STANDARDS AND REQUIREMENTS FOR FENCING EVENTS

DRAFT STANDARDS AND REQUIREMENTS FOR BRITISH RANKING COMPETITIONS

Last Updated: 23rd January 2024 – Page is currently under construction and contents will be put out for member consultation before finalising.

Key Points:

Senior Ranking Competitions (“Opens”) – Event Organisers can apply to run a Senior Ranking Competition, commonly referred to as an Open through the BF Membership Platform
Definition of an Open, a ” single weapon (from the 6 Weapon categories), individual Competition held in the UK which any Senior Member is permitted to enter on payment of the appropriate fee. “
Cadet and Junior Ranking Competitions (BRCs) are ran by Event organisers who have applied to run a BRC. The process is organised and licenced through BF for each season.

For all competitions, the club/organisation:

Must have full BF membership and operate under all BF policies and procedures.
Must have access to a fully trained Welfare Officer who will be present at the sanctioned event.
Has sufficient trained and skilled volunteers to support the organisation and running of the event.
All DT members must be members of BF Fencing (or their own National Fencing Federation if international DT members are invited)
All members of the Organising Committee must be members of BF (supporter membership will suffice)
Must document a risk assessment (without this insurance is invalid)
Must publish in advance the details regarding format, referee provision/self refereeing arrangements and availability of changing facilities, refreshments etc.

	BF National Championships	Senior Ranking Competition (Open)	Cadet and/or Junior ‘A’ BRC	Cadet and/or Junior ‘B’ BRC	Non BF Ranking Competitive Events	Recreational Level Events	GB League Events
Event Licence – Application	N/A	BF Membership Platform				BF Online Form	Playwaze
Event Licence – Package	N/A	Package 1			Packages 4-6		Not Required
Event Entries	On Platform				Package 4 – On Platform		Playwaze or any mechanism
Ranking Levy	N/A	Levy per entry, taken at point of payment			No Levy Applies
Format(s)	Format 1	Format 10	Formats 2 – 5	Formats 6 – 9
Head Referee*	FIE Qualified	Experienced L3 +	EFC + Qualified	Experienced L3 +	L3 Referee	N/A
Min Referee Provision*	No self-refereeing. L3 with minimum L2s under Head Referee advice. L3 from L16	Self-refereeing OK. L3 from L4.	No self-refereeing. L3 from L16	No self-refereeing. L3 from L8	N/A	N/A
Pistes	All pistes conductive – sectional or rollout	Marked out and safe.	All pistes conductive – sectional or rollout	Conductive from L16 (foil, epee). Marked out and safe (sabre).	Marked out and safe.	Safe	Safe
Other Equipment	All boxes score and time. Finals piste setup.	Score and time boxes from L4	All boxes score and time.	Score and time boxes from DE.	No minimum	No minimum	N/A
Welfare Officer Requirements	Qualified (With Valid Membership and qualifications) Welfare Officer required to be at the Event throughout						Club session requirements
First Aid Requirements	Dedicated Medical Team	Decisions on medical/first aid provision should be reasonable and documented in the risk assessment. All participants should be considered as part of these decisions. It is the expectation of BF that sports centres and schools will have in place trained medical staff but this should be checked and confirmed by organisers.
Results Submitted	Through the Automated Ranking System. Guidance can be found here. This document includes how to upload results and the deadlines for submission.
Notes			Format to be agreed with BF via to approval of Event Licence.
			Visible promotion of the Fair Play Code (U17)

*L2/L3 standard – There are occasions where there are people in the fencing community with the ability to referee at a L2 or L3 standard but who may not have a current referee qualification. Most often this is the case for GBR athletes who are currently competing at international level and are willing to support domestic competitions by refereeing. Competition organisers may also bring in referees from outside the UK who may not have UK qualifications. It is the responsibility of the Head Referee to approve anyone selected to referee who is not on the current referee register and make sensible decisions about their ability to referee at the standard required. The Head Referee should be on the BF referee register.

Approved Format Lists

FIE Junior Competition Format (no byes)
1 Poule, No cut, DE with repecharge from 64
– 1 Round of poules, 100% promotion
– Direct Elimination with repechage from Tableau of 64 to 32
– Direct Elimination with repechage from Tableau of 32 to 8
– Final tableau of 8
1 Poule, No cut, DE with repecharge from 32
1 Round of poules, 100% promotion
Direct Elimination without repechage to Tableau of 32
Direct Elimination with repechage from Tableau of 32 to 8
Final tableau of 8
1 Poule, No cut, DE no repecharge, 32 placement matches
1 Round of poules, 100% promotion
Direct Elimination without repechage to Tableau of 32
Tableau of 32 with placement matches
1 Poule, No cut, DE to 32 with repecharge, 32 placement matches
1 Round of poules, 100% promotion
Direct Elimination with repechage to Tableau of 32
Tableau of 32 with placement matches
2 Poules, no cut, DE no repechage
2 Rounds of poules, 100% promotion, DE no repechage
2 Poules, no cut, DE to 16, 16 placement
Direct Elimination without repechage to Tableau of 16
Tableau of 16 with placement matches
Progressive Poules
50% promotion, 50% demotion (zero elimination)
Final poule of 6
1 Poule, no cut, DE no repecharge to 16, 2 poules of 8 50% cut, DE from 8.
1 Round of poules, 100% promotion
Direct Elimination without repechage to Tableau of 16
2 x poules of 8, 50% promotion
Final Tableau of 8
Standard Open Competition Formula – broadly in line with FIE Article o.66 and should normally include at least one round of poules. Further information