Sam McLellan
August 11 @ 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
The Return of the Jedi: Refereeing as a tool for development and performance
In this presentation, Sam hopes to offer a supportive presentation and discussion about key principles of refereeing and the FIE rulebooks, and seeks to prove beyond reasonable doubt that better refereeing yields better coaching (and better fencing).
*Please note that the focus for this class is on fencing coach education.
Bio
Sam is a FIE Licensed sabre and foil referee. A recovering international sabre fencer, he achieved his FIE licence in 2022 (as one of the youngest in the world) and just two years later, was appointed to the FIE’s referee ‘Master List’ – a select group of officials from around the world appointed to referee at senior world cups and championships. He has since refereed finals of Commonwealth, European and World Championships, as well as numerous World Cups and Grand Prixs.
Sam he is known for his calm presence, rigid impartiality and knowledge of the rules – which is combined with a sporadic sense of humour depending on the competition venue’s temperature.
He is keen to support referees and refereeing generally, a crucial practice which he firmly believes should not be confined to people wearing suits. He leads on sabre refereering on British Fencing’s Performance Working Group and sits on the Referee Advisory Board with responsibility for developing new domestic refeering qualifications.