'The Show Must Go On'
Fencing, regrettably, remains a minority sport. The situation may be improving but it is taking time and even though more people may seek it out, the fact that clubs may not be readily accessible can deter people from pursuing it. The city of Norwich is fortunate in terms of accessibility to clubs but less so the county of Norfolk. If these obstacles confront the able bodied then it can be even more of a problem for disabled people.
John Croxon of the Norfolk Fencing Club is convinced that this need not be the case so he has set out to demonstrate that people, who suffer with significant disabilities, can experience fencing. He successfully demonstrated this in the sessions he ran in conjunction with British Blind Sport (B.B.S.), when a group of individuals, some of whom were completely blind and others had substantial visual impairment (see The Sword October 2009, Issue No 99) attended a come-and-try session which enabled them to master the rudiments of the sport. John had acquired a considerable experience over a period of time when he coached a blind person to the point he was able to achieve British Academy of Fencing grade 4 in foil and grade 1 in sabre. John continues to work with B.B.S. and more sessions are planned in the future.
Above: Higham Group (John Croxon seated centre)
However, John with his ever-expanding horizon insofar as this is concerned, has begun to work with people with physical and learning disabilities, this time in conjunction with Active Norfolk, an organisation that seeks to promote sport, which includes sponsoring sessions where people can try different activities no matter what their circumstances. This included 'Festival of Disabled Sport' at the Sportpark at the University of East Anglia, which included several come-and-try fencing sessions and embraced all forms of disability.
A new course was run in a sports and leisure centre, at Hingham, a relatively small country village. The group, with various disabilities, had participants from Attleborough and Dereham, two county towns and in this sense John sought to overcome the difficulty of people having to fit in with the local club and took the fencing to a convenient location for them. This consisted of one session a week over a period of six weeks and it was noticeable that over that period that the participants increased in confidence and coordination, which was obviously harder to achieve in the previous one-day, come-and-try sessions, which were more intensive and lasted for approximately 4 hours.
Only one problem arose when the manager of a unit for one group withdrew some individuals because she regarded the activity as unsafe. The people who were affected made it clear to John that they were enjoying the activity and would have wished to carry on had they been allowed to do so. John felt obliged to accept the manager's decision, despite the fact that she had not visited and observed the sessions. However, as a member of the Norwich City Forum for Disabled Sport, which affords an opportunity to address this and hopefully enable the individuals to take advantage of the opportunity in the future.
Building on this work, he was requested by the organisers of 'Disabled Pride' to arrange for a demonstration of fencing, to take place at the Forum in the centre of Norwich. The Forum is the location of the city library and Heritage research centre, along with the BBC T.V and local radio studios, combined with the Tourist Information shop and restaurants. As such, it is a prestigious venue and attracts large numbers of people, especially on a Saturday when the event was to take place. John, had gathered a group of club volunteers to assist with the display. He also persuaded the person with visual impairment to take part and John worked with him at the club so as to be able to show how he had mastered the sport, such that he felt confident to join a club of able-bodied people, something that he had not felt able to do prior to his involvement with John. He also had representatives of the recent group of people with learning disabilities along with their carers to take part.
Above: Forum Display Team
The programme was to include wheel chair fencing using the special floor frame, each of the weapons being demonstrated. Followed by an explanation of the piste markings that John had devised using raised tape to help people with visual impairment or the blind know where they were on the piste, along with a short display of fencing by his visually impaired pupil, and concluding with the people who had learning disabilities showing the basic fencing techniques they had acquired from attending the course.
John, in readiness for the event had delivered the wheel chair fencing equipment along with other kit the evening before. However, on the way home he suffered a major cardiovascular incident and was admitted to the critical care unit at the local hospital. Fortunately, he has been stabilized and is awaiting admission to a specialist hospital for a bypass operation
The knowledge of this 'catastrophe' was only conveyed to a member of the club at 10.00 on the morning of the event, that was to take place at 13.00 hrs, at which John was going to coordinate and present the activities and give a running commentary. Typically, all but one of the people involved couldn't be contacted so would arrive not knowing that they were effectively leaderless. However, the decision was taken to go on. John had scripted the session in outline but in the circumstances this had to be adapted and the commentary adlibbed.
As it turned out the event was a great success, testimony to John's preparation. It was well received by the public and many stayed to watch the activities throughout the hour that was allotted
John's efforts in making fencing more accessible has been recognised by Norwich City Council who are to make an award to him for his "contribution to disability sport".