The CMU Fencing Club (in conjunction with FRED) announces and invites YOU to Holy Grail 2008, the fourteenth annual Holy Grail team tournament!

Please take a few minutes to read through these important details:

-Pre-registering would be greatly appreciated. To pre-register, please visit http://askfred.net/Events/Prereg/pre...nament_id=5432. Pre-registration closes on 04/04/2008. If your email program didn't make that URL clickable, copy and paste the whole URL into your web browser. If that fails, go to http://askfred.net/.

-For directions, please see http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/fencing/contact.html or contact fencing@andrew.cmu.edu.

- The Holy Grail tournament is a team-based competition. Teams are composed of no fewer than three individual fencers, all of whom will use the same weapon type. Each team is also allowed to have one additional “alternate” fencer for substitutions; this brings the maximum allowable total to four individual fencers per team. Composite teams (where one or more team members may hail from another organization) are allowed in those cases where an organization cannot field a complete team on its own. Any organization may enter more than one team in any event (i.e. more than one team per weapon per organization). "Double entering" is, without exception, prohibited.

-All participating fencers are REQUIRED to have safe, competition-caliber attire. The fencer’s attire must provide the fencer with an optimal level of protection without compromising the freedom of movement necessary for fencing. Full protection for the upper body, in the form of well-maintained modern fencing attire, is mandatory. Fencing knickers (and the accompanying knee-length socks) are recommended, although the knickers/socks combination may, on a case-by-case basis, be substituted for another garment (or combination of garments) that will provide (through appropriate coverage/overlapping AND resistance to puncture and tearing) protection reasonably close to that provided by the knickers/socks combination to the entirety of the fencer’s legs and lower body. The outermost garment must extend to (or below) the fencer’s knees when worn in the manner intended/implied by the garment’s design, and all visible/exposed sections of the garment(s) in question must be free of features (such as cargo pockets, large exposed loops, etc.) that could entangle/trap an opponent’s weapon. Shoes must be of the “athletic shoe” type and must not feature cleats or other devices/characteristics which may damage varnish. Fencing in insufficiently protective attire, or attire that does not meet the above guidelines, is prohibited.

-The tournament will be divided into multiple events by weapon (i.e. there will be one foil event, one epee event, and one saber event). Each event will consist of two rounds: one set of ‘round-robin’ 15-touch relay pools for seeding purposes and one direct elimination round which will follow a 45-touch relay bout format similar to that used by the USFA. The 1st-place team from each event will earn a prize, and the organization which achieves the highest cumulative point total (determined by the placement of the organizations’ highest placing teams) at the end of the tournament will claim the championship title and possession of the Holy Grail until the next tournament (to be held approximately one year later).

-In the (unlikely) scenario of two organizations being tied for the highest cumulative score, they will select and agree upon a weapon, and the highest-placing teams in that weapon (or an ad-hoc team, only if the original members of the highest-placing team are not available) from the organizations in question will fence in a 45-touch relay bout, with the victor claiming the championship title and possession of the Holy Grail. If three or more organizations are tied for the highest cumulative score, they will select and agree upon a weapon, and the highest-placing teams (or an ad-hoc team, only if the original members of the highest-placing team are not available) in that weapon from the organizations in question will fence in a ‘round-robin’ 15-touch relay pool; the team that emerges in the highest position will be declared the victor will claim the championship title and possession of the Holy Grail.

- The organization possessing the Holy Grail will be responsible for the engraving of their organization’s name and year of victory onto the appropriate metal plate affixed to the base of the Holy Grail (and to affix and engrave a new plate, if necessary), and will be required to defend their championship title at the next tournament.

-The entry fee will be $30 per team and will be payable at the registration/bout committee table. If writing checks, please make them payable to Carnegie Mellon University Fencing Club.

We ask that each participating organization bring a working set of scoring equipment (scoring machine, reels, floor cords, etc.), if possible. Please let us know if you can do this, so we will know how many additional strip setups we will need to borrow/rent. If you (as a club) would like to keep in contact with our club in the future, we would greatly appreciate a message indicating your current officers and organization contact information so that we may keep our mailing lists up-to-date.

------------------ Important Info from FRED: -------------------

Tournament: Holy Grail 2008
Date: 04/05/2008
Location: Main Gym, Skibo Gymnasium, Carnegie Mellon University

Event | Date | Registration Closes
Mixed Team Epee | Sat 4/05 | 11:00 AM
Mixed Team Foil | Sat 4/05 | 11:00 AM
Mixed Team Saber | Sat 4/05 | 11:00 AM


Check FRED for more info, like who is already pre-registered, and such:
Who is pre-registered: http://askfred.net/Events/whoIsComin...nament_id=5432
More info: http://askfred.net/Events/moreInfo.p...nament_id=5432