US Fencing Association Summer Nationals Information June 23, 2006
I received this today. Posting here just in case anyone else needs the info.
Craig
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Greetings from the United States Fencing Association,
This is the final email prior to Summer Nationals. I have once again attached the Athlete Information and Check In Times. I have also included the previous emails below for your information.
This year, the Check In area will have six booths:
1. Information (Pending Entries and for General Tournament Information)
2. Coaches (Coaches must have a current USFA Membership to receive a Coaches Credential)
3. TEAM (Team Captains will come to this booth to register their Team the day before their event)
4. Epee (All Epee Athletes checking in for an event will be in this line)
5. Foil (All Foil Athletes checking in for an event will be in this line)
6. Sabre (All Sabre Athletes checking in for an event will be in this line)
For Individual Events:
During your scheduled check in hour, you will go to the booth with your weapon name to check in. When you are in the Check In Line, make sure you have either your USFA Membership Card or Summer Nationals Confirmation or a picture ID out to speed up the Check In process. Only the Athlete can be in the line. Parents can stay in the Check In area but can not check in the athlete (this is the only time that parents get a break - so enjoy it!).
The Check In area and Meeting Rooms are located on Level 2 in the "B" Building. The Competition Area is located on Level 1 in Hall B5. There is elevator and escalator access to Hall B5. The Armory is located inside Hall B5 on the opposite wall from the Entrance. The Bout Committee is in the Center of Hall B5 on the raised stage. The Trainer/First Aid, Wheelchair Fencing area, Awards and the Finals Strip are located near the Bout Committee Stage.
For TEAM Events:
Team Captains will come to this booth to confirm their Team roster the day before their event. This booth will be open from 10:00 am - 3:00 pm daily.
For Coaches:
Coaches must have a current USFA Membership to receive a Coaches Credential. This booth will be open from 10:00 am - 3:00 pm daily.
For Pending Entries and General Information:
If you still have a pending entry or you do not have a current USFA Membership, you will be asked to step down to the Information Booth to clear the issue. If you have a question or concern, you will also go to this booth.
I am heading out to Atlanta now so if you still have issues with your entry, please see me at Check In. .
Christine Strong Simmons
Director of National Events
US Fencing Association
Considering that many events will be starting at 8 am and 9 am, it leaves me wondering what the coaches will do for "credentials" before the booth opens.
I am still mystified about problems creditionals solve that the coaching box did not. Other than fiscal reasons, there seems to be no point.
Considering that many events will be starting at 8 am and 9 am, it leaves me wondering what the coaches will do for "credentials" before the booth opens.
I am still mystified about problems creditionals solve that the coaching box did not. Other than fiscal reasons, there seems to be no point.
Arrive the day before and get credentialled? Save the credential from a previous event this season?
Credentials do several things.
* They encourage coaches that are not USFA members, for whatever reason, to join the USFA. This, obviously, has the financial benefit to which you refer, but has other benefits as well.
* They get people used to the idea that coaches need credentials. While this isn't particularly significant currently, it's not unreasonable to see this as a small step along a long road of progress in the direction that most major sports (or even sports which are more major than fencing) have gone before.
* If (when) enforced it makes recording of spectator warnings against coaches considerably easier for the referee ("uhm, it was one of HER coaches -- he had brown hair, I think").
* Gives us one more thing to hang on to and remember. It's not like coaches can ever really have too many minor daily challenges, can we?
I'm sure the USFA has their own set of benefits which may or may not overlap with the list I've given here.
-B
"Oh but you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you!"
Arrive the day before and get credentialled? Save the credential from a previous event this season?....<snip>....
* If (when) enforced it makes recording of spectator warnings against coaches considerably easier for the referee ("uhm, it was one of HER coaches -- he had brown hair, I think").
(laughing) I'm willing to be that the credential booth WILL NOT be open the day before the competition starts (Thursday). I had to track down someone the first time I got credentialed during the NORMAL operating hours (I went back twice, as I recall).
I actually DO have credentials from a previous event. Does it say anywhere that they will be good for Nationals? That would make sense, I suppose, provided everyone knows that, and all the referees get the word.
The picture on your credentials must be MUCH better than the picture on mine. The picture is on my id is poorly lit, and out of focus. You can tell it's me if I give it to you and you have a few minutes to stare at it. And your name is probably spelled correctly (mine was not).
I'm grumpy about the credentials, it's true. Last year, even WITH credentials, and during the break, a referee tried to shoo me out of the pod while I was walking to my fencer (and no, he didn't have any credentials on). It's just one more #^#%# thing to lose when I am moving between strips, and, two years from now, we'll have to pay extra for them, per event. Just you wait!
I think the credentials with pictures were from last summer nationals. Tacked up to the corkboard next to me as I type this is a 2005-2006 coach credential (from Pittsburg presumably, although it might have been Houston. One of the NACs where Temple sent fencers, in any case). No picture, correctly spelled name, and should be valid in Atlanta.
Originally Posted by Credential Text
US Fencing Coach Credential
NAC and National Championships
2005-2006 Season
Besides, you have a tricky-to-spell name. :)
-B
"Oh but you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you!"
Doees anyone know the times for the referee clinics? I see there are two 3 1/2-hr clinics on July 3-4, but I don't see the times listed.
I think that they are normally done in the evening at Nationals. Like 6 - 9:30 or 6:30 - 10:00. I think the hope is that a lot of the fencing and refereeing will be dying down by the time the seminar starts.
Considering that many events will be starting at 8 am and 9 am, it leaves me wondering what the coaches will do for "credentials" before the booth opens.
Well, I guess there will be a rush at 10:00 to get them. You don't really need them at 8:00 or 9:00 since coaches aren't supposed to be in the coaching box during pools. That's just DEs, right? So, 8:00 - 10:00, watch your fencers in pools from outside the sport zone. 10:00 - during the break between pools and DEs for the early events, rush to the credentials table. Get your credentials. Hurry back. Find your fencers' strips.
Yeah, not really well thought out. Perhaps the coach credentials booth will be open early on the first day?
Originally Posted by Allen Evans
I am still mystified about problems creditionals solve that the coaching box did not. Other than fiscal reasons, there seems to be no point.
Good point. I always assumed it was to make the process of giving a coach a card for disturbing order easier.
I really hope that they don't start charging for the credentials since that will make it hard for those of us who coach our teammates even if we aren't the "coach" at the club. I have even sat in the coaching box for fencers whom I knew from other clubs. (Their coach wasn't there, and they just wanted someone to hand them their water at the break or something.)
If we're moving to a more formal definition for who can be a coach at an event, then I think that we'll see more of what Inq wanted: less coaching at the strip during tournaments.
Of course with the move towards having most pods have every strip be a "edge" (or more frequently a "corner") strip (there's a barrier directly behind the referee's position), being in the sport zone is significantly less important. As a coach I'd (generally) rather be outside the zone in such a situation (other than during the minute break).
Now watch, Atlanta'll be a reversion to massive pods with lots of center strips. :)
-B
"Oh but you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you!"
Of course with the move towards having most pods have every strip be a "edge" (or more frequently a "corner") strip (there's a barrier directly behind the referee's position), being in the sport zone is significantly less important. As a coach I'd (generally) rather be outside the zone in such a situation (other than during the minute break).
Now watch, Atlanta'll be a reversion to massive pods with lots of center strips.
-B
As a referee, I generally prefer a strip in the middle of the pod. I'm not accustomed to refereeing with people standing directly behind me, watching the bout.
As a referee, I generally prefer a strip in the middle of the pod. I'm not accustomed to refereeing with people standing directly behind me, watching the bout.
As a referee I'm more ambivalent.
Near the edge and there's greater access to the referee for the coaches. That rarely bothers me, so is a minor factor. Near the center and it's noticibly harder to maintain crowd control (just as easy to kick them out, but they'll come back in during the action, and other referees may or may not clear the zone as well. With edge strips spectators/passers-by're less likely to cut through the area and tend to be more willing to watch from outside the pipe-and-drapes.). Edge strips frequently have a bit less space for the referee, but you never have the referee behind you infringing on what space is available.
Getting used to refereeing with an attentive crowd is useful if one wishes to progress as a referee.
-B
"Oh but you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you!"
Near the center and it's noticibly harder to maintain crowd control (just as easy to kick them out, but they'll come back in during the action,
Hm. I've never had a coach repeatedly intrude in the sports zone. Then again, I've never refereed saber. I also have very little refereeing experience at national events.
Originally Posted by oiuyt
Getting used to refereeing with an attentive crowd is useful if one wishes to progress as a referee.
Actually, I'm not very interested in progressing as a referee. I'm happy staying right around a ref rating of a 6. I like to stay at least that well-practiced, but I really prefer fencing. I just referee because I know that I'll get roped into doing it whether I want to or not. For those times, I'd like to be prepared.
Hm. I've never had a coach repeatedly intrude in the sports zone. Then again, I've never refereed saber. I also have very little refereeing experience at national events.
Huh. In my experience it's much easier keeping a clear zone at national competitions -- where all of the coaches and other spectators know the expectations, there's plenty of space available, and there's the clear demarcations provided by the pipe and drape -- than it is at the local level.
-B
"Oh but you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you!"
Originally Posted by Allen Evans 
