DEAMER AND MCLELLAN PASS FIE REFEREEING EXAMS

BF Referees Euan Deamer (Foil) and Sam McLellan (Sabre) have passed the 2022 FIE refereeing exams held in Budapest this week. 

Two British Referees were entered for the 2022 FIE Refereeing exams held in Budapest, Hungary, this week. Euan Deamer was entered for foil and Sam McLellan entered for sabre.

Sam McLellan said:

“I am very pleased to have passed the exam, and do it alongside my close pal, Euan. The long process to the licence requires a lot of mentorship and support. I am particularly grateful to the EFC mentor, Vasil Milenchev; British Fencing’s pathway led by Adrian Speakman; Patrick Jennings for his Sabristic support; BF referee manager Nickie Bailey for her unwavering help, and the fairly awesome people who mentor me quietly and privately from the sidelines. They know who they are. I accept this licence as an invitation to officially keep learning and progressing in international refereeing: not as an end in itself. It merely marks, in my view, the end of the beginning.”

Euan Deamer said:

“I wanted to say a massive thank you to all those who have supported me on my journey from a shy 17-year-old referee to achieving my FIE licence in foil. I know my work isn’t done, but huge credit must go to the refereeing pathway and all those involved in helping me. British Fencing has been key both in helping me prepare for the exam, and in a broader sense through mentoring, feedback and support.”

Georgina Usher, BF CEO, added:

“On behalf of BF I’d like to extend my congratulations to Sam and Euan who gained their FIE licences. Since gaining their EFC licences, both referees have worked incredibly hard in further developing their skills to FIE level and preparing for these exams. I’d like to thank everyone who supported this, both formally and informally.  These referees are a credit to British Fencing and further evidence that our referee training and development activities are producing high quality referees that meet the professional standards set by the FIE”.

NIckie Bailey, BF Referee Manager, said:

“As Referee Manager I am delighted to have witnessed the progression of both Sam and Euan: from the beginning of their referee journeys, to gaining their level 3 qualifications, joining the Referee Pathway Program and achieving their EFC C licenses.  The success of the new Level 3 referee qualification system, combined with peer mentoring, is already starting to increase the strength and depth of our domestic referees. In turn, we are welcoming more referees interested in international refereeing onto the Referee Pathway Programme where we can support the journey from Level 3 to FIE qualification. I look forward to watching the developments of all of our referees over the next season as we return to fencing better and stronger.”

More information about the Level 3 referee qualifications can be found here and the Referee Pathway Programme here.

For those who would like to see what their potential referee journey could look like, click here.

The work of the GBR International Referee Pathway Programme is supported by UK Sport International Relations funding.

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