Pacific Coast Discussion Forum

[CadetVet]

Originally Posted by Mr.MightyMouse

IMHO

Youth PCC's/SYC would make a lot of sense - as it was done 2 years ago, that can go through Cadets - obviously they would not be a part of SYC, just PCC's

Senior+Teams would as well make sense on a separate weekend, mayhaps Cadet/Jr + Jr teams on another - 3rd weekend, but then your economy of scale theory would not hold, unless Seniors (as opposed to Senior) would be added.

For highest possible attendance - hold these tournaments in physical (driving) proximity to divisions with the largest membership numbers.

Actually, a couple of years ago, it was the Jr PCCs & SYC (can't have the Youth PCC and the SYC together because of RYC rules - in essence, RYC's are open, PCC's are section-only).

As I said above, a lot depends on venues. I've got a couple of interesting leads that I'm running down, one is near BART in NorCal, one is in downtown LA (there are others as well, but these are the most interesting for several reasons). I'm trying to make them as convenient as possible for the largest number of competitors - but to do that, I probably really need to focus on economies of scale to make it work financially.

[teacup]

Originally Posted by CadetVet

Actually, a couple of years ago, it was the Jr PCCs & SYC (can't have the Youth PCC and the SYC together because of RYC rules - in essence, RYC's are open, PCC's are section-only).

As I said above, a lot depends on venues. I've got a couple of interesting leads that I'm running down, one is near BART in NorCal, one is in downtown LA (there are others as well, but these are the most interesting for several reasons). I'm trying to make them as convenient as possible for the largest number of competitors - but to do that, I probably really need to focus on economies of scale to make it work financially.

There is no specific rule mentioned in the RYC requirements that states anything about restrictions.

"Regional Youth Circuit – The Regional Youth Circuit is the group of youth tournaments within a given region. The rationale is to provide educationally valuable tournament experiences without the stress of extensive travel. The first youth competition is an important part of development in the sport of fencing, for athletes and their parents. Each region should have a minimum of three RYC events per season. Some regions may have a need for more, but none should have less than three. There are no points awarded for RYC events, but they do serve as a qualifying path for Youth-10 and Youth-12 fencers to get to a NAC and the Summer National Championships. (Fencers must attend AND fence their event to qualify for the NAC and Summer Nationals.)"

The cadet events held with the Jr PCC's and the SYC were NOT restricted. They were open to anyone. This meant that fencers of the correct age, not in the section, who attended the SYC had another event they could attend since they definitely could not fence in the U19 qualifier.

Eric Dew posted, that prior to the Jr PCC/SYC combo, Youth PCC's were not restricted to members in the section. So even if there was a rule about tournaments being open to everyone the Youth PCC's have not restricted entry.

Why not make the Youth PCC's an RYC? I think it would definitely encourage attendance and be a worthwhile experience for young fencers.

[CadetVet]

Originally Posted by teacup

There is no specific rule mentioned in the RYC requirements that state that RYC's can or cannot be restricted.

"Regional Youth Circuit – The Regional Youth Circuit is the group of youth tournaments within a given region. The rationale is to provide educationally valuable tournament experiences without the stress of extensive travel. The first youth competition is an important part of development in the sport of fencing, for athletes and their parents. Each region should have a minimum of three RYC events per season. Some regions may have a need for more, but none should have less than three. There are no points awarded for RYC events, but they do serve as a qualifying path for Youth-10 and Youth-12 fencers to get to a NAC and the Summer National Championships. (Fencers must attend AND fence their event to qualify for the NAC and Summer Nationals.)"

The cadet events held with the Jr PCC's and the SYC were NOT restricted. They were open to anyone. This meant that fencers of the correct age, not in the section, who attended the SYC had another event they could attend since they definitely could not fence in the U19 qualifier.

Eric Dew posted, that prior to the Jr PCC/SYC combo, Youth PCC's were not restricted to members in the section.

Why not make the Youth PCC's an RYC? I think it would definitely encourage attendance and be a worthwhile experience for young fencers.

I have no problem with youth events, RYCs and SYCs (and attend a lot of them). That being said, I do think that the PCC's should be consistent with regard to in-section competition. It serves a bit of a different purpose.

Obviously, the Jr PCCs and Sr PCCs are qualifiers and must be restricted. Youth is different, no doubt - and it becomes a scheduling question as to what events to run together.

An important thing to remember is that the Section can really only be responsible for two events from which ratings can be granted - the Jr. PCCs and the Sr. PCCs. The remainder requires cooperation from the local division and (in the case of RYC/SYC) the RYC folks. So even if I wanted to, I couldn't wave a wand and have events there - particularly RYCs.

Also, I've got to see what my venue configuration is going to be before we move on this. My first priorities are to make sure that the Jr & Sr events are put in a place (a) convenient to a great number of fencers, and (b) on dates that do not conflict with the myriad of March/April/May conflicts (no easy task). Once we determine the landscape, we can then start filling it.

[teacup]

Yes, the section is only responsible for hosting the Div IA and Junior SN qualifiers and I am certainly not implying that a youth PCC has to be added.

My point is, if the section wants to host an additional youth event why not request it to be sanctioned as an RYC in order to increase attendance? If it isn't one, I don't see the point unless there is someone who is willing to run an additional youth tournament.

Last year there were four RYC's in the section. If the section is willing to host a youth event, how many, where and when RYC's are planned, should be a factor in deciding whether or not to request RYC sanctioning.

As for restricting it to the section only, even if it was an RYC, it is doubtful that there would be many entries from out of the section anyway.

[CadetVet]

Originally Posted by teacup

Yes, the section is only responsible for hosting the Div IA and Junior SN qualifiers and I am certainly not implying that a youth PCC has to be added.

My point is, if the section wants to host an additional youth event why not request it to be sanctioned as an RYC in order to increase attendance? If it isn't one, I don't see the point unless there is someone who is willing to run an additional youth tournament.

Last year there were four RYC's in the section. If the section is willing to host a youth event, how many, where and when RYC's are planned, should be a factor in deciding whether or not to request RYC sanctioning.

As for restricting it to the section only, even if it was an RYC, it is doubtful that there would be many entries from out of the section anyway.

I'm also thinking that an Open event (run simultaneously with the Junior event) would be a good addition if Sr & Jr are on the same weekend. The thought is that it would mostly draw the people who traveled, but can't fence the Junior because they age out. Since they're there anyhow, why not? I thought first of doing a vet event, but there are a bunch of people between 20 and 40 who come for the Div IA - why not include them in another fencing opportunity?

This could impact the team events - so that needs consideration - but at the same time, it would open up another opportunity for everyone (some of the team events were pretty poorly attended). My inclination is that creating opportunities to fence for people already there would be more effective than requesting/requiring another group to travel.

[CadetVet]

Folks:

The new PCS website is coming. It will, ultimately, be linked to the PCS fencing domain, but for now it can be found at http://pcsfencing.wordpress.com.

Take a look and let me know what you think.

Gary

[Mr.MightyMouse]

It'd be goin' on.
Tremendous progress in the open communication sense.
Obviously the calendar needs some fillin'.
Thanks and keep it up.

[demon_fencer]

1) I like the new PCS web site
2) I vote for Senior PCCs to be held in Vegas (the only time I get to go is when there is a fencing tournament)
3) I don't want to have to go to So Cal *again* for Senior PCCs next season (if I can't go to Vegas then I would like to see it rotate to either Hawaii or someplace I can drive to in under 4 hours - Nor Cal)

[mfp]

Originally Posted by jjefferies

Treasurer (was split from Secretary position): Valerie Rosenblatt of EMFC (NorCal)
Actually Valerie was voted in as treasurer as she was absent and couldn't defend herself.

Will Valerie be resigning (seeing as she's stated she's leaving California)?

If so, who will be PCS Treasurer?