The first of its kind women’s only FIE referee training was successfully held in San Jose, California on June 26-July 1 at the U.S. National Championships. Women from 13 different Pan American Confederation countries attended the training session which was funded by the FIE and approved by President Alisher Usmanov and The Executive Committee.The women’s referee training was developed by FIE Women & Fencing Council in an effort to develop and train more women referees. It is the first such effort and the Women & Fencing Council hopes that the FIE will consider hosting further events in other Confederations to help ensure the development of more women referees.
The women participated in two days of seminars for both foil and saber and one day of testing. The women were subsequently offered the ability to officiate at the U.S. National Championships. The FIE covered all travel and lodging costs for the women.The seminar was open to referees whoheld an FIE P licenses in one or more weapons,national level referees and/or referees with a Blicense in another weapon and who wanted to gaina foil or saber credential. A total of 11 new licenseswere awarded.
“The Pan American Confederation and the FIE now have six more foil and five more saber referees who can be further developed by being assigned to competitions in their own nations, in the confederation events and perhaps in FIE events in the future,” said Helen Smith, FIE Executive Committee and Women & Fencing Council Liaison.
Participants included:
Pilar Arenas Gomez - Colombia
Joslyn Rodriguez - Venezuela
Ana Franke Rodrigues - Brazil
Kelyn Lorena Lopez Flores - Honduras
Tulasi Rodriguez Garcia - Guatemala
Adriana Attar Cohen - Argentina
Diosa Aranda Sosa - Uruguay
Vilmarie Acosta Pereira - Puerto Rico
Lisa Campi-Sapery - USA
Cara Taggersell - USA
Kelly Koehler Johnson - USA
Carolyn Granholm - Canada
Evelyn Suzanne Vogt - Canada
Isabel Peralta Jara - Chile
Alekxandra Echeverria Cabrera - Mexico
Sharone Huey - Jamaica
FIE Referee Examiners were:Irina Knysch
Marco Siesto
USA Fencing President Don Anthony and Stacey Johnson, Chair of the Women & Fencing Council, were pleased to help organize and ensure the training event was successful. “We are very grateful to Claus Janka and the Referee Commission for working collaboratively with the Women & Fencing Council to provide examiners during this very busy competitive season. Growing more women referees is good for the sport and for the development of women in fencing,” said Johnson. Samantha Nemecek Belding, USAFencing Sports Performance and Development Manager who worked all aspects on the ground in San Jose said that the women referees were very pleased with the outcomes and the experience they gained through officiating at the U.S. National Championships. A reception was hosted by the FIE at the event for the women in celebration of this important opportunity.
Article By: Stacey Johnson, Chair of Women & Fencing Council