Rockville Fencing Academy COVID-19 Policies

 

Here at Rockville Fencing Academy (RFA) our objectives have always been: 

 

• Safety

• Learning

• Fun

 

These remain our goals as we continue our community’s safe return to classes and open fencing.  Here we explain the operating procedures as they relate to the health and safety of our RFA fencing community.  (For information regarding contracts and fees, please refer to payments information here.)  

 

We recognize that wider community conditions continue to evolve.  We will therefore continue to monitor CDC guidelines, USA Fencing recommendations, and requirements of Montgomery County and the State of Maryland, and update these procedures as appropriate.

 

Thank you to the entire RFA community for your cooperation as we work to keep each other fencing safely!

 

RFA Operating Procedures

 

• COVID symptoms, tests, and tracing - 

  • We will endeavor to track your visits to RFA through open fencing sign-up and class rosters, in case such information is needed to facilitate tracking and tracing. For this reason, make sure you sign-up and sign in when you attend the club.

  • If you are exhibiting COVID symptoms, please do not come to RFA.  Instead, remain at home and seek medical treatment.

  • If you have a fever or symptoms of illness, please do not come to RFA until at least 10 days after the fever or symptoms have ceased.

  • If you have tested positive for COVID:

    • Please notify RFA if you have visited the club within 2 weeks of the onset of COVID symptoms.  We will not divulge your name, but your notification will ensure that we can inform others with whom you may have been in contact, and undertake any deeper cleaning that may be required.

    • If you have been diagnosed or suspected to have COVID-19, please see a physician to be cleared to resume training.

• Facility capacity limits - to promote social distancing, we are operating at reduced capacity.  You can sign up for open fencing or attend a class with confidence that we have ensured that numbers do not exceed capacity limitations as established by Montgomery County.

• Social distancing - unless individual coaching briefly dictates otherwise, people at RFA will maintain 6 feet of separation between themselves and others.

  • Handshakes customary at the end of fencing bouts are suspended until further notice.  Please do not fist bump, elbow bump, or otherwise touch opponents - saluting is fine!

  • In-fighting - we recommend avoiding in-fighting until further notice, and encourage referees to halt bouts and reset fencers if they begin in-fighting.

• PPE - all people at RFA will use face coverings (masks) at all times, including under fencing masks.

  • Per USA Fencing, face coverings must be two-layer cloth masks or surgical face coverings. Single-layer gaiters, bandannas, masks with vents and inserts that clip into the fencing mask and do not fully contact the athlete's face are not permitted.

  • Masks work most effectively when they are dry, and we appreciate that can be difficult to sustain with vigorous exercise.  We recommend that fencers bring several clean, dry masks with them, and that if their mask becomes damp they:

    • Sanitize their hands before touching their face

    • Quickly and carefully remove the used, damp mask and place it in a sealed plastic bag to take home

    • Quickly and carefully put on a clean, dry mask

    • Sanitize their hands again before touching other surfaces

  • RFA-branded masks are available for purchase at the club for $10 per mask.  They are made of 2-ply breathable, moisture wicking fabric suitable for athletic use, with rear ties to ensure they stay firmly in place under your fencing mask.

  • Brief removal of your mask to quickly drink is permitted.  Please do not consume food inside the club.  If you need to eat something, please do so outside.

• Cleaning - 

  • Hand sanitizer is provided free for all to use - located in a wall dispenser on your right before entering the fencing floor.  Please wash or sanitize your hands when you arrive and prior to fencing.

  • Coaches and staff will wash/sanitize hands at least hourly.  

  • High contact surfaces are regularly disinfected using disinfectant cleaner that meets minimum isopropyl alcohol percentages to kill COVID-19.  

• Restrooms - to promote social distancing we recommend that restrooms be used one person at a time.  (If you enter the bathroom and someone is in there, just step back out, and wait for them to leave before entering.)  Please do not use the bathrooms as changing facilities at this time.

• Equipment - 

  • Fencers with their own equipment should bring it, use it, and take it home again.  Outside of coaching staff, fencers should not leave or store their equipment at the club at the present time.

  • Any protective equipment or weapons provided for the benefit of beginner fencers will be thoroughly disinfected using disinfectant cleaner (that meets minimum isopropyl alcohol percentages to kill COVID-19) prior to being made available for use again.  Please place any RFA protective equipment (jackets, masks, chest protectors etc.) or weapons that you have touched or used in the designated “used equipment” area.  Do not place used RFA protective equipment back on the hooks or storage racks - allow coaches and staff to replace equipment once it has been thoroughly disinfected.

• Water - per CDC & USA Fencing guidelines, communal drinking water sources have been disconnected and will remain so until further notice.

  • Please bring water with you in a sealable water bottle for personal use, and remember to take your bottle home with you.

 

Once again, thank you for your assistance and cooperation 

in keeping RFA safe and fun for all!