2020 BYCS AND GB CUP CANCELLED

In light of ongoing and varying COVID-19 restrictions across the UK, BF confirms the cancellation of the British Youth Championships and GB Cup 2020.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions the 2020 BYCs and GB Cup had been indefinitely postponed from their original scheduled date in May.

Since then we have been exploring all available options, including holding the events behind closed doors and over multiple weekends.  With the recent tiered restrictions brought in across the country we have been forced to take the decision to cancel the events.

The health and safety of all athletes, volunteers and staff is BF’s number one priority, and we continue to work hard to restart competitions when it is safe to do so. We are currently working on plans to support a return to small scale, localised competitions with a flexible format to adapt to ongoing restrictions, which will be submitted to DCMS. At this time, with no competitions able to restart, please note that we are unable to confirm the qualification process for 2021.

Athletes who had entered the BYCs through the Sport80 platform will be automatically refunded. No action is required.  Refunds may take several working days to come through. Athletes who have still not received their refund by Monday 9th November should contact [email protected]

We understand the decision to cancel these events will cause disappointment to those athletes who had qualified through regional events and their supporters and coaches. We are in discussions about how we can celebrate the achievements of so many people who worked so hard to qualify for these events.  For many of our young fencers the BYCs is a significant milestone event in the calendar and we are particularly mindful of the impact on those for whom it would have been their last year.

In the meantime we would like to extend our appreciation and thanks to the volunteers and members of the regional committees for all their hard work.

BF will continue to update our COVID-19 advice here. You can also subscribe to our new weekly summary email featuring the previous week’s latest news and announcements. Sign up here.