2023 BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIPS – SENIOR & JUNIOR RANKING POINTS

Ranking points announced for the 2023 British Championship events – the British Senior Championships (‘The Nationals’) in April and the new British Open Championships in June (‘The Open’).

The structure of the two competitions was initially announced in October 2022 – BRITISH SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS 2022-23 – PILOT ANNOUNCED – BRITISH FENCING.

Following several queries from community members, a review has taken place. The scope of this review was to confirm and clarify the ranking points to be awarded at each competition and which competitive age category will be eligible for ranking points.

The outcome of the review is as follows:

GBR Selection

• To be eligible for GBR selection, fencers must compete in at least one of the Championship events.
• To be granted an exemption, athletes invited to participate in the British Senior Championships in April must demonstrate that they cannot attend both events (the Nationals in April and the Open in June).
• Following the lifting of COVID travel restrictions, being based overseas is not a reason for granting the exemption.

Seniors & U23s

• Points for the 2023 British Senior Championships ‘The Nationals’ in April will replace the June 2022 British Senior Championships.
• The 2023 British Open Championships ‘The Open’ in June will be a new event.
• The multiplier for the event will be fixed at 700.

For more information about how many domestic results count towards BF Senior Rankings, click HERE.

Juniors (U20s)

• There will be Junior Ranking Points available for both events.
• Points for the 2023 British Senior Championships (April) event will replace the June 2022 British Senior Championships.
• The 2023 Open (June) will be an additional event in the Junior calendar.
• The multiplier for the 2023 British Senior Championships (April) will be 250.
• The multiplier for the 2023 British Open Championships (June) will be 300.
• There is no increase in the total number of competitions which count towards the Junior ranking.
• The start of the season for the Cadets and Juniors will be after the respective World Championships 2023, from 9th April 2023.
• No Cadet ranking points will be awarded for either Championship event. Please note seeding for the Championship events will be taken from the Senior rankings, and therefore the Cadet Transition bonus for the 23-24 season will be published before the 1st BRCs of the new season.

The Ranking Scheme document has been updated to reflect these outcomes.

Review Considerations 

1. At the time of the original announcement, there was a lack of clarity on the Junior points at the 2023 British Senior Championships (April) due to the unknown impact of the entry restrictions and the schedule of the Junior World Championships.
2. There is a significant number of Juniors in the Top 50 Senior Rankings  – between 18-25% for at least four disciplines at the review time.
3. Without awarding Junior Rankings points, the risk is that some disciplines would not be viable competitions, and Junior athletes would be discouraged from participating in a valuable development opportunity.
4. With the impact of the cost of living, for those Junior athletes also competing in Seniors, there is an opportunity to rationalise their competition calendars and save money.
5. The British Senior Championships in April and the addition of the new Open in June create an additional opportunity for Juniors to score or improve ranking points ( before the start of the International season).
6. The Junior Rankings are rolling, so the impact of adding an additional ranking point scoring opportunity (without increasing the total number of events that count towards a ranking) is reduced.
7. There will be the same point-scoring opportunities (season start BRCs and Junior Nationals) before the first International Junior selection for the 23-24 season.
8. Last year Cadets transitioning to first-year Juniors with strong age group rankings and trajectories who focussed on age group internationals and therefore did not compete in sufficient Senior events to make a Senior Top 50 will be considered for an invitation to the Nationals under the wildcard process. (After analysis, the number of athletes this impacts is minimal).
9. The last day of the Junior and Cadet World Championships is the 9th of April, and the Nationals are on the 15th and 16th of April; therefore, athletes competing at World Championships will be able to return in time for the Nationals
10. Nominating the Nationals is consistent for Junior ranking points consistent with previous seasons, including before Covid.
11. Discretionary selection is the mechanism by which individual athletes’ cases can be examined. Should there be any athlete who believes they have been materially disadvantaged by not competing at the Nationals, they have the opportunity to make their case to the selectors (by completing a Discretionary application form)

Please get in touch with us here if you have any questions regarding this news post.

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