2024 Ontario Winter Games

Athletes and Coaches Selection Policies

INTRODUCTION

Purpose

• The purpose of this document is to set out the process and criteria that will be used by the Ontario Fencing Association (OFA) to select athletes to the Thunder Bay 2024 Ontario Winter Games (OWG) team.

Objectives

• Team Selection has been developed with the purpose of selecting a team of athletes who will learn from training and competing in their first Games.

Team Size

• The Ontario Team will have a maximum team size of 96 athletes (48 males, 48 females), 6 coaches, 2 Managers, 1 PSO rep, 4 referees, 1 Secretariat, 1 armorer. Men and women will be equally represented within the staff.
• The size of the team is subject to the restrictions of the Ontario Winter Games Organization Committee (OWGOC).

Contact

For clarifications or questions on the contents of the OWGOC, please contact tech_coordinator@fencingontario.ca

OWG Information

• Venue – Canadian Lakehead Exhibition, 425 Northern Avenue, Thunder Bay, ON. P7C 2V7
• Dates – Feb 22-25, 2024
• Athlete/coach accommodations – TBD
• Officials Accommodations – TBD
• Medical support
• Team activities (Team building, Learn to Compete and Train to Train Programs)
• Supervision, training and competition support by certified OFA coaches
• Hoodie « 2024 Fencing OWG »
• Cost = $350 + transportations

DECISION MAKING AUTHORITY (DMA)

• The Technical Coordinator (TC) following consultation with the OFA High Performance Committee (HPC) is responsible for developing and approving the selection process and procedures for the team that will be nominated for the 2024 Ontario Winter Games.
• The TC is responsible for the initial nominations of individual athletes. All nominations, including alternates and staff, will be ratified by the HPC in consultation with the board.
• The TC is responsible for ensuring that the process outlined in this document is properly followed and that the selection process is fair and equitable for all candidates.
• The TC has the final jurisdiction over the selection of the team. Where there is a lack of clarity or if unanticipated circumstances arise that are not covered in the selection criteria, a final and binding decision will be made by the technical coordinator.

OWGOC CRITERIA

• The Ontario Winter Games Organization Committee has established that the Ontario Fencing Association may nominate a maximum of 96 eligible athletes to participate in the 2024 Ontario Winter Games and shall be subject to the change of number of participants per weapon.
• If a weapon has fewer participating athletes than qualifying entry spots, the additional places will be allocated to the weapon with the maximum number of entries.

ATHLETE ELIGIBILITY

• Must be a member in good standing with the OFA
• Must be born between January 1^st, 2007 and December 31th, 2010.
• Be domiciled in Ontario. An athlete’s permanent domicile or residence must be, at least 180 days before the opening of the Games, inside the recognized borders of the province of Ontario. A certificate from the establishment school attended by the athlete and last report card will automatically be required. *Note that an athlete can only have one domicile.
  
• Be affiliated with Ontario as a competitive member of the Ontario Fencing Association (national affiliation).

Alternate Athlete Requirements

• The deadline to replace a selected athlete by an alternate athlete is February 1st, 2024.

OFA SELECTION CRITERIA

Athlete Selection Process

The Ontario Fencing Association (OFA) will identify the eligible athletes it will nominate as follows:

Individual

• Top 3 athletes from each region will qualify (regardless of where they are in the overall ranking). See below for designated competitions, dates and ranking.
• Remaining spots will be attributed to the top athletes overall
• Top 16 athletes in each weapon and gender will qualify
• Points grid and results will be posted on the OFA page of the website within 72 hours after each competition
• Deadline selection: December 12^th, 2023.

A coefficient applies according to the category. The junior event will count for 1.25 points in the rankings. Cadet events have a coefficient of 1.

Tie-Breaking

Should two (2) or more fencers be tied with the same point total, the tie will be broken as follows:

1. by the best result (by points) among the designated OFA events (Cad / Jun).

Should a tie still exist, the tie will be broken,

2. by the second-best result (by points) among the designated OFA events (Cad / Jun).

3. Should a tie still exist, the tie will be broken,

by the most recent OFA result (by the place).

Team Criteria:

1. All athletes selected in an individual event will be automatically selected for the team event.

Injuries

• In the event that an athlete is deemed injured (or ill), his/her personal doctor shall decide if the athlete will be sufficiently recovered to be nominated to the Ontario Winter Games. The doctor’s letter must be provided a maximum of 2 days before departure.

On Site Decision Making Authority (if it changes once the team is on site)

• During the actual competition period onsite at the 2024 OWG all final decision making authority will reside with the PSO representative and coaches.

STAFF SELECTION

Coach Selection

• Coach – Certified Introduction to Competition (Comp Int) (Old NCCP Level III) + Respect in Sport
• Manager – Certified Instructor Beginner (IB) (Old NCCP Level II) + Respect in Sport
• ALL COACHES – Making Ethical Decisions, Safe Sport, and First Aid

Official Selection

• Head official – N (national)
• Referees: Minimum P (provincial)
• Armourer, Secretariat – P (provincial)

TIMELINES SUMMARY

Date	Examples
Sept 1st, 2023	Athlete selection policies. Published/circulated
Sept. 1, 2023 – Dec 10, 2023	Qualification period
Jan 12th 2024	Date team will be selected
Jan 12th 2024	Date athlete must accept their selection (yes they will participate in the game or no thanks)
Jan 20th 2024	Deadline to have signed the OWG Athlete Agreement or any required documents