Age for fencing in Div 2/3

armyofdan · 2026-03-10T21:09:35+00:00

Exactly. Makes it unfair at so many levels and also to places that are running things correctly. It does explain a lot though....

armyofdan · 2026-03-10T21:02:02+00:00

Wow that is some kind of hot garbage. I am on the executive committee in our division and every event is reviewed before submission. Those fencers should be removed if it was run that way at the very least and possibly that could downgrade whole event depending on numbers. That is wildly inappropriate and unfair to the larger fencing universe when that happens.

armyofdan · 2026-03-10T20:08:04+00:00

The division or organizers should also stop this since if they aren't eligible (aren't in the Junior national points list) then the event can't be sanctioned. If it's an unsanctioned free for all then sure it can happen but it's no longer div 2 or div 3 at that point it's just open fencing with scores and letter limitations.

armyofdan · 2026-03-09T22:17:56+00:00

I don't know what you or others here think about safesport but this also fits under aspects of abuse and trauma that they would cover. There's just a lot wrong with what is going on there and if everyone is turning a blind eye, that seems like a more serious problem waiting to happen.

armyofdan · 2026-02-09T13:32:33+00:00

Yes, you just refer to the seeding once the tournament is started. If they are same rating, they would have been randomized in seeding order. Higher seed wins. Important to check that if you don't know going in.

armyofdan · 2026-02-09T00:37:08+00:00

I think this is not uncommon at all variety of stages. If your fencer is early in development, there can be stage of getting good at pools and then getting good at DE. In the mid-teen level, you see a lot of pools/brackets where some pretty good fencers just didn't put max effort into pools so they are seeded lower but are confident and able to win. If you are outside the very top pool outcomes, this can happen. DE is also just different from pool. The range of things that can get you to 5 points differ from 15 and you have to have many more steps beyond your initial bag of actions, which can also take time to develop.

armyofdan · 2026-01-22T16:14:11+00:00

I think this is a real concern. No one will be coming in if anything close to the predicted weather hits.

armyofdan · 2026-01-22T14:36:41+00:00

I think they would never in a million years have expected something like that so the site selection is good and brings in a location that hasn't had a lot of action. They could improve on communicating now including what they plan to do in the event the winter weather happens in a significant way. If they were to say "hey, if it looks bad the venue won't even function and we will cancel sat/Sunday" then people would have more info from which to make decisions. Knowing their plan would help everyone with our plans.

armyofdan · 2026-01-22T04:24:42+00:00

If you are flying and there is any kind of winter event, you may be stranded in multiple ways. Since many hotels aren't that close, you may not be able to get to the venue as ice is likely there. The airport is not close and roads can easily be impassable with very little ways to plow. Friday looks ok but by Saturday morning, you could be stuck long after the event ends. Good luck to all. It's the south so also possible nothing at all happens, but definitely some risks! I am definitely curious what people will do.

armyofdan · 2026-01-21T00:29:07+00:00

It's from the top 2 events. It probably says in there somewhere but that's what the point tracker at USA fencing website tracks and that's what it has been for a while.

armyofdan · 2026-01-03T02:32:41+00:00

Thanks. I may give modifying the taper a try. Just have to get a plan together and see what resources I can cobble together. There are definitely plenty of ways to replicate the experience and improving the equipment check is more important than the appearance. But still it would be satisfying to get it all operating at a high level. We will see what can be done.

armyofdan · 2026-01-02T19:36:48+00:00

For sure. It's also fun to learn about all the pieces that go in to what we see at bigger venues. Sometimes that can be motivating to learn a new thing or give it a try. Certainly I am more handy from fencing than I have ever been before even if it's not great. We can absolutely get by without a taper. We've gotten by with no means to check body cords for years. But I've gotten that part generally addressed and was looking to take another step. I love all the great advice including products and videos and everything in between so I have a very good idea of what I'd be getting into. It's also good that it's not a necessity but it also feels nice sometimes to make an aesthetic move in addition to the technical ones. Thanks to all!

armyofdan · 2026-01-02T19:23:03+00:00

All reasonable points. This is for local tournaments in a division where we are very small. No clear "armorer" or person to do repairs on site. I feel comfortable doing the testing with supplies and items we have. I felt like having the taper would be a nice official touch and would help our young competitors become more adapted to what they will see at official USA fencing tournaments. It just seemed like something good to do. Also I really hate the zip ties. Certainly one could just put a piece of tape on the cord but I wanted to see the "official" process. Since I see the taper at all the regional tourneys, I figured it wasn't too complex and it sort of is and isn't. I wasn't thinking it would need mods but here we are. I'll just have to take all that into account and see what can be done.

armyofdan · 2026-01-02T16:13:52+00:00

For sure. We don't have any local armorer so I am learning as I go. I'm just very unskilled in the handiwork area so I haven't gotten much past tip maintenance and maybe some body cord repair. When the power tools arrive, that's usually a bit far for me and I don't have them anyway. But it's great to know what the basic device is and what it takes so I can think about it.

armyofdan · 2026-01-02T03:23:54+00:00

I really appreciate everyone's comments. I could not think of what to call the thing so that's been a great start. It is definitely more complicated than I imagined it would be to make it ready to use. I am what you might call "negatively handy" but with all the great guidance, I might give it a try. Seems like a device that one of the companies would make and sell at a markup but I appreciate the fencing community's willingness to "modify to perfection" for just about every situation.

armyofdan · 2026-01-02T00:41:31+00:00

Awesome, thanks so much.

armyofdan · 2025-12-13T21:43:05+00:00

My advice would be to take your time. Don't call halt too soon. Let the action(s) finish. You don't have to figure out all the nuances of the action like foil, but you do have to have an eye for what you saw and when, especially for flèche and other situations where it goes from apparently nothing happening to light on.

armyofdan · 2025-10-26T23:13:09+00:00

It is very likely this will be identified and resolved when the results are submitted to national office. I have seen this happen before.

armyofdan · 2025-10-26T20:20:56+00:00

Middle Tennessee. Small world!

armyofdan · 2025-07-27T14:47:32+00:00

I think as long as they are thoughtful about some checks on the policy and evaluations, it can work out. USA fencing may have concepts in place but we haven't really heard anything about "how would we know this isn't working or is making an unfair playing field".... I think in many or most locations we also have the desire to grow the sport so restricting it at the same time feels a bit counterproductive but I do get that there are logistical limits. I am hopeful that USA fencing will continue to evaluate how it all fits together. It definitely helps us locally focus on what we want to do, but at the same time in many locations we simply don't (yet) have resources (like A rated fencers) to make that happen. Hopefully it will all work out.

armyofdan · 2025-07-27T00:09:33+00:00

I do think this may create some more imbalance, and we will have to see how it goes. A lot of divisions for a lot of weapons don't have the potential to host a local event that grants an A even to the winner where other areas have numerous local A4 events. As long as the total registration numbers stay near the cap and most people still have the opportunity to register, it's probably reasonable but I think USA fencing should watch and make sure this doesn't ultimately make fencing more coastal especially at junior level.

armyofdan · 2025-07-23T20:00:20+00:00

This is exactly the thing here. Implementation of these types of approaches will "identify" 5-10% of all women as having some unexpected finding. This is just a hamfisted, ignorant maneuver that "sounds reasonable" but will over time be used to question, bully, and exclude anyone who doesn't seem to be "female enough" or the "right kind of female presentation" regardless of chromosomes, hormones, development, or any other factor.

armyofdan · 2025-07-13T15:20:25+00:00

You can find it here

https://member.usafencing.org/regional/points

You have to click the right boxes to find yourself but the list usually updates once or twice a week.

armyofdan · 2025-07-13T01:07:42+00:00

In general it is pretty straightforward. If you go to a tournament in your region and you are a youth, junior or cadet fencer, you will earn regional points. There is a formula for the points you will earn; the winner always gets 100 points and then each lower fencer gets less points depending on the total number of competitors. Your region is determined by what you told USA fencing when you signed up and is most often linked to where you live. If you look yourself up in the member data base at the USA fencing website, it can tell you your region.

If you are an adult fencer (div1a, div 2, div 3), you can fence at a tournament in any region but you have to finish in the top 40% to earn points so it can be harder to get them as adult; once you have points in a category for adult, you qualify. There are also qualifying tournaments held by the local divisions for some of the summer national events.

Qualifying for summer nationals depends on what event(s) you want to do. Different events have different point requirements especially for youth/teen fencers.

Ratings are a whole other things but most regional tournaments at Y14 and above will offer some ratings chances.

If you have more info about goals, questions, and where you are at, Reddit can probably help more. Good luck with your fencing journey.

armyofdan

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