USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) -- It was recently discovered that the qualifying paths for the 2013 Division I National Championships, as listed in the USA Fencing Athlete Handbook, did not take into account the possibility of tournaments having weight values and / or strength factors of less than 1.0. This resulted in several fencers with top-32 results at qualifying tournaments for the Division I Nationals being excluded from the Senior National Ranking Points Standings which are used to determine qualification.

Therefore, the qualifying process has been updated to include that athletes with at least 220 points on the Senior NRPS and a top 32 finish at the regular fee entry deadline will be eligible to compete at the Division I Nationals.

Due to this change, the regular fee entry deadline of March 4, has been extended  to March 11. The changed deadline applies for the Division I Nationals as well as Wheelchair Nationals and the April North American Cup.

The late entry fee deadline will change to March 18. Please note that all entries made from March 12-18 must be made online. Paper entries WILL NOT be accepted after March 11.

Due to the restructuring of the deadline dates, there WILL NOT be a double triple late entry fee deadline.

In addition, Chapter 4 of the Athlete Handbook was revised to clarify that the minimum number of points needed to be placed on the Senior, Junior or Cadet National Ranking Point Standings may be achieved in either domestic or international competition.

For questions or more information, contact the Tournament Committee at tc@usfencing.org.

Click here to register for the USA Fencing Division I and Wheelchair National Championships and April North American Cup.

The complete text of the motion approved by the USA Fencing Board of Directors on Feb. 28 is as follows:

Motion (Ms. Crouse, on behalf of the Tournament Committee):  To adopt the attached changes to the Division I Championship qualification paths to remedy a defect which results in some fencers without top-32 results qualifying while others with top-32 results not qualifying, and to extend the regular entry deadline for the April Championships and NAC to Monday, March 11, 2013, and the late deadline to Monday, March 18, 2013, eliminating the triple double deadline .

Rationale:

NOTE: This motion has to do only with the qualification path for the Division I national championships. It in no way changes the senior team points standings or international competition selection based on points .

When the Athlete Handbook language to implement the award of points for places 33-64 in national events with at least 160 entries was written, the possibility of some events being weighted at less than 1.0 was not considered. This defect has resulted in a situation where a few fencers with top-32 results from domestic or international evens have fewer than the mandated 275-point minimum to qualify for the championships, while some others with only 33-64 results have point totals above the minimum and would qualify under the rules as written.

Rewriting the rule to allow Division I fencers with at least 220 points on the Senior NRPS would cover any fencer who earned top-32 points in domestic or international tournaments with a strength factor of .8 or higher to qualify for the championships while still keeping entry numbers within the range used to plan the schedule and number of strips and officials needed for the April tournament.

Because the regular entry deadline is this Monday, March 4, allowing for the time to update RailStation and notify the membership would leave barely more than the weekend for fencers to respond to this qualification path change. The extension of the regular and late entry deadlines by a week (and the resulting elimination of the triple double deadline) would be a reasonable accommodation; extending the deadline for all events rather than solely the Division I events would prevent member confusion over which categories the extensions apply to.

Edits to Athlete Handbook:

2.11.1.2 Division I National Championships

A. Eligibility (age, classification, qualification path)

Fencers must be 13 years old by January 1 (see Table 2.5.1 for exceptions) of the current season AND

1.       Be on the current National Senior NRPS^ with at least 220 points at the regular fee entry deadline for these 
Championships OR

2.       Earn points^ at a Division I NAC in the current season OR

3.       Be in the top 8 of the adjusted* Junior (Under 19) NRPS at the regular fee entry deadline for 
these Championships of the current season OR

4.        Be in the top 4 of the adjusted* Cadet (Under 16) NRPS at the regular fee entry deadline for 
these Championships of the current season OR

5.         Placed in the top 8 in the previous season Division I-A National Championships OR

6.         Placed in the top 4 in the previous season Division II National Championships OR

7.       In men’s epee and women’s epee, one of three fencers named by USA Modern Pentathlon. The 
top three fencers in the USA. Modern Pentathlon in men's epée and women's epée will be eligible to compete in the Division I men's epée and women's epée events, respectively, without qualifying by any other means. U.S. Modern Pentathlon fencers MUST be USFA members. 

^ In order to be considered on the point standings for the purposes of selection or qualification for each category there must be at least one top 32 result and the total points must be at least: 275 220 for senior; 165 for junior; 110 for cadet. 

3.3 Awarding of Points – International

…

[page 3-5, next to the last paragraph]

If the fencer’s total number of points is less than 275 220 for Senior standings, 165 for Junior standings, or 110 for cadet standings OR AND does not include one domestic point result of 32nd place or better, the fencer is not considered satisfying qualification or selection standards that are based on points.

4.1.1 Point Standings

For the Senior point standings, the minimum number of points is 275 of which there must be points for at least one top 32 result at a domestic point competition. For the Junior point standings, the minimum number of points is 165 of which there must be points for at least one top 32 result at a domestic point competition. Similarly, for Cadet point standings, the minimum number of points is 110 of which there must be points for at least one top 32 result at a domestic point competition. If fencer’s point totals falls below the minimum or there is not at least one top 32 result points, the standing will ONLY be used for seeding national competition but will not satisfy standards for selection or qualification based on points.