Emergency Board Meeting on August 13, 2021 at 3.00pm ET, 12noon PST

You can dial into the meeting via teleconference at 1-877-805-0965 and use the passcode: 2478629.

Predators come in many guises. Keeping our children safe from them requires both parents and children to understand the nature of the threat, and possess the knowledge and tools to pre-empt the problem or fight back hard in the event an issue arises.

Recent incidents of Sexual Abuse and Misconduct

Two recent arrests of fencing coaches jolt us into the reality that sexual abuse of minor children happens in fencing too.

Sunnyvale: Fencing coach arrested on suspicion of sexually abusing student

Nashville fencing instructor arrested for inappropriate relations with a minor

These arrests occurred almost immediately following the mess at the Tokyo Olympics around US Olympic fencer, Alen Hadzic who is accused of sexual misconduct by several women.

training parents and fencers to recognize abuse and take action

Complacency is not an option for parents of young fencers.

Training is available for both parents and children starting at the kindergarten level through athletesafety.org. You can access the training programs HERE - the programs for K-12 athletes are free.

US Fencing Emergency Board Meeting on Friday, August 13 at 3.00pm (ET) or 12 noon (PST)

At the initiative of Peter Burchard, President of US Fencing, the Board will hold an emergency Board meeting to primarily:

• address the serious gaps in US Fencing’s ability to protect fencers under the current SafeSport system, including setting up of a US Fencing SafeSport Task Force to “to study the efficiency and efficacy of SafeSport and evaluate other measures for protecting our members and athletes of USA Fencing.”

• to make mandatory SafeSport training for all members of USA Fencing, including children.

We strongly encourage parents to attend this very important meeting and provide feedback to US Fencing on effective steps that can be taken to protect fencing’s youngest members against predators.

You can dial into the meeting via teleconference at 1-877-805-0965 and use the passcode: 2478629.

The meeting will take place on Friday, August 13, 2021 at 3.00pm (ET) , 12noon (PST).

You can read the US Fencing announcement HERE and Notice of Meeting HERE