What Juniors and Cadets Should Know About Qualifying for the 2027 Junior Olympics

This article has been updated for the 2026-27 season.

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Qualifying for the Junior Olympics is a crowning achievement for any young fencer. This season, the event will be held in Oklahoma City, OK on January 8-11, 2027.

The Junior Olympics represent an important moment in the young fencing careers of cadets and juniors. Fencers who earn gold medals at this event have the right to call themselves Cadet National Champions, Junior National Champions or Junior Team National Champions for that year.

Please note: At this time, the qualification dashboard is not connected with the unified points list at this time so, your fencer may be qualified even though there is no green checkmark on their dashboard. We hope to have this live by September 30th, when JO's opens. Please be sure to read this article carefully to see if you are qualified.

With the 2027 Junior Olympics approaching fast, it’s the perfect time to review exactly how cadets and juniors can qualify for this pinnacle domestic tournament.

Let’s dive into the process.

A fencer’s eligibility for a certain classification is determined by their birth year, as outlined in section 2.5.1 of the Athlete Handbook.

• Born in 2010-2013: Can compete in cadets in tournaments before and including the 2027 Junior Olympics
• Born in 2007–2013: Can compete in juniors in tournaments before and including the 2027 Junior Olympics

Note: Be sure to review below to see under which circumstances a fencer born after 2013 can fence at the Junior Olympics.

Cadet – A fencer born after 2013 can become eligible to qualify for Cadet local and regional competitions, NAC Cadet tournaments and Junior Olympic Cadet Fencing Championship and qualifying tournaments. IF the fencer is on the National Youth 14 Point Standings, they may fence up into the Cadet category at local and regional events. Once the fencer has earned at least 100 points on the Cadet Unified Points List, they are eligible to fence at NAC's. Fencers still need to meet the Cadet qualification pathway after becoming eligible to qualify for JO's.

Junior – A fencer born after 2013 can be eligible in Junior local and regional competitions, NAC Junior and Junior Olympic Fencing Championships and qualifying tournaments. IF the fencer holds 100 or more points on the Cadet Unified Points List they may fence in local and regional Junior events. Once the fencer has earned at least 100 points on the Junior Unified Points List, they are eligible to fence at NAC's. Fencers still need to meet the Junior qualification pathway after becoming eligible to qualify for JO's.

Junior Olympic Fencing Championship (JOs): The Junior Olympic Fencing Championships are held each year before the Junior & Cadet Fencing World Championships. JOs is the National Championships for Cadet, Junior and Junior Team in each of the six weapons. Fencers must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, meet age criteria and qualify to compete in this tournament. Athletes that have represented another country in the last three years at FIE-level competitions (Veteran/Senior/ Junior and those athletes that represented another country in the Cadet World Championships) are not eligible to compete in a National Championship, unless the athlete has been officially approved by the FIE to represent the USA.

In addition to crowning national champions, the event also represents the last chance for cadets and juniors to earn qualification points for the Junior & Cadet Fencing World Championships, held each April. The 2027 Junior & Cadet Worlds will be held in Istanbul, Turkey.

There are a few qualification paths. A fencer must complete at least one of the three to earn a spot at the Junior Olympics.

• Path 1: Unified Points List
• Cadet: Have earned at least 125 points on the Cadet Unified Points list
• Junior: Have earned at least 200 points on the Junior Unified Points list
• Path 2: Earn at least a combined 120 regional points prior to August 1, 2026, but after December 10, 2025. Take the sum of the points earned at your two best regional events in the span above, and if that number is 120 or higher, you qualify
• Path 3: Finish in a qualifying position at your divisional qualifier. For more information on how to qualify via a divisional qualifier see our article here
• Path 4: Finish in the top 40% in the respective Junior or Cadet event at an IRC this season
• Note: If you qualify for juniors, you are automatically qualified for cadet events at the Junior Olympics (if your birth year falls in the appropriate range) because of the trickle-down rule. But it does not work the other way around, meaning cadets hoping to qualify as juniors must meet the junior requirements.

Registration Regular Fee Deadline: Deadline for Junior Olympics this year will be November 11th. If your divisional qualifier is after this date, you will still need to register by the normal fee deadline mentioned above. The registration will stay in "pending" status until qualification has occurred. Pending statuses will be changed to approved after the qualification deadline on Dec. 10, 2026, which will automatically change the registration to approved.

Results from Division Qualifiers: A note for fencers qualifying through Division Qualifiers: You will not be eligible to register until we receive the official results from the division chair. Emailing us screenshots from Ask Fred the day after the tournament does not count as a credible source. It typically takes anywhere from two to five days for division chairs to email results to USA Fencing and for USA Fencing to upload those results into our system. This process does not happen immediately following the competition over the weekend. Your division should send you an email following the competition to inform you that you have qualified — this is for your records only.

Competitive Memberships: It’s also important to know that if you qualify through Division Qualifiers, you need to have at least a competitive membership in order to register for the Junior Olympics. We understand that some fencers who qualify for the Junior Olympics might have a lower level of membership, so we’re sharing this reminder. (Life, Life installment, and Collegiate competitive memberships are also valid.)

Nationality Verification: Fencers must have their Nationality verified before they can register for the Junior Olympics. Only US representing fencers are allowed to compete at US National Championships.

Registration Required: Even if you’ve qualified, you’ll still need to register yourself or your fencer for the Junior Olympics. We do not automatically register fencers for the Junior Olympics.

Qualifying Dashboard: There is a dashboard on the bottom of each fencer’s member page that shows whether a fencer is qualified through the designated qualification pathways. A green checkmark means they have qualified. If you do not see a green checkmark, be sure to double check the unified points list to verify.

Now comes the fun part! Once you’re qualified, it’s time to make things official.

Find the registration link on the in your member profile at member.usafencing.org.

Sept. 30, 2026: Registration opens at 12:00pm ET

Dec. 9, 2026: Deadline of when a fencer can use results to qualify for the 2027 Junior Olympics. Any regional or national competition that takes place after this date will go toward qualifying for the 2028 Junior Olympics.

Nov. 11, 2026: Last day to register under regular fees. All fencers that did not qualify by the Dec. 9th deadline are subject to event fee refunds that will be completed 2-3 weeks after the tournament. 

Dec. 13, 2026 at 11:59 p.m.: Last date to submit a petition for those not qualified but who want to petition for a spot at the Junior Olympics. It typically takes one-two weeks after submitting to receive a decision via email. Petition information will be posted on the Event Info page. If a fencer competed in a Divisional Qualifier, they are automatically not eligible to petition. 

Note: Our team will review all registrations on a rolling basis once registration opens.  Pending registrations submitted near the registration deadline will be reviewed after the regular-fee entry deadline to switch them to approved if the registration is valid. 

All fencers with registrations that are listed as “denied” are able to fill out a petition as they have not qualified through any of the three pathways. To petition, fencers must pay the $100 nonrefundable petition fee.

Remember, the $100 petition fee is not refundable, but if the petition is denied, the event fee (and only the event fee) will be refunded.

Petition link coming soon. Deadline to petition is Dec. 13, 2026, at 11:59pm.