You will be notified, via email, if your petition is approved or denied. 

All events will be open to petitions. Please note that, per the USA Fencing Athlete Handbook, a fencer who has fenced in the qualifying competition without withdrawing due to a disabling injury or illness cannot then petition. In addition, petitions will be denied for fencers who chose to fence in a regional qualifier (RYC, SYC, RJCC, and ROC) over their division qualifier.

A petition may be filed by a fencer who qualified (by means of competition or petition) to that same competition in the prior season or whose recent competitive record indicates a strong possibility that the athlete would have qualified had they been able to compete in the qualifying competition but was unable to compete in the various qualifying competitions this season due to one of the reasons listed below:

1. COVID 19 restrictions
2. Injury or illness
3. Military deployment or living abroad
4. Compulsory school requirements OR

Petitions will be accepted beginning on April 6 and must be submitted by May 25 . The petition application will be available at

For the 2022 USA Fencing National Championships, there will be a $100 non-refundable petition fee required to apply.

For active military deployment please contact nationalevents@usafencing.org to have petition fee waived. 

Petitions must include:

• A written statement that gives specific details of the dates, reason for absence or withdrawal, and other pertinent facts. Written notice from a physician and/or statement from the Bout Committee must substantiate any medical reasons listed in the petition.
• A summary of the fencer’s significant recent competitive results. In particular, results in previous National Championships and recent North American Cup (NAC) competitions should be noted. (Example: top 64 international, top 8 in a USA Fencing NAC/Championship, top 16 at a ROC, top 24 at an SYC).

Responses to the petition will be made via email. Petitions that do not meet these requirements will not be considered. Decisions on petitions will be based upon the validity of reasons given for absence or withdrawal and the probability that the fencer would have qualified had they competed in the qualifying competition to its conclusion, based on results achieved in other recent competitions.

If a fencer is permitted to enter the National Championships by this petition procedure, the fencers’ entry will in no way affect the number of qualifiers from the division involved.