British Fencing Association

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British Fencing Association
BFA
Sport Fencing
Jurisdiction United Kingdom
Affiliation FIE
Regional affiliation CEE
Headquarters London
Chairman David Teasdale
Chief Exec Piers Martin
Official website
www.britishfencing.com
United Kingdom

British Fencing is the national governing body (NGB) for the Olympic sport of Fencing in the British Isles (excluding the Republic of Ireland).

History

In 1902, the Amateur Fencing Association (AFA) was founded as the governing body for amateur fencing in the UK. (The governing body for professional fencing, the British Academy of Fencing, was not founded in its current form until 1949). However, the requirements for amateurism have now been dissolved, and professionalism is permitted in the UK, so in 1996 the name was changed to the British Fencing Association.

The AFA's had combined twin roles as both Home Country Governing Body for England and National Governing Body. Not long after the British Fencing Association was formed, a new, separate body - England Fencing - was formed specifically to carry out the certain Governing Body activities for England. Over time, the boundary between the two roles has eroded.

In recent years, the 'Association' word was dropped from usage and the term 'British Fencing' is now the commonly used name for the organisation.

In January 2011 British Fencing announced a five-year sponsorship deal worth £1million with Beazley Group, the specialist Lloyd’s insurer. Beazley was the principal sponsor – as well as the official insurer - of British Fencing until the end of 2015.

Activities of the BFA

BF is responsible for all international fencing conducted while representing Great Britain. They control the selection criteria for all relevant competitions. They are responsible for any attendance by fencers at official FIE competitions, including the World Championships and World Cup competitions, and also at the Olympics under the IOC.

BF is also responsible for all national domestic events. It runs British Championships in a variety of age categories and at all three weapons of fencing (foil, épée and sabre). In addition, a series of national 'Opens' are held by independent organisers affiliated to the BFA. These events collect points, which are used by the BFA to create national rankings at senior, junior (U20) and cadet (U17) level.

BF is responsible for ensuring that the sport has a robust governance structure, appropriately insured, and that those operating within the sport are appropriately qualified.

BF sets out the Safety Standards, rules and guidelines under which the sport operates.

BF also runs coaching schemes, and other activities relating to the promotion of fencing in the UK.

BF publishes a magazine, The Sword.

British Fencing currently receives funding from Sport England and UK Sport.

Sponsorship

In December 2015, a five-year sponsorship deal worth £1million with Beazley Group, the specialist Lloyd’s insurer came to an end.

During that time the investment from Beazley helped fund Great Britain teams (including Paralympic hopefuls), The National Academy, programs for increased grassroots participation to the sport, British Fencing run events, including World Cup events as well as Marketing and promotion of the sport.

BF is currently seeking sponsors.

World Class Performance Programme

The World Class Performance Programme (WCPP) is a programme which helps British Fencing to fund those athletes who are likely to achieve podium success at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

As at March 2016, the WCPP supports up to 18 fencers. These fencers include 10 from the very successful men's foil squad who have recently achieved the qualification standard for the Rio 2016 Olympics (subject to BOA ratification).

WCP Programme Fencers include: RIO SQUAD

Fencer Weapon
James A Davis Men's Foil
Laurence Halsted Men's Foil
Richard Kruse Men's Foil
Marcus Mepstead Men's Foil
Nathalia Sheppard Women's Foil
Alex Crutchett Men's Sabre
James Honeybone Men's Sabre

TOKYO SQUAD

Fencer Weapon
Kristjan Archer Men's Foil
Amol Rattan Men's Foil
Alex Tofalides Men's Foil
Curtis Millar Men's Sabre
Kirk Slankard Men's Sabre
Jonathan “JJ” Webb Men's Sabre

Rankings

Fencers are ranked by category (Cadet, Junior and Senior), weapon (foil, épée or sabre) and gender.

Rankings are calculated from ranking points earned in competitions attended by the fencers. The amount of points earned depends on the strength of the competition as well as how well the fencer did.

Current rankings can be found on the British Fencing Website.

Governance

The Board of British Fencing (BF) is responsible for the overall governance, development and management of the sport of fencing in GB. The Board sets the strategic direction of the sport, appoints the CEO and monitors progress and results.

The Board consists of twelve Board Directors, of whom eight are elected and four appointed by the Board (these four being the Chair of the Board and of British Fencing, an Additional Director and two Independent Directors). The Board’s quorum rules specify that the elected members must always be in the majority. In addition to these voting directors, Board meetings are attended by the BF President and Home Country and athlete representatives. Staff members attend some meetings, or parts of meetings, to brief/advise the Board.

Subdivisions

Under its auspices the six Home Nations (Wales, England, Northern Ireland, Guernsey, Jersey and Scotland) have their own governing bodies. The country is further subdivided into 'regions'.

Home Nations Governing Bodies

Regions

Administration

The British Fencing office is based at 1 Baron's Gate, 33-35 Rothschild Road, London W4 5HT. Its current Chief Executive is Georgina Usher.

External links

References

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