confusing and off-putting, especially to new fencers and parents; David agreed to raise this issue at the upcoming FeNZ meeting.
In the previous meeting the committee had discussed referee per diems. David had raised this at the following FeNZ meeting and confirmed that Fencing North could not offer more than the official FeNZ rate of $50 per diem.
Murray noted that insufficient equipment had again been a problem for some schools at the recent secondary schools competitions. David agreed to email schools in advance of the next competition and remind them of their gear requirements.
David mentioned that he had made an error in the distribution of FIE gear to clubs, and may need to recall some equipment to rectify this.
Health and Safety: Neil reported that he had not received notice of any incidents this month.
The committee discussed ways of making large competitions safer. Judit suggested that we could invite any spectators with medical expertise to make themselves known to tournament organisers. Ryan presented some diagram of piste setup which would provide more space for fencers and referees. These will be trialed at upcoming competitions.
Treasurer’s Report: Amanda gave the treasurer’s report. She reported that the society was in better financial health with competition fees coming in, although referee per diems have not yet been paid. Katie moved that her report be accepted. Vicky seconded. Motion carried.
Payments: Some payments are outstanding to David Elder for expenses related to moving equipment from Massey to Trusts Arena. Fencing North thanks David, Katie, Jess Gracie and David’s family for their help with the move.
Competitions: Fencing North has three competitions in the upcoming month: Larsen Foil on the 11th, Secondary School Individuals #2 on the 18th, and Fenton Epee on the 25th.
Tournament Sub-committee: Katie moved that Ainslie McGuire-Barnes be appointed to the tournament sub-committee for this year. Amanda seconded. Motion carried.
Referee Sub-committee: Mary moved that Ryan be appointed to the referee sub-committee. Amanda seconded. Motion carried.
FeNZ News: David reported news from FeNZ:
- Steve Clark is beginning to organise a national high performance development programme.
- Although the FeNZ insurance currently does not include clubs, Richard Johnston is looking to arrange a special deal for affiliated clubs with our provider, Marsh.
- The feedback that Fencing North received about the recent National Under-20s event was passed on the FeNZ. It was acknowledged that the repechage format was poorly organised and communicated. However, since this format provides more fencing to competitors and will be used at Asian Champs there is a desire to implement repechage in national competitions going forward.
- FeNZ voted to end the trial of high-performing female fencers being permitted to enter men’s national events.
Other Business:
Training Camps: Two coaches have approached Fencing North about organising training camps this year. There is also some interest in coach training. The committee agreed to support any proposed camps.
Meeting Closed: 9:05pm.