British Fencing (BF) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the World Fencing League (WFL), forging a link between the governing body of one of Britain’s oldest competitive sports and an ambitious new professional league determined to reintroduce fencing to a global audience.
For BF, this partnership aligns with the organisation’s 2030 strategy, En Garde for the Future, which prioritises widening access to the sport, changing perceptions of fencing and welcoming new and more diverse communities onto the piste, from school halls to flagship social-impact programmes already running across the country.
The World Fencing League, founded by Olympic medallist Miles Chamley-Watson OLY, made its debut this past April in Los Angeles breaking headlines by becoming one of the most watched fencing events in history. Its aim is to modernise how the sport is presented, through fast-paced competition, athlete-led storytelling and world-class technology, which has drawn some of the world’s best fencers in the world to compete including Lee Kiefer (OLY), Oh Sang-uk (OLY), Arianna Errigo (OLY) and Gergely Siklósi (OLY).
Under the partnership, the two organisations will work together to convert a growing global spotlight into participation in the UK. It is a deliberate pairing of heritage and reinvention: a sport with more than a century of organised history in Britain, meeting a league built to make it feel brand new.
Georgina Usher, BF’s CEO says, “This partnership is an exciting opportunity for BF, one of the oldest Fencing Federations in the world to connect the energy and profile being created by the World Fencing League with our long-term ambition to grow fencing here in the UK. BF is committed to widening access to our sport, supporting our clubs and communities, and creating more opportunities for people to discover fencing in welcoming and inclusive environments.
“The WFL is bringing a fresh approach to how fencing is presented and experienced by audiences around the world, and this is just the start of our exciting journey together. I look forward to seeing how our innovative partnership develops as we explore new technology, experiment together, and glimpse the future of fencing. Whatever that future brings, our aligned intentions are clear: to inspire more people to pick up a weapon; join a club; volunteer, coach, compete, and become fans of the sport.”
“Britain has helped shape this sport for over a century, so working with British Fencing means a great deal,” says Chamley-Watson, founder of the World Fencing League who was born in the UK but raised in America. “We built the WFL to make fencing impossible to ignore – faster, bolder, easier to fall in love with. Aligning that ambition with one of the sport’s most established governing bodies is exactly how you turn a moment into a movement.”
The organisations have committed to keeping the conversation open, exploring further ways to raise the profile of fencing, strengthen routes into the sport, and support its long-term growth in the UK and beyond.