North Carolina Fencing

Parents of USA Fencing competitive members under the age of 18, have the opportunity to purchase a USA Fencing supporting membership for the discounted rate of $10. The discount is offered to allow parents of athletes under the age of 18 the opportunity to vote in elections at the division and national levels.

The deadline to register as a voting member for the upcoming USA Fencing election is Friday, February 1, 2013. The easiest way to register as a supporting parent member is by creating an online membership profile for yourself and selecting the membership type. Please click here to access the online membership system.

To have USA Fencing assist with any questions, please contact the National Office at 719.866.4511 or information@usfencing.org.

The North Carolina Divisional National Qualifying Tournament for Division II, Division III, and Y-14 National Championships is now open for preregistration on askFRED.net.

Entry Fees:
Preregistration by 02/23/13
$10 Registration Fee
$30 Event Fee

Registration at the door
$20 Registration Fee
$60 Event Fee

Parking:
Parking is across the street from the gym or at Walker Ave parking deck which is $2 for the first hour, $1 for every consecutive hour with a maximum of $7 per day. There should be enough parking in the first lot for everyone.

Events Scheduled (times are close of registration):
03/02/12
08:00am – Doors open
09:00am – C & Under Senior Men’s Epee
10:00am – C & Under Senior Women’s Foil
11:00am – Y14 Men’s Saber
01:00pm – Y14 Women’s Epee
02:00pm – C & Under Senior Men’s Saber
03:00pm – Y14 Men’s Epee
04:00pm – Y14 Women’s Saber
05:30pm – Spring Division Meeting

03/03/12
08:00am – Doors open
09:00am – C & Under Senior Men’s Foil
09:30am – Y14 Women’s Foil
10:00pm – C & Under Senior Women’s Saber
12:00pm – C & Under Senior Women’s Epee
01:30pm – Y14 Men’s Foil

Preregistration opens on 01/23/2013.
Preregistration closes on 02/27/2013.

Please preregister on askFRED.

The Pre-Registration Deadline for the North Carolina Junior Olympic Qualification Tournament has been extended until 11/14/12. Be sure to register on askFRED.

North Carolina Fencing would like to congratulate our newest Division Tournament Observers:

• Maya Cameron, AAFA
• Matthew Harris, AAFA
• Brendan McConville, CFFA
• Sam Moore, AAFA
• Renea Moore, AAFA

Fencing in North Carolina appreciates your willingness to serve and give back to our sport!

North Carolina Fencing is holding a Certified Tournament Observer training webinar on Saturday September 8th, 2012, from 8:00pm to 9:00pm.

What is a Certified Tournament Observer? Each USA Fencing sanctioned event hosted in North Carolina must be observed by a USA Fencing member from another club. In order to serve as in this capacity, the observer must complete the Certified Tournament Observer training.

Who should attend? Anyone interested in helping USA Fencing sanctioned events run smoothly in North Carolina. This is a perfect opportunity for parents or spouses of fencers to have something to do when accompanying your fencer to a tournament. Certified Tournament Observers must be current members of USA Fencing (The non-competitive membership is acceptable).

What do I need to attend? Attendees will need an internet connection and either a telephone or speakers and a microphone.

Please contact Stephen Pashby with questions or to participate in the webinar.

The Division operates due to the time and efforts of volunteers. You don’t need to be a fencer to serve on a committee, or as a Division officer. If you are interested in serving on the Board of the NC Division for the 2013–14 season, please contact the Nominating Committee via email. The Nominating Committee will prepare a slate of candidates, which will be voted on during the Division’s Spring Meeting.

Please note you don’t need to be a fencer or coach to serve; parents, spouses, or anyone else who is interested in seeing the Division succeed in its efforts to promote and support the sport of fencing in North Carolina are welcome.

As of August 1, 2012, the electric bib is required for all USA Fencing-sanctioned foil events, at all levels (local, division, regional, and national). Details are as follows:

• The lamé part of the bib must cover all of the bib up to a horizontal line 1.5-2 cm below the chin. 
• The mask cord must be 30-40 cm long, and can be of any color. It may be straight, or coiled. 
• The mask cord must be attached on the non-weapon side of the bib. 
• For foil events that do not require an electric bib, you are allowed to tape the edge of the bib to prevent conductivity. 
• The electrical characteristics of the bib are the same as the lame. The electrical characteristics of the mask cord are the same as the body cord. 
• Transparent masks are prohibited. 
• Masks with exchangeable bibs are allowed. (If the inspection mark is placed on the bib, be sure not to change out your inspection mark!) 
• Masks with overlay bibs are available and legal. Both the overlay and the mask itself must have inspection marks though to ensure the bib has no dead spots, and the mask itself is safe. 

There are no changes to rules regarding masks for epee, but notably you may NOT use a saber mask or a foil mask with electric bib in epee. The metal on the bib/mask can ground out the opponent’s tip. Transparent masks are prohibited.

There are also no changes to rules regarding saber masks. Transparent masks are optional.

The Cape Fear Fencing Association, The Wilmington Fencing Club, and Salle New Bern have been working together and are pleased to announce that on the weekend of August 25th and 26th that we will jointly be hosting a referee clinic with Brad Baker and a tournament for observation of those who pass the referee examination.

The clinic will be held on Saturday, August 25th, from 9AM-5 PM at CFFA’s location in the basement of the Tileston gym, 412 Ann Street, in Wilmington. The cost of the clinic is $50. Registration is available on askfred.net.

Brad Baker is an active FIE-rated referee in all three weapons and former member of the Fencing Officials Commission. He is currently serving as the Secretary of USA Fencing and coaches the fencing team at Temple University. Here is the explanation of the clinic in Brad’s words:

The clinic has a set curriculum, which is geared as an introduction to refereeing, basic referee mechanics, and how to become a better referee. It’s targeted at the 7-10 crowd and those that have not refereed before but either want to start or are interested in learning more about the sport, the rules, and their application, but may have no desire ever to referee. It shouldn’t overshoot the audience, if delivered correctly.

One nice aspect is there is a fair amount of room for the clinic to tailor towards the needs of the audience. Within the broad list of topics, how the information is delivered is up to the instructor. There’s lots of flexibility to stay with a topic until there’s general understanding. Focusing on key concepts and how to approach gaining understanding is what the clinic SHOULD cover, rather than intricacies of how very subtle parsing happens at the highest levels where all involved – referees and athletes – have a deep understanding of the game, a high degree of technical proficiency, and mind reading intent becomes a necessary skill.

Nothing covered will contravene those details, but the goal is to provide a basic understanding of refereeing sufficient to form the basis for starting in the role or progressing from lower levels to mid-level refereeing.

-Brad

The NC Division of USA Fencing will hold it’s August Member Meeting at the conclusion of the clinic.

TO: All USA Fencing clubs and Division and Section Officers
FR: Greg Dilworth; USA Fencing Executive Director
RE: Recent USA Fencing Board of Directors action to protect athletes.

A USA Fencing member, Gustavo Ducuing, has been arrested for severe criminal behavior, the nature of which could indicate an immediate risk to athlete members.

In light of this, please be advised that on Thursday, July 26, 2012, the USA Fencing Board of Directors passed the following resolutions:

1) To suspend the membership of Mr. Ducuing immediately.

2) To exclude Mr. Ducuing from all USA Fencing venues and activities, including those venues where USA Fencing clubs hold practices, tournaments and other activities and from all divisional, sectional and national competition sites.

Failure to observe and enforce the USA Fencing action in this matter could have adverse consequences on your insurance coverage.

Should you have any questions please contact me.

Sincerely,
R. Greg Dilworth
Executive Director

The next meeting of the North Carolina Division will be held in Wilmington, on August 25th, following the end of the Referee clinic with Brad Baker, around 5PM. More details to follow.