Continuing

Last updated December 22, 2021

RCFC is open for all of our usual in-person activities. There are currently no capacity limits for classes or open fencing.

We have updated our protocols which are designed to minimize the risk of exposure for students, parents, and coaches. We continually evaluate these protocols for feasibility and effectiveness, and adjust them as necessary.

Note that while we will attempt to minimize risks as much as possible, there is no way that risk can be completely eliminated. Members of high-risk populations should still stay home. Clients will be required to sign a waiver agreeing to our COVID-19 mitigation policies. An email containing a link to a brief safety reminder video will be sent prior to each lesson (WA state requirement).

Surfaces and Objects

Based on newly available data, including a recent study on surface transmission via sports equipment, we have scaled back some of our surface and equipment policies.

• All of our staff wear appropriate PPE including face coverings at all times. There is a transparent barrier at the front desk to help minimize risk of transmission.
• We strongly recommend that customers pay their bills online through our membership system. In person, our credit card terminal supports contactless payments such as tap-and-go and Apple Pay. When paying in person with a credit card, signatures are not required.
• Doors to the main restrooms are propped open to avoid contact with door handles.
• All students should bring water bottles with them. Please put your name on your water bottle! At our water fountains, there is no drinking by mouth, only filling water bottles.
• During open fencing, scoring machines should be turned on and off with the tip of the weapon if possible.
• We have installed no-touch soap dispensers and faucets in all restrooms.
• The weight room is limited to 1 person at a time. Sanitizing equipment before and after use is required, using the sanitizing spray provided.
• Props for games (balls, pool noodles, etc.) and club electric equipment (foils, lames, body cords) are quarantined after use until the following day.

Distancing

• Students should check in at the front desk, and avoid congregating closely while waiting for their class or lesson.
• If possible, parents and other non-fencers should wait in their vehicle or leave after checking in their child and come back at the end of class. Otherwise, parents should wait upstairs. If possible, only one non-fencer should accompany a minor fencer into the club.
• Enter through the front doors only. When possible, exit through the double doors between the two gyms.
• After saluting: no handshakes, high-fives, or elbow bumps.

Hygiene and Screening

• All standard CDC recommendations (hand washing, control coughs and sneezes, stay home if any symptoms, etc.) are in place.
• Fencers and parents should self-monitor symptoms and check their temperature before they leave home. We will conduct a no-contact temperature check of everyone who enters the club. Anyone with any COVID-like symptoms or a temperature over 100 will not be allowed in the club.
• Parents should check their child in at the front desk.
• Students should wash their hands on arrival. They may do so in the restrooms or using the kitchen sink upstairs.
• Hand sanitizer, tissues, and trash cans are available throughout the facility.
• Students should come for class a few minutes earlier than usual to avoid backups in the restrooms.
• All employees are screened for symptoms daily.
• Cloth or surgical masks are required for everyone while in the building. This includes underneath the fencing mask.

Fencing Equipment

• Fencers who have their own gear should bring it, use it, take it home every day, and wash/disinfect it after each use.
• Fencers who have their own gear should not borrow any club gear.
• We strongly recommend that students purchase their own gear, or at least their own glove and mask, after their two months of classes. We will do our best to maintain our retail inventory at appropriate levels.
• Retail uniforms which are worn to check for size and not purchased will be kept out of active inventory for at least 24 hours.
• For students who do not have their own gear, each student will be allocated their own set of club gear, which will remain at the club. All club gear is labeled with index numbers, which will be recorded for each student. We will place each student’s set of gear in a separate plastic storage bin where they can access it before class and return it afterwards. Each student only wears one particular set of gear, and each piece of gear is only worn by one student.
• Club gear will be washed/sanitized every other week, then put back out into bins.

Vaccination

• All of our staff are full vaccinated.
• Per King County mandate, all fencers age 12 or older, plus all spectators and family who will be in the building more than a few minutes, must provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test on entry. We record that our staff have verified vaccination status in our membership system.
• We strongly recommend that all of our fencers get fully vaccinated as soon as possible.