two-day or one-day tournaments?

[fluidfencer]

If you host a modest tournament, say an open with 40 foil fencers, 40 epee and 20 sabre, but it could end up a little bigger with walk-ins... Would you opt for a one-day tournament that might run late (but only if a lot more than the numbers above) or spread it over two days and get done by supper time both days? People will be traveling from 2 to 4 hours in quite a few cases, although most competitors will be local. We can probably set up as many as 9 strips fairly comfortably. Referees will be pretty good but some fencers will have to help in the pools. AskFred will be used so we generally have a good idea of the numbers beforehand.

I am asking for your opinion as a competitor/fencer. Try to consider the assumptions as much as possible.

[akaiyuki]

I personally will go with two days. Mainly because there are just so many fencers and if things like technical difficulties happens, it sucks go have a tournament run pass 8/9pm. A two days tournament also let fencers have more time to interact with each other and explorer the neighborhood (but if most competitors are local then that's not a factor...).
But then a two day tournament will probably cost more for you...

[oso97]

Make it two days. Then toss in a couple of extra events as long as you have the space and referees. Women's events, Youth events, either could be good, depending on your area.

[glowstix]

personally i'd prefer the two day tournament but i fence epee and i'd prefer to fence on saturday so that i have sunday off before monday starts again. the thing is, most 2 day events have epee on sunday.

actually, upon further review, i prefer the one day tournaments since it usually means epee starts at around 1pm which means i don't have to get a hotel i don't mind if i come back a bit late. if i had my way, i'd have one day tournaments on saturdays..hehehehe the only sport thats meant for more than one day is cricket!!

btw, i might come to your birmingham tournament this weekend...i might be gone from the southeast section by the june tournament.

[mlr2fence]

personally i'd prefer the two day tournament but i fence epee and i'd prefer to fence on saturday so that i have sunday off before monday starts again. the thing is, most 2 day events have epee on sunday.

actually, upon further review, i prefer the one day tournaments since it usually means epee starts at around 1pm which means i don't have to get a hotel i don't mind if i come back a bit late. if i had my way, i'd have one day tournaments on saturdays..hehehehe the only sport thats meant for more than one day is cricket!!

btw, i might come to your birmingham tournament this weekend...i might be gone from the southeast section by the june tournament.

Glowstix--Where are you going? Off to greener fencing pastures?

I would offer more events and make it a full 2 days if you expect/hope to draw out of towners. More fencing=more likely to travel to out of town tournament. If you plan just an open in each weapon, drawing just locals, make it one day.

[fluidfencer]

Darn. I'm definitely getting mixed signals.

The main argument for one-day is that fencers can get in a bunch of fencing, in two or more weapons, without using the entire weekend. In the Southeast, where we are REALLY spread out and not every tournament can get higher level fencers, this reason takes on some importance. We will do fine financially either way so I wasn't concerned about that aspect.

The main argument for two day is that it just makes for a more pleasant fencing experience. We will have open foil, women's foil and Y12 foil on Saturday for example. Very manageble for one day. I am pretty confident we could add the epee and sabre in the same day and still have things run smoothly, but do fencers WANT to be rushed and maybe run until 7:30pm and then drive home 2-4 hours?

What we have seen is that with a greater number of tournaments in the region, we seem to be getting fewer out-of-towners, so consider this kind of a focus group marketing step. Ironically, this has happened as the level of fencing continues to rise fairly rapidly. Nearly every foil fencer is rated and there are quite a few Bs and Cs... but only 30 in Open Foil at this point. What do I have to do, hire clowns, fire myself out of a cannon, shoot flaming clowns out of a cannon... with cheerleaders cheering them on?

Sorry... way off topic. Let's stick to the one- versus two-day choice for now.

Glowstix--Where are you going? Off to greener fencing pastures?

I would offer more events and make it a full 2 days if you expect/hope to draw out of towners. More fencing=more likely to travel to out of town tournament. If you plan just an open in each weapon, drawing just locals, make it one day.

[oso97]

definitely go with the 2 day event and make it a pleasent fencing experience. Build up a good reputation for hosting events that are well run and end on time... eventually people will start to come.

[DHCJr]

That sounds about like our local 1-day tournament that is held every month. We have a number of fencers who fence multiple events. We have 8 strips and stagger the entry. Even though we had our last tournament in direct conflict with Duel, we had 43 Foilist (we split off the 12 ladies), 34 Epeeist and 15 Saberist. This time it did run longer than usual, around 8. It was just Coach and me, instead of 4 that normally run the tournament. We are usually done around 5 - 6, even with these numbers.

[Schiavona]

What do I have to do, hire clowns, fire myself out of a cannon, shoot flaming clowns out of a cannon... with cheerleaders cheering them on?

Cheerleaders. Ohhhh yes! And beer.

[rpgsruleall]

I would say one day, because in our area there are quite a few fencers who fence multiple weapons, especially from Vanderbilt. I was at their tournament this weekend and had a chance to speak with some of them about why they haven't signed up. The two main reasons were that they wouldn't be able to do multiple events without staying overnight, and that they prefer to fence on Saturday(and our epee event is on Sunday) so they can rest/prepare for school/work on Sunday.

I think you should consider how well our past few tournaments have turned out with all of the main events on one day, compared to the number currently signed up with the trial of a two-day spread.

I think that if we wanted to have a two-day tournament that it may be better to have all of our open events on Saturday and maybe some youth/women/team events on Sunday, since they are usually smaller and only include local fencers for the most part.

It seems that the area where the tournament is being held dictates which format would be the most successful. It’s my personal opinion that a one-day format is better here, but maybe you should speak to some of the out-of-towners that usually attend our tournaments to see what would be preferable to them.

[Zilverzmurfen]

Sorry for just giving a short answer, but i think you should make it a two-day arrangement.

[acaba]

The Virginia Division usually runs tournaments with foil & sabre on Saturday and epee on Sunday. This way we can get the ROW refs together for one day, and the epee refs (or the foilists who want to stick around) for Sunday. Also, the Sunday event ends at a reasonable time so everyone can go home.

I guess my vote would be for two days.

[Pancakes]

Two days. women's epee, men's foil, men's sabre on day one, men's epee, women's foil, women's sabre on day two. That means I can fence two weapons easily.

[oiuyt]

I just wish my division (well, the division which I reside in, which is not the one I resided in at the start of the season and represent) had multiple weapons on the same weekend. As an adult who can't fence Div II there is exactly ONE sabre tournament (and one "training event") scheduled (edit: I meant to note that I was referring to the second half (winter/spring) portion of the calendar... omitted that part of the comment accidently) that I can fence in... and I have a conflict with that date. And this isn't even a result of my being out of division. If this is the schedule next season (when I anticipate being a member of the division) I'll still have only that one event.

Yet the division runs SOMETHING nearly every weekend.

I know I got spoiled living up in New England, but that doesn't make me any happier about it.

Oh, there was actually a question asked?

Uhm, then I'd say go with a one-day format. Makes out of town ride sharing significantly easier, makes multiple weapons significnatly easier.

-B :)

[glowstix]

Glowstix--Where are you going? Off to greener fencing pastures?

how about NO fencing pastures.. proof that only the good things come to an end. i had a blast in this sport.

i spent a ton of money going to tournaments and i have been to the birmingham event and i definitely prefered fencing on saturday!