Paul Willmott is the nominated COVID-19 Officer at Northampton Fencing Club
All fencers and parents/guardians of fencers must read and adhere to these instructions. This page will be updated with any changes in protocols as advised by BFA.
Fencers who are displaying COVID-19 symptoms or who are self-isolating must not attend the club.
Fencers wishing to attend a session must complete a pre-session health survey and e-mail the survey to president@northamptonfencing.org before every session. The survey can be downloaded from https://www.britishfencing.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Sample-Pre-Session-Health-Survey.docx . By completing the pre-session survey you are agreeing to abide by the COVID-19 rules and instructions as given by the coach or COVID-19 Officer
Where the fencer is under the age of 18 the form must be completed by a parent or guardian.
The pre-session survey will be kept securely by the club for 21 days after the session.
An attendance register will be kept to record the names and contact details of all persons present each evening, i.e. fencers, parents, coaches. The register will be kept for 21 days and may be provided to any public health organisation, if requested, for the purposes of track and trace.
If fencers or parents/guardians cannot immediately enter the hall, you must not wait in the foyer. Please wait outside the building, maintaining social distancing.
All fencers should bring their own sanitising hand gel with them to each session. Face masks must be worn by all fencers, parents/guardians, and club officials when in the fencing hall.
The changing rooms and showers are not available and fencers must attend the session ready to fence.
Parents/guardians must maintain a 2-metre distance from other parents and fencers not from their household
Group stretching and group footwork sessions must adhere to 2m social distancing rules.
All fencers, parents/guardians, coaches and other club Officers must wear a face mask when NOT fencing and maintain 2m social distance. Face covering are not required whilst fencing or undertaking training exercise although participants may choose to continue to use them. Coaches may wish to continue to use face coverings or mask liners and it will be at the coaches discretion whether to insist the pupil must wear a face covering during one to one lessons. A face covering must be worn when refereeing a bout.
Masks, gloves, jackets and chest protectors must not be used by another fencer during the evening. Before using a club mask use the anti bacterial wipes supplied to wipe the inside of the mask.
After using a club mask, jacket, glove or chest protector place the item in the identified “quarantine” area. Kit left in this area must not be reused by another fencer that evening.
Club body wires and the handles of weapons must be sanitised with the provided wipes before and after use. These items may be reused during the evening but must be sanitised. Fencers who have their own clothing should wash it between fencing sessions.
All pistes may now be used, However , where a bout is presided the President must remain 2 m from the sides of the piste and wear a face mask .
There is no longer a requirement for fencers to form a bubble and all fencers may fence each other with limits to hits and fencing time.
Before and after going onto the piste, the fencer must sanitise the spool connection where usually touched and the box where touched with a wipe which will be provided at each piste.
- Fencers must avoid shouting and screaming during fencing
- No physical contact should be made between participants (handshaking, high fives etc). The handshaking rule is suspended. Fencers should replace the end of bout handshake with a salute observing 2m social distancing.
Fencing will stop at 9.50pm. The last fencers on the piste will sanitise the boxes and spool connections and place the equipment into the storage boxes. The storage boxes are to be placed into the storage cages .
The COVID-19 Officer will sanitise the quarantined clothing wearing gloves and put away the kit. The COVID-19 Officer will dispose of used wipes.
Any breaches of safety protocol must be reported immediately to the COVID-19 Officer.
Paul Willmott
NFC - President
COVID-19 Officer
Last updated 1/8/21