Earlier this year British Fencing announced that it is no longer running official trips to nominated EFC Cadet tournaments. However, referees will still need to attend these events and British Fencing will need to collect money to pay their expenses.
 
Therefore from 1st September 2014 British Fencing will be placing a levy of £60 per fencer on EFC entries for those events held outside the UK to cover referee costs. This is payable on confirmation of acceptance of place through the fencingtrips website.
 
For Junior trips, British Fencing will continue to divide up the expenses of officials so that each athlete pays their share.
 
We recognise that the burden of paying for referees remains with those athletes that travel to competitions that require referees. Also, the experience gained by referees abroad is something that should benefit many fencers competing across Britain. The way referee development is funded is something we will be looking to discuss as part of a review into the membership services that British Fencing provides.