U14 GBR PARENT MEETINGS – TOPICS COVERED

Summary of topics discussed at the U14 GBR parent meetings held daily at the recent British Youth Championships in Sheffield. 

The topics covered included:

• Building resilience & behaviours to support future performance
• The International EFC U14s – it’s a new circuit, and we will all need to adapt continuously
• Fun vs performance
• Important information to bookmark and read
• Social media/online behaviour

Building resilience & behaviours to support future performance

The U14 space is where British Fencing encourages parents to help their children develop the resilience and behaviours to support future performance success. There is no meaningful correlation between U14 performance and future Major Event success. But the behaviours that you can support your child in developing now will mean that, in the future, BF can help them accelerate performance. Here are some examples of things we ask you to help your child learn (with support from their coach as appropriate) before joining a GBR squad.

• Wake up at an agreed time, and get out of bed themselves
• Make appropriate decisions about dressing for what they are about to do (go home, go to the venue for training, competition, etc)
• They pack their bags (including critical items such as their fencing kit and medication)
• Buy water/food for themselves from a shop or cafe
• They should have their own sensible routine for arriving at any venue, which gives them time to get changed, check in, warm up, and be ready.
• Plan a sensible timetable for getting up, having breakfast, packing, catching transport (to venue/airport)
• Do basic repairs to their weapons
• Fence without a parent/coach present at the end of a piste/in the venue
• Use Social Media responsibly (see below)

International EFC U14s is a new ‘space’, and we will all need to adapt continuously. 

The European Fencing Confederation (EFC) officially introduced U14 competitions as part of its European Circuit in October 2022, and last year, they added a ‘Festival’ for the first time. As the circuit develops, the EFC are regularly making changes (e.g. rules on provision of referees) and the EFC U14 Calendar (not unlike the other EFC and FIE calendars) is subject to frequent in-season changes. This is the first year that BF has created a ranking list (initially manual and moving to automated), and we are learning as we go.  Please be patient as we learn and adapt to the changes together.

Fun vs Performance

The U14 space is about fun, not performance. While BF publishes rankings and results data to support seeding for domestic events and EFC Festival selection, we do not review this data to model athlete trajectory. What is right for the development of one U14 might not be right for another, and parents and coaches should not feel that just because one child is doing lots of competitions or fencing up a level (eg to Internationals or U17), this means that their child should. It is not a good development experience (and expensive) to take a child abroad to fence if either they are winning them all (indicates the competitions are too easy), OR if they are failing to get through the poules and /or can’t win a DE (indicates the competitions chosen are too hard). It is essential to speak to your child’s coach; they are the ones who can help identify what is right for your child.

Important information to bookmark and read:

• U14 GUIDE
• (for those transitioning out of U14s) U17 (CADETS) GBR GUIDE
• COMPETITION CALENDARS FOR GBR SELECTION
• The Zones that relate to the Age group your child is competing in
  • GBR U14 ZONE
  • GBR CADET ZONE
• GBR SELECTION POLICY – If you want to be entered or selected for EFC and FIE events, read the Policy with your child (and ideally their coach) once a year at the start of the season to understand what needs to be done. Come to the August/September briefing calls (these are advertised here). Please don’t rely on what others tell you, as there are many assumptions we only hear about when people are upset over selections. If you want to make changes to the policy, engage in the annual consultation.
• BF POLICIES – RANKING SCHEME – If you want to understand the points system, please read the policy with your child. Most ranking queries are answered by referring people back to the Ranking Policy.  If you want to make changes to the policy, engage in the annual consultation.

Social Media/Online behaviour

We are getting reports of online behaviour in the U14 space that isn’t what we would like, and we are asking parents of young fencers to help us. For more information on expectations, see SOCIAL MEDIA – GUIDELINES FOR PARENTS.

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