Phase 2 Reopening
On Thursday, the Dept. of Health announced that Puget Sound counties are moving to Phase 2 of Washington’s “Roadmap to Recovery”. This means that we are able to resume group classes and open fencing, in addition to private lessons.
We will resume all of our group classes starting Monday, February 1st. All classes will be on the same schedule we had in November.
If you temporarily changed your private lesson time in January, it will revert to your previous schedule unless you have already arranged a new time with our staff. You should be able to check your online calendar to see your lesson reservations for the upcoming week.
Returning to Classes
We want to make it as easy as possible for everyone to resume their group classes when they’re ready. Earlier this month, we sent out a survey to everyone who had class memberships in November.
If you responded to the survey and indicated you were ready to return in Phase 1, or if you have already contacted our staff about returning to classes, no action is required on your part. Your membership will automatically return to active status in February.
If you responded to the survey and indicated you wanted to wait for Phase 2 or later, or if you did not respond to the survey, your membership will remain on hold until you let us know you’re ready to resume classes. No payments are due while memberships are on hold. Once you’re ready to return to classes, just send us an email and we’ll reactivate your membership for you. You may rejoin group classes at any time.
Note, if you have a membership on hold, please do not go through the online sign-up process again. Doing so may result in duplicate memberships and duplicate bills.
New Open Fencing Structure
In Phase 2, the limits on group sizes are based on 25% of fire code occupancy. Since our facility is very large, these limits are quite generous for our usual activities.
Our new open fencing structure will have 90-minute sessions Tuesday and Thursday at 7:30, and 60-minute sessions other days. Reservations are no longer required. However, to control the amount of activity and maintain safer distances, only half the strips in each gym will be in use on any particular day – only odd-numbered or only even-numbered strips. We believe this will allow our fencers to get back to their favorite activity while still keeping our occupancy at a safer level.
Competition Possibilities
Phase 2 rules do not allow large regional tournaments, so our RJCC and SYC have been canceled for this year. We are talking with USA Fencing’s Western Washington Division about what types of small competitions may be sanctioned. If they agree and Puget Sound’s statistics remain good, we may consider holding a couple of small tournaments in mid to late March. Watch our website and AskFRED.net for more information.
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions. We’re looking forward to getting back to fencing!