FIE SECRETARY GENERAL KATSIADAKIS GUESTS AT NEW INITIATIVE
Today, the EFC hosted its first ever virtual refereeing seminar dedicated specifically for women. Following on from the successful sabre and foil seminars, open to all EFC category C referees, the confederation set up the latest series with goals to support the current female crop of international referees from Europe and to develop those who are coming through.
General Secretary Jacek Slupski opened the seminar by welcoming the delegates before handing over to special guest, Emmanuel Katsiadakis, Secretary General of the FIE.
Katsiadakis began by saying, “On behalf of the FIE and our President, Alisher Usmanov, I would like to thank everyone involved in making this happen. The development of female referees is close to my heart as I conducted the first training sessions dedicated to our female referees in Athens some years ago.”
“It is great to see the EFC make the most out of the unusual year that we have had and I particularly like the title, “Get Ready for the New Season”, as we all must be ready for the return to fencing. These seminars are a fantastic opportunity for the delegates to hear from real experts in the field of refereeing.”
He continued by stating that the FIE and EFC’s goals are aligned in the development and drive to increase the numbers of female referees, before showing recognition to those making the seminars happen.
“Thanks goes to Nikolay Mateev, Vice-President of the EFC and the project’s Programme Manager as well as the EFC’s Secretary General, Jacek Slupski. We should also be grateful for the support of our expert mentors and high-level referees, Vasil Milenchev and Vladislav Shamis. It is my pleasure to be here to join you.”
As with the previous programmes, today’s seminar focused on consistency, knowledge of the rule book, responsibilities and preparation for taking the full FIE license exam.
Speaking about the programme, Mateev said, “We thank the FIE Secretary General for joining us and his kind words. On behalf of the EFC and our President, Stanislav Pozdniakov, we welcome all of the delegates. Having reviewed our list of EFC category C referees, we quickly realised that we lacked a satisfactory number of women. It is now one of our major goals to address this in the coming years. We also realise that this is not a short-term project and have put in place a full plan of support.”
The seminars will continue over the coming days.
By Eurofencing