Please find below an update on various Veteran related developments:
Veteran Selection Policy
Thank you to all that have shared their feedback on the proposed Vet selection policy. I have reviewed them all and have made some amendments to the policy as a result. I hope that this policy is now in a position to be agreed by all and as shared earlier in the year will be put forward at the AGM for final ratification.
The feedback came in the following areas:
- Qualifying Events - preference to focus on Vets only events with the exception of the Welsh Nationals
- General wording within the policy that was confusing
- Entry criteria for the Commonwealth Individual competition - this is by direct entry and not managed via Welsh Fencing as stated
Given the ask for primarily Veteran events to be used as qualification competitions I propose to replace the Welsh Open with the Cardiff Vets Open run by the CAF team. Thus the selection events will be as follows:
- Welsh Vet Nationals
- Welsh Nationals
- Cardiff Vets Open
- BVF Nationals
The updated policy can be found here: Proposed Veteran Selection Policy
If you have any final feedback please let me know and I will assess ahead of the AGM as needed.
The proposal is to initiate this policy post the AGM and in readiness for go live in January 2025.
This means that the selection for the Vets Home International in March/April 2025 will need to be based on discretionary selection but leveraging this proposed policy as a guide. The current 'rankings' for 2024 (if this policy was available) is shown for information and transparency. If you are aware of any errors, please let me know.
Finally on the area of selection is the role of Veterans Selector for each weapon. I have had interest for Foil and Sabre but am keen to have someone to be an Epee representative. If interested please let me know.
Current Veteran Rankings
The Veteran Ranking Lists have been put into their own article, for ease of access. You can find it here: Veterans' Ranking Lists
Any updates to the Rankings will be made in the linked article.
Veteran Welsh Nationals
The competition will go live on Sport 80 on 16th August with the closing date on 27th September, and will run over the weekend of 5/6 October at the Cardiff Academy of Fencing.
Full event details, including registration links and current entries, can be found here: Veteran National Championships
I look forward to seeing many of you at the Nationals in October
As always if you have any questions or feedback please do get in contact - my email is marc.burkhalter@fencing.cymru
Thank you all
Marc