The goal of the Fairfield Fencing Academy Squire Program is ultimately to prepare your child and/or you for National Championships and July Challenge.  In order to master the skills being taught and to gain the confidence as a competitive athlete competing in tournaments is a must! There are many tournament options, from local state tournaments, regional tournaments, as well as national and international tournaments. In the information below we help organize what the appropriate event is for your child and the ins and outs of how to get started to Qualifying for Summer National championships! The first thing is to simply sign up and take the plunge!

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Competing is a necessary and important part of a fencer’s development, but must be done in the correct way. USAFencing, the governing body of fencing in the United States, has sanctioned local, regional, and national events. The age categories are Youth 8 (ages 8 and under), Youth 10 (ages 10 and under), Youth 12 (ages 12 and under), Youth 14 (ages 14 and under), Cadet (ages 13-17), Junior (ages 13-20), Senior (ages 13 +), and Veteran (ages 40-49, 50-59, 60 – 69, 70-79, and 80+).

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The best way to start off your child fencing is at a local tournament appropriate for their age category. Once your child has won three top three medals at the local level it is time to start competing at the Regional Level.  The Connecticut Division resides in Region 3 of the 6 that USAFencing sanctions. The Regional Level tournaments are called Regional Youth Circuits (RYCs) which are Y8-Y14, Regional Open Circuits (ROCs), these tournaments are any age above 13, and Regional Junior Cadet Cups (RJCCs), and these tournaments are for Junior and Cadet aged fencers.

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Once your child starts to get a handle on the regional tournaments, achieving at least three Top 8 Medals they are encouraged to compete at the National Level. The national tournaments are Super Youth Circuits (SYCs, Y10 – Y14), North American Cups (NACs, ages 13 plus), and Youth NACs, which are also the age categories Y10-Y14).

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When we decide that it would be a good choice to get your child competing you must upgrade their USAFencing membership from their non-competitive level to the Competitive level, which can be done on USAfencing.org. To register for local events you have to go to the website askfred.net (click image below) which is a database where tournament organizers post different tournaments they host during the year. Once on askfred.net you can create a profile that will allow you to sign up for tournaments. Some tournaments require you to pay through the askfred.net system or some organizers will collect money through their own system.  To register for Regional and National events you can go to usfencing.org (click image below) and follow the links on the home page.

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Special note from our Director

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Our goal at Fairfield Fencing Academy is to help your child find their way to Summer National Championship which is always hosted at the end of June and beginning of July. The event is big, but it is a part of the culture that makes this sport so great and teaches so many lessons to our athletes.  By signing up your child for tournaments you must understand they will not receive a medal unless they make top 8 in most in events and top 4 in some events. Fencing is one of the few sports that you do not receive a medal for participation and for that reason it is a difficult journey. The athletes  who are resilient and understand that fencing is more about the  love of the sport and intensity of the fight and how much fun it is to fence have a much better chance of success than those looking for a medal. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask! Please look at the information below that summarizes  the qualifying paths for Youth 10  events through Div 1a events at Summer National Championships.

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Happy Fencing!

 

Jim Roberts

Director

Fairfield Fencing Academy

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