Forming part of the overall British Fencing Strategy, our mission is to enable every GBR Pathway athlete to maximise their potential to achieve international medal success.
We do this though our GBR Pathway Programme which exists to nurture and retain talented athletes, ensuring a continuous pipeline of world-class fencers while keeping those who exit the pathway engaged in the sport.
The GBR Pathway Programme is for those who are moving through a defined development pathway to success at the highest level of fencing.
The Pathway is founded on the strategic principles of being fencer-centred, development-driven, and competition-supported.
Our values unite athletes, coaches and staff across the pathway. They provide a shared language for how we learn, compete, support one another and pursue success together.
HONESTY
We are open, authentic and willing to learn. We welcome constructive feedback, celebrate progress and embrace honest conversations that help us grow.
RESPECT
We value every individual and recognise that everyone has something to contribute. We create positive environments where people feel supported, included and able to perform at their best.
EXCELLENCE
We are committed to continual improvement. Excellence is about striving to be better every day, embracing challenges and pursuing the highest standards in our preparation, performance and behaviour.
ACCOUNTABILITY
We take ownership of our development and our actions. We follow through on commitments, learn from our experiences and take responsibility for shaping our future success.
TEAMWORK
We believe that success is stronger when it is shared. By supporting one another, sharing knowledge and working towards common goals, we create an environment where everyone can thrive.
Our programme is based on a defined pathway of athlete development. This pathway is underpinned by development models – some sport specific (e.g. FTEM) and some more general (e.g. leadership).
The Pathway Model consists of Pathway Stages, which are further defined by Pathway Stage Components. These are in turn informed in detail by the Weapons Framework.
Fencer Centred – Our work is centred on the development needs of fencers as they join, move through and leave the performance pathway. We encourage our fencers to be personally accountable, able to critique their own performance through the identification of learning moments and maximise the support available to them in answering their own performance challenge. We provide environments which promote continuous learning and growth, in every session and experience.
Development Driven – We support the achievement of the fencer’s goals through guiding their development in understanding how to fence and how to make performance decisions in the moment. At the heart of this approach is the designing of experiences (from education, lessons, training, camps to competitions) which meet the needs of the fencers, providing them with opportunities to take ownership and ‘stretch’ their learning commensurate with their current developmental stage.
Competition Supported – Preparing our fencers for competition is a keystone to developing their performance. Identifying the right level of competition which, in turn, offers enough challenge to stretch their development is key. The right competition at the right time will invariably provide supported experiences and challenges which incrementally nurture the growth of the psychosocial, technical and tactical aspects of our fencer’s performance. This in turn supports positive performance trajectories through multiple Olympic cycles to deliver medal success for GBR.
The programme brings together development opportunities which are intended to accelerate athlete development to Olympic and Paralympic success.
The programme also ensures alignment between a number of other smaller funded projects and programmes (such as DiSE, Sport England, UK Sport), to create the right opportunity for the right athlete at the right time.
Entry and ongoing participation in the programme is based on a number of factors including attitude, commitment, proficiency and performance standards and trajectories.
Information on how to join and eligibility can be found here.
BF will be as inclusive as possible across the Home Nations, but subsidies/cost/availability may vary as a result. One example is DiSE, which is only for athletes age 16-18 in state school education in England.
To represent your country at international level an athlete will have to make the commitment and have the means to travel internationally.
BF does not get enough income from membership fees to subsidise athletes representing GBR.
Instead BF works to access government and charity funding where it is available and uses this to subsidise programme delivery. In some cases we are able to support applications for grants and funding for individual named athletes.
All funding (whether from government or charities) comes with responsibilities and accountabilities to those organisations (normally laid out in contracts between BF and the organisation). We therefore expect all those athletes in direct receipt of funding or participating in subsidised development opportunities to understand and deliver on their associated responsibilities and commitments.
For more information about funding, what we fund, how to apply for grants etc see here: Athlete Funding Support
For information about how the pathway is funded and what benefits a member gets click here: Pathway Funding
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