Fencing pushes for BNSC affiliation

BOITUMELO KHUTSAFALO
Staff Writer | Wednesday January 26, 2011 00:00

 

The move is meant to grow the sport. The fencing society was established in 2007. Its president John Vollebregt told Mmegi Sport that they have already been registered with the International Fencing Federation (IFF), based in Switzerland. Registration with IFF means Botswana can compete in international competitions including the Olympics.

Although the society is yet to be affiliated to the BNSC, local player, Resego Bokete, is already making waves in South Africa in a sport that is relatively unknown in Botswana. Bokete is the first local player to participate in fencing. She competed in the Africa Junior Championships in South Africa last year where she won a bronze medal.

She is set to compete at the World Championships this year. 'We are now trying to push for affiliation with the BNSC so that more and more players of Bokete's calibre can be exposed,' Vollebregt said. He said they have already drawn a programme, which they will roll out as soon as they are affiliated to the BNSC. He added that they will identify about two schools to introduce the sport before rolling it out to the rest of the country.

'The only thing that is holding us back is our non-affiliation to the BNSC. It is difficult to roll out the programme without BNSC affiliation because we do not have funds,' Vollebregt told Mmegi Sport. He said they need a coach, which they can only pay if they get funds from BNSC. 'We cannot afford to pay any coach without being affiliated to the BNSC,' he stated. He said they applied for affiliation as early as 2007 though they are yet to get a concrete answer. He is, however, hopeful that they will get affiliation and develop the sport.

The sport uses three types of weapons - foil, sabre and epee. A foil is a light thrusting weapon with a target area restricted to the torso. Hits are scored only with the tip and not the side of the blade of the weapon. Only a single hit can be scored by either fencer at one time. If both fencers hit at the same time, the referee must use the rules of 'right of way' to determine which fencer gets the touch.

A sabre is a light-cutting and thrusting weapon with a target area above the waist, except the hands. The sabre is primarily used to slash, hence hits with the side of the blade and the tip are valid. Like the foil, the weapon follows the rules of 'right of way, and only one fencer can score a hit at a time.

 The epee is a heavy-thrusting weapon, with a valid target area of the entire body, head to toe. Like the foil, all hits must be scored with the tip, and not the sides of the blade. Unlike either sabre or foil, epee allows simultaneous hits to be scored by both fencers at the same time. There is no 'right of way' in epee.