IAPS Fencing Championships
Millfield Fencing has hosted the IAPS Fencing Championships for many years and it is always one of the highlights of the fencing calendar for competitors. It has traditionally been held over a weekend in May and has been enjoyed by beginners and more experienced fencers alike. The event provides competitors with lots of fencing, at all three weapons, in a fun and friendly environment.
The event has grown considerably in recent years to the point where in 2018, it was felt that it had outgrown its home at Millfield Prep School. In 2019, the event was revamped, its aims and values was re-examined and vitally, it was moved to a bigger venue; to the indoor tennis centre at Millfield Senior School Campus.
It was also extended to be hosted over two and half days rather than two so that each day was ‘weapon-specific’. The sabre event was held on Friday afternoon, the epee on Saturday and the foil on Sunday. Each day had its own identity and each weapon group felt as valued as any other.
Elena Launder, currently in year 11 at Millfield School, is an England fencer and a veteran of the IAPS fencing championships both as a player and more recently as a referee. Elena shared her experiences of the IAPS event with us: “IAPS was a competition like no other, it was relaxing and fun yet there was always healthy competition, but above all no matter how experienced you were, everyone got to attend which I loved as it gave everyone the opportunity to fence new people and enjoy themselves”.
Renee Nassozi-Kiggundu, year 10 Ugandan international and Ben Huckle a year 11 England international both agree with Elena. Renee said “I loved fencing in IAPS when I was at prep school. It was exciting and a great introduction to competitions”. Ben added “from my experience of competing and recently refereeing, IAPS is a great way to bring young fencers together for an enjoyable competition.”
We work very closely with British Fencing, England Fencing and Millfield school to ensure that the event runs to the highest standard in terms of safety and safeguarding. We educate our fencers, coaches, referees, parents and supporters on the best possible behaviour to display in an extremely competitive environment.
CEO of British Fencing Georgina Usher said “we were delighted to start working with IAPS and Millfield Fencing on this event. It is extremely important that introductory competitive experiences are ones that deliver the safest environments and are truly focussed on the needs of young people. As a National Governing Body, we maintain and publish a UK wide register of fencing coaches that have passed criminal record checks, attended sport specific safeguarding training, agreed to abide by codes of conduct and have a minimum level of qualifications to coach fencing. We used this register to ensure that only accredited coaches attended the event.
The event has been supported by British Fencing’s safeguarding and welfare officer, Nikki. Nikki’s knowledge of the sport having had a son compete in the event for years - and the stresses it places on not just the fencer but their support team – means we have been able to have constructive conversations with lots of parents and coaches and help them all to become part of the #fencingfamily.
The event has become environmentally friendly after students expressed their concerns about the amount of paper printed with results on. In 2019 the event went paper free and we published live results electronically which were available to those in the venue and even for those who could not attend.
A unique feature of the Fencing Championships is that we welcome lots of fencers back as coaches, referees and supporters. Who better to referee than someone who has experienced the competition previously? It has helped to create an approachable and developmental space where young coaches are supported by more experienced ones, new referees are mentored by more qualified ones and young people get to have a truly enjoyable experience while fencing.
Elena said “I really like helping and refereeing at the IAPS Championships as I get to be a part of many of the participants first ever competition. It makes me so happy that they don’t mind where they place but they are still having the time of their lives. It also gives me the opportunity to talk to the prep school fencers and give advice to the new fencers coming up to senior school.
Renee said: “I enjoy helping out at the IAPS Championships now because I get to see all the younger fencers and help them. Someone helped me when I was in their position so it is nice that I now get the chance to do the same thing in return. It is also a good opportunity to improve my refereeing skills and I enjoy it a lot.”
Another student at Millfield said: “I really enjoyed fencing in the IAPS Championships because everything about it made me feel like one big community. Everyone was so supportive of each other, even when you lost. Now that I can referee, I enjoy it a lot because you see the game differently and learn from a different prospective. Also I like to help the younger fencers or those less experienced fencers learn new things.
We will continue to try to innovate and improve the IAPS Fencing Championships in the years to come and to do our best to make sure that everyone involved has a great experience and introduction to fencing.
You can find out more about the IAPS competition here: https://iaps.uk/sport/fencing.html or fencing here: https://www.britishfencing.com/explore-fencing/
