Purposes of ratings apparently have changed. It used to be used just as a measurement of skill so that the preliminary seeding for a tournament was fair. Now, at least down here in the south it is used as a weapon of POWER. Don’t get me wrong. Earned a rating is a cool thing to do. Trying to obsess over what you’re rating is over another person as a measurement of your skill is a bad thing entirely. I’m a C and I can beat a U any day is a dangerous idea. As some of the fencers found out this weekend in GA.

We have never made it as big a deal down with our southern schools as other clubs around, and that fine, everyone has to have a goal right? Our goal for the kids is to get them fencing in the NCAA, while with our vets it is either the veteran points, teaching or referee skills.

Last season we got a black eye from the NC division because we didn’t collect the USFA memberships on site and gave people the forms to fill out. I didn’t want to be handling the USFA money; there is a principal behind that. This season we have been dealing with the SC division which has been better. However, our last tournament was desanctioned because the guy who won the unrated the day before and got his E was entered into the tournament the next day for the open event as an E. Well, we got the nasty letter saying that the tournament was desanctioned because the rating used was not approved yet by the USFA. Now if it was an A rated tournament and they wanted to verify all the ratings in the tournament I could understand, but an E awarded in the unclassified tournament. Now all the people were members of the USFA and if you take 6 monkeys……..

I respect the fact that rules are rules, not matter what the rating. So, I chalked it up the one for the bureaucracy god in the sky. However, I am really starting to understand why SC is at the bottom of the food chain in the SE section. Also I find it funny that we are being watched closely yet not all members of the SC board were USFA members. Do as I say not as I do right?

Well, we will have our instructors meeting at the next tournament and decide if we want to have our tournaments “USFA sanctioned” by the NC and SC divisions. If our students are that bent on a USFA ratings they can be on the traveling team and go beat up on the locals. Askfred works great for us and will be used to run our tournaments. I am tired of trying to explain to the staff why someone can be awarded a rating say in GA but because the paperwork has not been processed yet they are still going to be entered into the tournament as U. Thus, being put into the wrong pools and weighing the tournament incorrectly. So, do we make a decision that makes the tournament correct based on earned skill and achievements or for paperwork sake. It took the SC division 2 months to process an E someone earned when we turned everything in on time. We have people travel far for the tournament sometimes, so this will have to be part of the meeting.

Welcome to my nightmare.