Question

[1girln3boys]

Hello fellow fencing parents. My son just started fencing a few months ago. We are looking forward to taking him to Nationals next summer. How can we tell if the tournament he is fencing in will qualify him?

Thanks in advance for any advise.

[MyrddinsPrecint]

Hello fellow fencing parents. My son just started fencing a few months ago. We are looking forward to taking him to Nationals next summer. How can we tell if the tournament he is fencing in will qualify him?

Thanks in advance for any advise.

How old is your son?

Most tournaments to qualify for nationals won't be until 2009 (this does depend on his age... I think).

Depending on his age and skill level in a year, it might be more appropriate and more fun to go to some regional or sectional youth tournaments instead-- It also might be cheaper.

It's also easier for us to answer your questions if you put some information in the thread title-- things like "What's a National Qualifier?".

Most non-youth quals will have "Qualifier" in the title. There will be, for example, Junior Olympic qualifiers this fall/early winter. Depending on age and skill, he may want to fence in the Quals, even if he doesn't make it to JOs.

Welcome!

[1girln3boys]

Thank you for the response. He's almost 11. He's been in 1 tournament so far and will do another one in a couple of weeks. He enjoys fencing and wants to be in as many tournaments as possible. We'll be doing some traveling for some tournaments but not to far other than nationals. This year though we won't have to go far so we're really looking forward to it.

[lovesabre]

I am assuming he is in Y12 at age 11. If he fences in a RYC (Regional Youth Circuit) and/or SYC (Super Youth Circuit) that will qualify him for Nationals in Y12. If he wants to fence in Y14 he must fence in the Y14 Summer National qualifier in your division and place in the top 30% (Can someone confirm this percentage for me?) and/or the top three. Read the USFA handbook it is full of valuable information. Also, talk to your coach and other parents at your club who have gone through the same process.

You might also want to check out www.usfaryc.org and www.askfred.net in the future for updates on youth tournaments.

Welcome to fencing and have fun!

[1girln3boys]

Thank you for the info. I got some info from my son's coach but was still a bit confused. I was going to ask him again at the next class but thought I would ask here first. Thank you again.

[Allen Evans]

What's going to help you the most is this link:

http://www.usfencing.org/usfa/compon...,select/id,17/

at which you can find the rules and the athlete handbook for the current season. The Athlete Handbook is going to have almost all the information you need about qualifying paths and tournaments.

Allen Evans