USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in the postponement of three major domestic USA Fencing tournaments – the Anaheim Super Junior and Cadet Circuit tournament, March North American Cup and the Division I / Parafencing National Championships and April NAC during a span of five weeks.

As the pandemic has continued to affect businesses and sports events throughout the nation, these events will not be rescheduled in order to protect the health and safety of all USA Fencing members.

The 2020 USA Fencing National Championships and July Challenge, originally scheduled to be held in Louisville, Ky. from June 28 – July 7, will be rescheduled for later in the season with potential dates in August.

The USA Fencing National Events Department, in conjunction with the Tournament Committee, is working with local and state authorities in Kentucky to assess options regarding the event structure of Summer Nationals with the goal of announcing a decision by mid-May.

Our top priority remains the health and safety of the fencing family and all numerous options regarding the sustainability of the event are being examined, including a reduction in the length and scope of the tournament, alternative dates and locations and hosting the event over two weekends instead of a 10-day span.

We appreciate the feedback we have received from athletes, parents, coaches and club owners regarding the hosting of Summer Nationals and know that the tournament is a tradition the USA Fencing community has always valued. All decisions will be made with the well-being of the USA Fencing family in mind and will be communicated swiftly to the membership.

The following are updates regarding the status of classification, points and selection criteria for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 season:

Classification

Due to the cancellation and postponement of events throughout the nation, USA Fencing will be changing the date of classification degradation from Aug. 1, 2020 to Jan. 1, 2021. This will allow athletes the opportunity to renew classifications at local, regional and national tournaments as they resume throughout 2020.

Points

• USA Fencing Senior National Team Point Standings are frozen as of March 11, 2020 and will resume at the start of the next designated Olympic qualification tournament (dates to be determined after the release of the international schedule from the FIE).
• Points earned at the 2019 March North American Cup will remain on the Youth National Point Standings until the conclusion of the 2020 National Championships.
• Points earned at the 2019 Division I National Championships will remain on the Senior, Junior, Cadet and Y14 National Rolling Point Standings until the conclusion of the 2020 July Challenge.
• Points earned at the 2019 Anaheim SJCC will remain on the Junior and Cadet National Rolling Point Standings until the conclusion of the 2020 July Challenge.
• Points earned at the 2019 April North American Cup will remain on the Veteran National Rolling Point Standings until the conclusion of the 2020 National Championships.
• The 2020 Division I event at the July Challenge will count for team points for cadet and junior fencers and rolling points only for senior fencers.
  • The strength factor for the 2020 Division I event at the July Challenge will be calculated using the regular formula as designated in section 3.4.1 of the current Athlete Handbook.
• The 2020 junior and cadet events at the July Challenge will count for team points across in all weapons.

Selection Criteria Update

The USA Fencing Sports Performance team has been working diligently, in consultation with the Athletes Advisory Council, the Sports Performance Resource Team and the national coaches to provide guidance to athletes regarding selection criteria for all international events. Click the link below to view the Selection Criteria Update for international events, including the 2021 Olympic and Paralympic Games and 2020 Veteran World Championships.

USA Fencing Selection Criteria Update