Covid 19

Our Junior club is still running under Covid Restrictions but the following rules are in force:

You MUST book your child’s place each week using The Team App that you can download onto your Smartphone. Download Team App here: http://teamapp.com/app

Team App is 100% FREE.

Launch Team App.

Then:

Sign-up to Team App. You’ll be sent an email to confirm your registration.

When you sign up you need to create a profile for your child/children so we know he/she/they are attending the session rather than you as an adult. It will make assigning children to bubbles easier.

Log in. Then search for Swindon Fencing Club and request access to group(s) that apply to you.

You will then be able to access Events, and then the next date we are meeting.

You then need to register on the class which is appropriate to your child from the list.  If the class is oversubscribed then your child will not be able to fence until the next session as places as allocated on a first register basis.

Lastly you need to pay (sorry about this but we still have the hall and coach fees to cover!).  This can be done either by reinstating your standing order of £20/month to Swindon Fencing Club Account number 00869244, Sort Code 20-84-58 or by paying £8 per session through PayPal.  We cannot take payment on the night.

You find how to pay by PayPal by following the instructions in the bottom right corner of the Swindon Fencing Club home screen in the Team App.

During Tuesday you will then be sent a link to a medical questionnaire using the Survey Monkey programme.  This MUST be completed as you leave your home to come fencing.  Please do NOT send it as you arrive in the car park as it may not be received in time.  If we have not received your reply, your child will NOT be allowed to fence.  A separate form must be completed each week to enable participation in club sessions and a weekly reminder of this will be sent to you.

Please ensure your child brings a full water bottle with them, any plasters or medication they might need though we will have a first aid with us for emergencies only.  If they are over the age of 11 they will need a face mask too. Lastly please ensure they have been to the loo before leaving to fence as the venue is keen to minimise any transmission risk through use of communal facilities.  Needless to say toilets are available if absolutely necessary.

On arrival, children will be collected from the entrance by either Neil Bromley (President, Coach & COVID officer), Shaun Garley (Coach), Alan Knowles (Coach) or Karen Thatcher (COVID Officer) and taken to the hall.  They will each have their temperature checked before entering the hall, sanitise their hands and then wait quietly whilst socially distancing. There will then be a weekly hygiene brief stressing the importance of regular hand sanitising, putting on kit, returning it at the end and the structure of the session. Club kit will be provided though please wear your own if you have it.  Storage is minimal in this venue so we want to avoid bringing more kit on site than is necessary.  Should you wish to purchase second hand kit, there is stock available – please speak with me.

Parents MUST wait in their cars for the duration of the session.

We will warm up and do footwork as one socially distanced group before splitting into weapon bubbles and putting kit on.  As there will only be coaches and Covid officer (Karen) present, children will need a degree of self-reliance to put their kit on.

Children will then only fence other children in their bubble.  They will be assigned different areas of the sports hall to fence in before splitting into bubbles and fencing.  After no more than 10 minutes, coaches and Karen will swap children round in their bubble and repeat sparring time so that everyone gets to fence each other.  If there is an odd number in a bubble then one fencer on rotation will have a rest for that period of time or fence a coach.  We also plan to run group lessons within the same bubbles.  Coaches will be allowed to cross between bubbles and bubble lessons will be socially distanced with no close quarter fencing. Activity will be low level in intensity with lots of breaks.  For those children wearing face masks, they will be shown where the safe zone is where they can draw breath before returning to fence. At the end of the session, children will take off their kit in their bubbles which will then be sanitised and quarantined.  It will only be used by this group each week to minimise any transmission risk.  We will then bring your children to the entrance for you to collect them.