We ask all EFC fencers to read the following two documents, Fencer Guidance and Risk Assessment. Please make yourself familiar with them, it is for all participants’ health and safety, including your own!
The Fencer Guidance reads as follows:
Fencer Guidance – Beyond Level 0
Despite eased restrictions, you must not attend the club if you have any symptoms of Covid 19.
Beyond this, it is the responsibility of all club fencers, coaches, officials and spectators to follow the guidelines below and report any lapses to the club committee.
Sign-In
When you arrive at the club, every individual person attending will be required to sign in for the evening using a digital form. This form collects contact details for NHS Test & Protect.
A laptop will be provided for sign-in which will be cleaned between uses, but to avoid unnecessary queues, this digital form will also be made available to mobile phones.
Paper sign-in will not be accepted, anyone who does not sign-in digitally will be unable to enter the hall.
Non-members wishing to fence at an open session may do so, but must pay the £10 fee to the Session Covid Officer at the door. There will be no exceptions to this rule.
If you believe you should be exempt from wearing a mask, please contact the club Welfare Officer, or mention it to the Session Covid Officer at the door.
Please advise your coach or the session first-aid officer if you have any injuries or medical conditions that they need to be aware of. This can be done via email to the coach or club account or in person before the start of your fencing session.
Arrival/Departure
Your first action after arrival should be to fill out the digital sign-in form.
Parents/Guardians should drop-off and collect from within the car park without entering the building, unless they intend to be a spectator for evening. Parents/Guardians are advised to remain until their child has been admitted to the club.
Please wear your face covering at all times when not fencing or taking part in fencing-related physical activity, and maintain a social distance of at least 1m where possible and follow any guidance or signage about moving through the venue, such as one-way systems.
During the session
Face Masks & When to Wear Them
Wear a face covering before and after activity. To be clear, if you are between fights, you are not participating in an activity and you should wear a face covering.
Clean your hands before and after exercise, whenever you remove your fencing glove, whenever you enter or leave the room, and after every contact with shared equipment.
Sparring Groups
For open sessions, fencers will be grouped together at the start of the session, and should only fence with people in that group, not members of another group. Determining the makeup of these groups during an open session will be the responsibility of the Session Covid Officer, in consultation with the attending members.
There is no upper limit to the size of a “sparring group”, but the club recommends that groups be kept as small as possible.
Classes will be considered to be one “sparring group”
To illustrate with an example: A Tuesday Open Session is attended by 10 foilists, 8 epeeists and 6 sabreurs. After conferring with the fencers, the Session Covid Officer determines that the the groupings for the evening will be 10 foilists in Group 1, 8 epeeists in Group 2 and the 6 sabreurs in Group 3. A foilist from Group 1 should not fence with a fencer from Group 2.
Social Distancing
Despite a lack of legal restrictions, all those attending the club should try to maintain a 1m social distance while not participating in physical activity. This includes while waiting piste-side.
Do not shake hands. Salute from your enguarde line.
Please do not touch anyone else’s personal equipment and endeavour to keep your bags spaced out around the edges of the room.
Each fencer will plug themselves in and out of the box. Communal touchpoints on electric boxes such as buttons and sockets should be cleaned with an antiviral wipe by the fencer touching them before and after. Wipes will be provided. Remotes may also be used but should be disinfected if transferring use from one fencer to another.
Please remove all litter from the premises.
Use of the toilet is restricted to one person at a time. The only facility available is the disabled toilet located just outside the fencing hall. Remember to wear your face covering and use hand sanitiser before and after going to the toilet.
The equipment cupboard is off limits to fencers.
1 To 1 Lessons
Coaches are able to give 121 lessons to individuals at this time. However, coaches should not give lessons to more than one “sparring group” in one open session.
Where possible, 121 lessons should be held at the far side of the hall from the entryway near the external double doors, where airflow and circulation is greatest.
Spectators
The sessions and classes are now open to spectators. While we want to remain accessible and open as a club, we are mindful of the ongoing pandemic and keen to mitigate the risk as much as possible and would therefore encourage members and their friends and families to keep spectating to a minimum.
Spectators are required to wear masks at all times, and will be directed to a spectator area within the fencing hall, and should refrain from mingling with the club attendees where possible. They should also endeavour to maintain social distancing of 1m or more at all times.
Enhanced Cleaning
All touchpoints on club equipment – spools, remotes,scoring systems, extension cords, etc. – should be cleaned with a disinfectant wipe at the end of a session. All benches or other Edinburgh leisure equipment should similarly be disinfected.
It is the responsibility of the Session Covid Officer, as well as every attendee to ensure that this cleaning is completed before leaving the club hall.
Sharing Fencing Kit
Fencing kit should not be shared between fencers within a session. Where fencing kit is shared among fencers in between sessions, fencers should follow the cleaning and/or quarantine recommendations in the British Fencing Cleaning Protocols
