summer nationals U16/U14 events

[Padawan]

Has there been a thread on the qualifying paths for the these events? If so does someone have the link?

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

Lemme see if I remember correctly.

U16:
Cadet points
Divisional Qualifiers
Appeal

Y-14:
Y-14 points
Divisional qualifier
Appeal

I'm sure there are a couple more that I'm missing though.

[Goofy]

From Christine Simmons at the USFA National Office:

The birth years for U16/Y14 at Summer Nationals 2006 are:

U16: 1990 - 1993
Y14: 1991 - 1994

From sections 2.11.4 and 2.11.5 of the Athlete's Handbook:

UNDER-16 (Cadet) – Fencers must meet age eligibility above AND
• Be on the Cadet (Under-16) point standings after the April NAC OR
• Be on the Cadet (Under-16) point standings at the time of the fencer’s current season Under-16 Section Championships OR
• Place in the top 25% (see Chapter 2.7.2 for detailed chart) of the Division’s U-16 qualifying competition OR
• Qualify for U19 event OR
• Be in the Top 8 of the Youth 14 point standings after the April NAC

YOUTH-14 Championships – Fencers must meet age eligibility above AND
• Earn Youth 14 points at a current season Super Youth Circuit Competition OR
• Earn points at a current season Youth 14 NAC, Cadet NAC, or Cadet Summer National Championships* OR
• Earn points at the previous season’s Youth 14 Summer National Championships* OR
• Place in the top 25% (see Chapter 2.7.2 for detailed chart) of the fencer’s Division’s Youth 14 qualifying competition held in the current season

For more information:

http://www.international.usfencing.o...teHandbook.pdf

[Padawan]

If fencer qualifies for u-16 (says wins the event). Do they automatically qualify for u-14 if they are eligable age wise? Or for Div 2/3 for that matter?

[tbryan]

Originally Posted by Padawan

If fencer qualifies for u-16 (says wins the event). Do they automatically qualify for u-14 if they are eligable age wise? Or for Div 2/3 for that matter?

Just can't wait for the official results, eh?

Really, check the Athlete's Handbook (linked above), pages 18-20 or so. These rules seem to change every year or two, and there are some ambiguities about how auto-qualifiers from events on the same weekend are treated.

For example, the Div II qualifying path -

Fencers must have a classification in the weapon of "C", "D", "E" or Unclassified at the time of the
qualifying competition AND meet age requirements as above AND *
· Place in the top 25% of the current season's Division Qualifying competition (see Chapter
2 .7.2 for detailed chart) OR
· Qualify for current season's Division I-A National Championships OR
· Qualify for the current season's Under-19 National Championships in that weapon OR
· Qualify for the current season's Under-16 National Championships in that weapon OR
· Placed in the top 4 at the previous season's Division III National Championships

So, qualifying for U16 should qualify them for Div II.

I'll let you look up the rules for the Y14 events yourself.

[Padawan]

Yeah, I know it seems a little rushed. After the weekend the parents are asking so that summer plans can be made. Sorry, if seems a impatient. They event was great and the organizated did well based on the number of fencers and the numbers of multi-weaponal fencers (is that even a term?).

[garyhayenga]

Originally Posted by Goofy

From Christine Simmons at the USFA National Office:

The birth years for U16/Y14 at Summer Nationals 2006 are:

U16: 1990 - 1993
Y14: 1991 - 1994

That seems odd. Shouldn't there be *two* years difference between the oldest birth years for U16 and U14?

gary hayenga

[tbryan]

Originally Posted by garyhayenga

That seems odd. Shouldn't there be *two* years difference between the oldest birth years for U16 and U14?

gary hayenga

In August, they will be. The U16 and U19 events are offset from the rest of the USFA calendar. That is, they bump to "next season's" age requirements before the end of the USFA season.

From the Athlete's Handbook, page 20

Because the Junior and Cadet season ends with the Junior/Cadet World Championships in April, the Summer National Championships are the first events of the new season for the Juniors and Cadets. Therefore, they have different birth year eligibility requirements.

See also the Age Criteria chart in Appendix 2.

Really, it is all very well documented. I didn't know any of this stuff until some of our kids' parents started asking. I downloaded the Athlete's Handbook, read the criteria, and printed copies of the relevant pages to post at our gym.

[oiuyt]

Originally Posted by garyhayenga

That seems odd. Shouldn't there be *two* years difference between the oldest birth years for U16 and U14?

UXX means under XX, YXX means XX or younger.

U16 is the equivalent of Y15 (or Y14 is the equivalent of U15, your choice). They are only 1 year apart.

Comes from the age groups finishing seasons at different times. Youth seasons terminate with Summer Nationals. Cadet/Junior seasons terminate with Cadet/Junior Worlds (early April). For a while one group (well, two) has effectively turned over to the new year before the other (well, other three) catch up.

-B

[mrbiggs]

Originally Posted by tbryan

In August, they will be. The U16 and U19 events are offset from the rest of the USFA calendar. That is, they bump to "next season's" age requirements before the end of the USFA season.

Am I the only one who finds the whole age requirements thing needlessly confusing? oiuyt did a good job explaining, but wouldn't it be great if they all lined up?

[KD5MDK]

Junior and Cadet events are defined by the FIE criteria. The events starting with Y are internal USFA classifications. I suppose coaches, parents, the Youth Development Community got together and decided which categories would be most useful.