ABOUT
OUR TEAM
Head Coach - John Routledge
England Fencing Level 5 Foil Coach | FIE International Coaching Diploma
20+ years
Coaching experience
FIE International
Coaching Diploma
GBR Pathway
Coach & DiSE Assessor
England
Team Coach
John Routledge has over 20 years’ experience coaching children and young people, from primary school age through to elite international competition. He is an England Fencing Level 5 foil coach and holds an FIE International Coaching Diploma, having completed an intensive coaching programme in Bucharest, Romania, in 2009. His tutors included three-time Olympian Petru Kuki and 1995 World Foil Champion Dmitri Chevtchenko.
John is committed to continually developing as a coach. Since 2019, he has undertaken regular Continuing Professional Development with Ziemek Wojciechowski, one of Great Britain’s leading Olympic fencing coaches.
His experience extends throughout the British fencing pathway. From 2017–18, John worked as a GBR Pathway Coach, running Talent Camps and supporting the British Fencing Talent Pathway. In 2026, he rejoined the GBR Pathway and currently works with British Fencing as a DiSE assessor and coach at foil pathway camps.
John has coached successful England teams at international championships. In 2018, he coached both the winning England Under-17 and Under-20 foil teams at the Cadet and Junior Commonwealth Fencing Championships in Newcastle. In 2023, he was foil coach to the England team that won the Senior Five Nations Championships in Largs, Scotland.
John is the author of the book, Foil Fencing - skills, strategies and training methods, and is committed to providing young fencers with the highest possible standard of coaching in a safe and supportive environment.
He holds a current DBS certificate, is First Aid trained and has completed Safeguarding and Protecting Children training.
John’s coaching philosophy is simple: to empower young people through sport, helping them develop not only as fencers, but also in confidence, resilience and independence.
Armourer - Katherine Kwa
Katherine is an international foilist from Australia with over 15 years of fencing experience. Fencing with broken gear can be frustrating, so please do not hesitate to ask Katherine for equipment repairs and maintenance tips.
Welfare Officer - Sarah Ozanne
Sarah is our welfare officer. She has worked with young people in secondary and post 16 educational settings for over 20 years. She is certified in first aid and has completed a British Fencing welfare training course.
ABOUT
OUR VENUE
Dennis Marsh House
There is free parking on site in our car park and also parking nearby in Waitrose carpark which is free for 3 hours and only a short 5 minutes walk away from the venue.
We are ideally situated close to Salisbury City Centre, just off Devizes Road. Bus services are regular to the City Centre - please check with Salisbury Reds for more information on bus times and pick up/drop off points.
