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Bringing the Heat: More than 2,300 Fencers Headed to Fort Worth for Parafencing National Championships and March NAC

02/28/2023, 2:30pm CST
By Bryan Wendell

From March 3–6, 2023, more than 2,300 fencers ages 7 to 16 will unite inside the Fort Worth Convention Center for the largest March North American Cup in USA Fencing history.


Cadet (under 17) Women's Foil action at the 2023 Junior Olympics in Denver. (Photo credit: Serge Timacheff)

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The 2022-23 USA Fencing season is heating up. And with high temperatures in Fort Worth expected to climb toward 80 degrees by the tournament's end, we mean that in more ways than one.

From March 3–6, 2023, more than 2,300 fencers ages 7 to 16 will unite inside the climate-controlled Fort Worth Convention Center for the largest March North American Cup in USA Fencing history.  

In addition to serving as an important tournament for youth fencers under age 17, the tournament also will crown five national champions in the growing sport of parafencing (known internationally as wheelchair fencing). Parafencing competitors at this tournament range in age from 25 to 51 — another reminder that fencing is a lifelong sport.

The field of parafencers competing for 2023 national titles includes Scott Rodgers PLY, a three-time Paralympian and 2004 Paralympic bronze medalist.

Fencing, one of just five sports contested at every Summer Olympics since the first modern Games in 1896, offers the ultimate blend of speed, skill and mental acuity.

There is no cost to attend as a spectator, and visitors will be treated to four days of competition including 2,308 of the nation’s best young fencers from 33 different states and several foreign countries. 

The Parafencing National Championships and March NAC is one of seven national fencing tournaments hosted in the 2022-23 season by USA Fencing, the national governing body for the Olympic and Paralympic sport of fencing in the United States.

The tournament in Fort Worth will feature 29 individual events and six team events, including competition for women and men in all three fencing weapons (epee, foil and saber) and these fencing divisions: 

  • Parafencing
  • Cadet and Cadet Team (fencers born between 2007 and 2010)
  • Y14 (fencers born between 2008 and 2011)
  • Y12 (fencers born between 2010 and 2013)
  • Y10 (fencers born between 2012 and 2015)

Info for Spectators and Visitors

  • Admission to the event is free, but all spectators must receive a wristband at registration to enter the venue.

  • Masks are optional within the venue.

  • Attendees — including competitors, officials, coaches and spectators — are no longer required to show proof of vaccination to enter the venue.

Parafencing: Looking Back at 2022

As a refresher, here are the parafencers who won national titles in April 2022 in Charlotte, N.C.

  • Women’s Epee: Jillian Kosanovich (Denver Fencing Center)
  • Men’s Epee: Will Chase (Shepherd Swords Fencing Club/Lotus Fencing Academy)
  • Women’s Foil: Victoria A. Isaacson (The Phoenix Center/Rogue Fencing Academy)
  • Men’s Foil: Will Chase (Shepherd Swords Fencing Club/Lotus Fencing Academy)
  • Women’s Saber: Shelby A. Jensen (Valkyrie Fencing Club)
  • Men’s Saber: Will Chase (Shepherd Swords Fencing Club/Lotus Fencing Academy)

With none of these fencers returning to reclaim their crowns, we're guaranteed to see new national champions — ensuring an unpredictable, exciting parafencing tournament.

Following the Event

Tag(s): Updates  March 2023 NAC