Selection Policy for Paris 2011 and Wroclaw 2011 U15 trips

Selection Policy for Squads for Foil and Epee Trips (Paris & Wroclaw)

Updated for the calendar year 2010, leading up to the 2011 foreign events.

Fencers will be selected for the U15 2011 Paris (Foil) and Wroclaw (Epee) trips as follows.

1) Fencers finishing in the top 4 of the 2010 EYC U15 or EYC U13 will be selected automatically, provided that they meet the age criteria. For the 2011 foreign events, that requires year of birth 1996 or later. In practice, this means that only U15 fencers in their first U15 year in 2010 will qualify, because the target event is U15 in 2011. All 2010 U13s will still be U15 in 2011.

2) The remaining places (to a total of 12 in each gender) will be allocated according to ranking lists maintained for the purpose. A selection date* shall be set and publicised as soon as possible after the organisers of the foreign event finalise their date, and places will be allocated to the highest ranked fencers (excluding those already qualified via the EYC).

3) The ranking list shall include results from the following competition:
a) The British 2010 Youth Championships (U12 and U14)
b) The England 2010 Youth Championships (U13 and U15)
c) The British 2010 Cadet Championships (U17)
d) Leon Paul Junior Series competitions in the relevant weapon (U13 and U15) in calendar year 2010, up to the selection date*
e) Any additional competitions that the England Fencing Youth Director may nominate. For 2010, these include the Premier Foil Series (Foil) and the Elite Epee Series and Manchester Cadet for (Epee). Please note that in a change to previous years, the Manchester Cadet event will not count for foil.

4) The ranking list co-ordinators will assign points according to a system approved by the England Fencing Youth Director to weight the results for both the number of entrants, and relative standard of entrants, in any given competition.

5) Qualifying fencers must be members of England Fencing Ltd at the time of selection, and at the time of the event, and must agree (with parental consent) to the code of conduct and conditions (including financial and travel arrangements) of the trip. England Fencing Ltd reserves the right to withhold selection from fencers with an unsatisfactory disciplinary record.

6) In the event that a trip manager is unable to contact a selected fencer within a reasonable time-scale, the offer of selection may be withdrawn, and offered to the next available fencer from the rankings.

7) In the event of a dispute regarding selection, an appeal may be made within 7 days of selection being published on the England Fencing website, to the Executive of England Fencing Ltd (via the EF office). Their decision in the matter will be final.

8) For the Wroclaw event, which has multiple age groups, selected fencers will be entered in the lowest age group compatible with their date of birth.

9) Although every effort will be made to provide accurate and timely information, England Fencing Ltd. reserves the right to alter the selection policy without notice.

Notes:

i) The main purpose of these trips is to introduce young fencers to the international competition environment and to the atmosphere and requirements of working within a squad. This inevitably leads to some restrictions, which may not apply, were the fencer to enter individually.

ii) Accepting a place on an England Squad may restrict the right of a fencer to represent another country in the future. Individuals who are eligible to represent more than one country should consider these factors before accepting selection.

iii) Both Paris and Wroclaw accept private entries, in addition to representative squads from national federations. England Fencing encourages fencers who were close to selection to make private entries, and the team managers will do their best to help with practical arrangements. However, the standard of these events is extremely high, and they are not appropriate for inexperienced competitors.

Questions specific to the ranking lists should be directed to the ranking list co-ordinators:

Foil – Sandra Beardmore This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Epee – Rodney Francis This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

For questions about the overall purpose and management of the trips, or to volunteer to help, please contact Ray Stafford This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

* The exact selection date depends on the date chosen by the organisers of the Paris and Wroclaw organisers. For the last two years, the selection date has been immediately after the last ranking competition in December, but this should not be relied upon.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Which competitions should my child attend?

A. There are lots of competitions included on the rankings. This is a deliberate policy to make the system as inclusive and accessible as possible. However, only the best 5 results count, so the largest events usually have the most impact on the rankings. The two biggest are the BYCs and the EYCs, followed by the larger LPJS events. The British Cadet Championships can yield a very large points haul, but since the fencers are fighting out of their agegroup, it can be difficult to achieve a top place against fencers up to 3 years older.

Q. My fencer attended a ranking competition – why weren’t they given any points?

A. Fencers need to finish in the top 32, AND the top 50% of those competing to be awarded ranking points. If you satisfied these conditions, it might be an oversight on the part of the list co-ordinator, or they might believe that you are from another Home Country. See email addresses above to contact the list co-ordinators.

Q. When will we know the selection date?

A.   As soon as the organisers of the Paris and Wroclaw events publish a CONFIRMED date for their events (usually in the late summer) we will publish a selection date.

Q.   Do we have to attend Tomorrow’s Achievers training days to qualify?

A.   No. Although lots of fencers do attend the training days, we recognise that geography, financial considerations and pressures of time can make it difficult for fencers to make these commitments. Selection is based entirely on results. (Subject to [5] above).