Rain City SYC Cancelled
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, we have decided to cancel the 2020 Rain City Super Youth Circuit. Read on for more information.
RCFC Closed Through March 31st
Due to today’s official state-wide coronavirus emergency declaration, all health and fitness clubs and indoor recreational facilities must close. That includes all classes and lessons at RCFC. We agree with the decision to limit people’s participation in non-essential activities in order to control the spread of the outbreak.
Effective immediately, we will place everyone’s memberships on hold. If your account is set up for automatic payment, we will be double-checking our attendance records to make sure you are only charged for bills before March, and classes or lessons actually attended. Those charges will be processed later this week.
Once we return to a normal schedule, we will apply account credits for customers who purchased annual class and/or tournament packages. Unfortunately it is not possible to issue partial refunds through our membership system.
All tournaments in the month of March are cancelled. We will evaluate the April and May schedule later this month. Watch our website and AskFRED for updates.
The Rain City Super Youth Circuit will also be postponed or cancelled, given the CDC recommendation to avoid groups of 50 or more people for the next 8 weeks. We are working with the USA Fencing national office on the best way to handle the refund process.
Our coaches are brainstorming ideas for practice videos and other ways that fencers can continue to learn at home. Check our website for updates on that, as well as the latest news.
We appreciate your support during this difficult time, and hope to get back to normal as soon as it is safe to do so. Stay home, stay healthy, and wash your hands!
Greg Jones
Head Coach
Rain City Fencing Center
March Tournaments Canceled
Per a directive from the USA Fencing national office, all local and regional tournaments through April 8th are cancelled. This includes the following events at RCFC:
- D & Under Foil #2 – Mar. 19
- RCFC Youth #5 – Mar. 28
- Western Washington Foil/Epee Challenge #6 – Mar. 29
We will reschedule the March 29th event to June if the situation eases. We will update the status of April and May events as things develop.
March Update – Coronavirus and More
We know everyone is concerned about the spread of COVID-19. We also know that kids need something to do when there’s no school! In addition to the standard advice from the CDC (wash hands frequently, stay home if you are sick, etc.), here’s an update on what we’re doing at RCFC.
- We recommend that all students wash their hands as soon as they arrive at the club.
- Due to some students canceling their classes temporarily, most of our classes are already smaller than usual. We are also cutting back on games involving close contact, and generally spreading the students over a wider area.
- Each club fencing mask is only worn by one person per day, and is treated with Lysol spray before being put back in use.
- Plastrons and gloves are being washed more frequently, in hot water.
- We have increased our retail stock of masks and gloves if you would like to purchase your own.
- We are disinfecting high-contact surfaces more frequently, including door handles, handrails, and electric reel cable ends.
- We recommend that all students bring a water bottle which they can refill using the bottle fillers on our drinking fountains.
Alternative Fencing Activities
If you’re not sure about group classes but don’t want to lose your competitive edge, consider private lessons. Our coaches will be expanding their available hours for lessons. Talk to the coaches for more details.
We are also considering making some work-at-home footwork videos and other solo practice tips. We are open to suggestions on other ways we can keep our students enjoying fencing while observing disease prevention guidelines. If you have ideas, please let us know!
Stay healthy and wash your hands!