Athlete and Coach/Manager Expressions of Interest
Fencing New Zealand calls for initial expressions of interest from athletes wanting to be considered for selection to compete at the World University Games to be held in Chengdu, China, 2-11 August 2023. FeNZ also calls for expressions of interest for suitable candidates for a manager/coach to accompany any selected athletes.
The FISU World University Games are staged every two years in a different city. This celebration of international university sports and culture draws many thousands of student-athletes together to compete, making it among the world's largest and most prestigious multi-sport events. The next WUG are due to be held in Chengdu China.[1] The games will involve 18 sports with athletes competing in a total of 269 events.[2] This includes both women’s and men’s individual and team fencing events in all three weapons.
UTSNZ Oversight: New Zealand participation in the WUG is overseen and managed by University and Tertiary Sport New Zealand (UTSNZ). National Sporting Organisations – including FeNZ - are responsible for the selection of participating athletes in accord with the FISU eligibility requirements and selection criteria established by them and ratified by UTSNZ.
The FeNZ Board has agreed in principle to select fencers to participate in the FISU WUG in Chengdu, subject to UTSNZ confirming it will send a team. New Zealand participation is still subject to a final risk assessment by UTSNZ.
FeNZ Management Arrangements: UTSNZ has also advised that FeNZ will need to consider management arrangements for its athletes – leading to our call for expressions of interest from suitable candidates.
Costs: UTSNZ are not yet able to advise on the cost of participation in the WUGs but anticipates providing further advice towards the end of December. These costs include WUG fees, accommodation, travel costs, and the WUG Performance Support Team costs. UTSNZ anticipates advising National Sporting Organisations of the proposed team management structure and associated costs, once the outcome of UTSNZ’s HPSNZ/PM Scholarship Funding applications are known most likely in late December.
The Eligibility and Selection requirement for the WUG be held in Chengdu are set out in the FeNZ Selection Criteria: They include the following:
Athletes must be:
- Be a national/citizen of the country/region they represent
- Be at least 18 and no older than 27 years of age on 31 December of the year of the event (i.e., born between 1 January 1996 and 31 December 2005)[3]
- Be a student currently officially registered as proceeding towards a degree or diploma at a university or similar institute, the status of which is recognised by the appropriate national/regional academic authority of their country/region
- Be a former student of the institutes mentioned above who have obtained their academic degree or diploma in the three calendar years preceding the event (i.e., 2020, 2021 and 2022).[4]
Entry Limits: The FISU technical regulations specify that each country is authorized to enter up to 24 athletes, with 4 athletes in each weapon. For the individual competitions a country can enter a maximum of 4 athletes for each weapon. Foe the team competitions, each country can enter only one team for each weapon. Each participating team may include a maximum of 4 athletes and a minimum of 3 athletes. A country can enter a maximum of 4 athletes for each individual event.
FeNZ Draft Selection Requirements [NB these criteria are subject to ratification by UTSNZ]: In addition to meeting the FISU eligibility requirements and entry limitations, fencers representing New Zealand will be subject to selection by the FeNZ Selectors who will require athletes to meet the following criteria to be eligible for selection:
Category 1 - Two results from:-
- NZ Champs, President's Cup, NI, SI top 4*
- Australian Juniors top 8*
Category 2 - Two results from:
- AFF 1,2,3,4 top 16#
- CW Junior top 8# (within the last season)
- CW Open top 16#(within the last season)
- FIE Junior Need to earn FIE ranking points
- FIE Senior Need to earn FIE ranking points
FeNZ is calling for initial expressions of interest by 10 January 2023. Following the receipt of further information on costs and confirmation that the NZ team will proceed we will call for formal nominations from athletes which will close 15 February 2023. We anticipate final athlete selections will be confirmed on 5 March 2023 as would the appointment of an accompanying manager/coach.
For further information please contact Amanda Hopkns, Secretary General, in the first instance This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Initial Expressions of Interest close on 10 January 2023.
[1] See: https://www.fisu.net/sport-events/fisu-world-university-games/summer-fisu-world-university-games
[2]See the events schedule: https://www.fisu.net/medias/fichiers/chengdu_2021_fisu_world_university_games_competition_schedul.pdf
[4] Note the limit has been extended to three calendar years to allow those whom the conditions in 2021 to take part in the FISU Games also in 2023.