Post date: Jun 20, 2020 1:35:25 AM
Following discussions with the QFA, which has in turn been in frequent communication with the state government and the Australian Fencing Federation, there are signs of a lifting of restrictions which will hopefully see a return to fencing as we knew it. At present, however, we don't know the date on which the club will be able to resume normal training.
The state government is (at present) planning to allow the resumption of indoor contact sports such as fencing from 11 July, subject to considerable restrictions. Unfortunately, this does not mean that our club at Indooroopilly will be able to resume from that date, as all QLD Education premises are not permitting any outside users onto their sites. This means that we cannot use the hall at Indooroopilly, nor the quadrangle outside which we have sometimes used in the past when the hall was unavailable. It also means that the QFA cannot access its venue at Yeronga SS for any state squads or competitions. At the time of writing, there has been no date proposed for lifting this restriction.
If this restriction is removed, or if we found an alternate venue, it would still probably not be viable to resume training due to the many other restrictions planned for stage 3 from July 11th. While none of these restrictions are individually impossible (other than not being permitted in our venue, of course!), their combination would make it almost impossible to run the club in any meaningful sense. The harsh penalties for even minor breaches of these restrictions, which the state government proposes to police thoroughly, also make it extremely risky to restart the club while attempting to follow a complex set of procedures.
Nonetheless, all these proposed restrictions are subject to change. Due to the relatively low spread of the disease in Australia, the relaxation of restrictions may occur faster than planned at this point. So while, at present, it does not look likely that we'll be able to resume even next term, this may change during the term or even early in it. In summary, I'm sorry to offer only negative information: we are not starting back yet, we don't know when we will restart, but we hope it will be soon. Until then, please watch this space.