Anti-Doping Education and Development – 2021

We are pleased to publish the anti-doping activities we have worked on over the past 12 months here. We continue to support our fencers to have the knowledge and confidence to compete in a clean and fair environment

Website and Communication
We have maintained our website with the latest information from the (World Anti-Doping Agency) WADA and (UK Anti-Doping) UKAD, see all the information you need as an athlete, parent, coach, or other person involved in fencing here https://www.britishfencing.com/policy-zone/anti-doping-2/
We have posted several online news posts as we update our policies or need to remind people of existing policies
We have been active on social media, with reminders and information relevant to all members of British Fencing and all those who support them.

Training and Education
As an adaptation to Covid restrictions we continued with delivering all our education sessions online. We ran a session for Athlete Development Programme (ADP) fencers, with an attendance of 65. We also ran a session for parents of ADP fencers, which had some excellent feedback.
We shared a series of webinars put delivered by the (International Testing Agency) ITA for the Fédération Internationale d’Escrime (FIE).
We shared information relevant to our senior fencers and are in contact with their support teams: coaches and other athlete support personnel (ASP). We shared various updates with all ADP fencers at intervals through out the year.
Anti-doping education is a core part of the Diploma in Sporting Excellence (DiSE) syllabus so forms part of the ADP athlete education plan

New Anti-Doping Educator
We were pleased that Mary Cohen is now a qualified Educator for British Fencing, she has also been elected to the Board of British Fencing and retained her place on the European Fencing Confederation (EFC) Medical Commission.

Anti-Doping Educator CPD
Members of our educator team have done multiple workshops and training webinars with UKAD and the ITA. These have looked at latest updates, the changes to the prohibited list that are published every year, discussions with experts in anti-doping scientific and education research, and some online session delivery training.

Coach Development
As part of our commitment to supporting Clean Sport, we made it a requirement for all coaches travelling to international events or working with the ADP to complete UKAD’s online course Coach Clean.
We have added the certificate upload as a field on the membership database so we will be able to monitor these and send reminders automatically when they are due. Please see the Coach Clean course (for coaches working at all levels) and the Anti-Doping Advisor course (for anyone supporting an athlete in any role) on the UKAD eLearning portal here https://www.ukad.org.uk/news/ukad-moves-elearning-platforms-new-and-improved-clean-sport-hub-qa

International Fencers
All fencers who are selected by British Fencing for any international events (at all age groups, senior, junior, or cadet) now must specifically agree that they have the knowledge to compete clean and understand their clean sport responsibilities before their selection can be confirmed.

Board Education
British Fencing were one of the first sports to do a session with UKAD as part of their commitment to supporting NGBs, this took place in February 2021 and was delivered by UKAD’s then head of education.
We also have a new Board lead for anti-doping matters, Pat Aiyenuro took over this role from Clare Halsted in November 2021

UKAD Anti-Doping Assurance framework
A new version of the UK National Anti-Doping Policy (the Policy) was launched on 26 April 2021. The Policy is an essential document which sets out the roles and responsibilities of several organisations in the UK, including UK Anti-Doping (UKAD), the Sports Councils, and National Governing Bodies (NGBs).
As part of our commitment to support Clean Sport we have been working with UKAD on completing this framework in cooperation with England Fencing, Northern Ireland Fencing, Scottish Fencing, and Welsh Fencing
See details of the assurance framework on UKAD’s website here https://www.ukad.org.uk/national-anti-doping-policy

Don’t miss the latest news. Subscribe to our weekly summary email, The Fencing Digest, featuring the previous week’s latest news and announcements. Sign up here.