Every year, usually in the early hours, parties of young British fencers depart for tournaments in Hungary, Germany, France or Italy. Driven to the meeting point by parents whose wallets are substantially lighter because of the trip, they will sit on a coach for what seems to be forever or be treated with bemusement as they stand in the queue to put their fencing bags through the oversize luggage desk.

First timers at this game are overwhelmed once they reach the tournament. They have radio controlled boxes everywhere, and extension lights sprout on each piste! Everything runs to a schedule and the final is done with a flourish on a separate piste! Why do we have to travel so far? Why can't tournaments like this be run in Britain?

Thankfully it isn't just the fencers who have asked these questions. Steve Glaister has travelled abroad as fencer, coach, referee and parent. His practical answer was to put together a team who were as enthusiastic about the idea of a six weapon Cadet tournament as he was. With Natalia Gyuricska and himself as leaders of a substantial team they set about making the dream become reality.

One of the principal tasks was find a venue. Where could you find somewhere big enough to run competitions for all six weapons in a day? (This would give parents at least part of a weekend free in the hectic few weeks between the start of the season and Christmas). Somewhere where there was accommodation nearby and with restaurants that you didn't need to get in a car to reach. A place that you could actually find, whether you were travelling by road or rail. And to ensure that foreign fencers could come, somewhere not too far from an airport.

Fortunately it was possible to take advantage of Manchester's investment in the Commonwealth Games. Bolton Arena is a superb venue, just off the M61, two minutes from the nearest rail station and less than thirty minutes from Manchester airport. With hotels and restaurants within walking distance it is an ideal venue to run a tournament.

What else do you need to run an event to top continental standards? Pistes and scoring equipment for a starter, somewhere to get a tip fixed or to buy a replacement if this isn't possible. All this has been provided by Allstar UK on the day,. What hasn't been seen by those outside the organising team is the enthusiastic support provided by Allstar in the run up to the competition and in its aftermath.

So you get ready to fence, only to notice that the thirteen year old who you drubbed when you last met him is picking up the poolsheet and making ready to referee. You also notice that it is one of his club mates who is clipping on at the other end. This is a nightmare that won't happen to you at the Manchester tournament. There is no refereeing out of the pool or DE, and the finals are taken by national and FIE qualified referees.

So what else does the team at the Manchester tournament do to improve your experience? Who hasn't been in the situation where your pool ends, you sign the sheet and the referee takes it to the DT. You wait ten minutes, then thirty, and finally an hour passes. Where did you come? Who will you be fencing in the DE, and more importantly when? You wander over to the organisers area and see one person staring fixedly at a laptop with a blue screen being harassed by a variety of other competitors, coaches and parents while in another corner someone else is shuffling small pieces of paper containing arcane sets of numbers. The numerous and highly professional volunteers from the North West (some of whom had assisted at the 2000 Commonwealth games) who help set up and run the competition make sure that this won't happen

And when you reach the final and justifiably look proudly around you won't find that the only people watching you are the two bronze medallists waiting impatiently for their prizes, someone taking a break from pulling tape off the floor and a couple of badminton players wanting you to get off their court. The finals take place en gala in a separate Sports Theatre, with seating for 250 people and a state of the art Audio-visual system, which means that hits can be re-run on a big screen. Afterwards there is a proper presentation ceremony.

This year is the third year of the competition and competitors from Europe, including Italians and Germans are interested in attending. A Hungarian Squad has already entered, so this year the competition will be truly international. A CD of the first event was produced and circulated both nationally and internationally to enable other nations to see how the competition was run, and information given as to how the infrastructure around the Bolton Arena made it easy for them to attend. On top of this the tournament has its own web site, (follow the link below) on which can be found all the information you need to enter the tournament, as well as directions, results and pictures from the first two tournaments.

Every year this event is being held on the first Saturday of October. The team running the competition remain in place, so the event will run smoothly as usual. We look forward to seeing you there.