National School Sports Week (25^th-29^th June) saw School Games Level 3 events take place across the country. The School Games, launched by the Youth Sport Trust last June, consists of four levels; intra-school, inter-school, county/regional and national. The Herts School Games was held at the Hertfordshire Sports Village, part of the University of Hertfordshire, on Thursday 28^th June. British Fencing’s GO/FENCE Coordinator, Jack Boteler, was asked by Herts Sports Partnership to run the fencing event at the Games.

Four teams from three School Sports Partnerships entered. At the beginning of 2012, Holly Miles, British Fencing’s former Schools & Clubs Officer, set up a series of GO/FENCE leader courses across Hertfordshire, using Sportivate funding provided by Herts Sports Partnership. The children competing in the event had all either been on a GO/FENCE leaders’ course or had been trained by GO/FENCE leaders in their school. They took part in a team competition in the morning, followed by an individual competition in the afternoon. Four young leaders from Stevenage School Sports Partnership assisted with the officiating of the tournament.

Speaking after the event, Jack Boteler said: “the Herts School Games was a perfect example of how the GO/FENCE programme can be used to promote our sport. Hertfordshire is a county with a rich school sport tradition, but fencing hasn’t been a part of that in the past. By accessing a small pot of funding, we’ve been able to add another sport to the PE curriculum in Hertfordshire. This in turn should help to support the existing fencing clubs within the county, by providing a new, enthusiastic pool of youngsters who want to continue their involvement in fencing.” Tony Marmo, Herts School Games organiser, said: “This was the first time that we’ve held a schools’ fencing competition of this type in Hertfordshire and we really appreciated having someone from the NGB come along to run the event. The competition was well-received and we look forward to holding more fencing events in Hertfordshire in the future.”

For more information on the GO/FENCE programme, please contact Jack Boteler.