Estonia added to wheelchair fencing satellite calendar

Narva, Estonia, will host an International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports (IWAS) Wheelchair Fencing satellite competition in the latest development activity on the sport’s calendar.

Aspiring top-level wheelchair fencers from Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belgium, Russia, Estonia and Belarus will get the chance to compete in men’s and women’s foil and epee between 11-12 October.

Teams will arrive on 11 October and attend a Head of Delegations meeting in the afternoon. Competition will then get underway the following day.

Satellite competitions were introduced to the competition pathway to give more athletes the chance to compete on an international stage. They are designed to give fencers the chance to experience a competition before they go on the World Cup level.

The series has its own ranking and any IWAS Member can apply to host – there is a grant of up to 3,000 GBP available from IWAS for staging an event.

All the normal IWAS Wheelchair Fencing rules apply, expect that competition is open to fencers aged 13 years and over, does not have a maximum age limit, individual open events must be held and athletes only need to hold a national classification.

The satellite events are overseen by an IWAS Wheelchair Fencing Referee Commission representative or Head Referee. They also involve someone from IWAS or IWAS Wheelchair Fencing to help run the competition. However unlike World Cups and above, only one member of Directoire Techniques (DT) is needed.

As well as athlete development, satellites also offer countries the chance to grow their national officials and organisational capacity in running international events.

IWAS Members interested in hosting a satellite competition can click here for more information.