As most of the Division is aware, the new tournament season is fully underway, with several large events having already taken place in North Carolina. The events have varied from small club events, to larger events with fencers from across the Southeast. One thing that all of these sanctioned events have in common is a new process that the Divison has implemented in regards to tournament observance.

So far, the process is working. The events have run relatively smoothly, and the sanctioning guidelines that the Divison has put in place have been followed, for the most part. Here are a few of the highlights of these new guidelines, which the Division is strictly enforcing this year:

• Dedicated Officials. No, this doesn't mean a referee that comes in and stays fromt he first event to the end, without lunch or coffee breaks. It means an official that has been hired by the tournament organizer to referee an event. They aren't an athlete in that event, nor are they an observer for that event.

• Membership Tracking. The new process has the Division Observer checking memberships at the door, and in charge of sending any new memberships and payment information to the National Office. The Observer will make sure that anyone with a "lagging membership" (one that's been sent in, which hasn't been posted on the USFA database) fills out another membership form, and notes that it's a duplicate. It's important to note that the USFA should receive duplicate payment information.

• Results Certification. The Tournament Observer is responsible for electronically submitting the results to the Division Secretary after comparing the onsite results with the results reoported on ASkFRED.net. The Division is aware that AskFRED.net is sometimes incorrect in the manner in which it reports ratings, and that there has been in the past a huge cascade of incorrect ratings in the Division, based on AskFRED.net's GIGO issues. With observer certification, we're looking to eliminate this problem, or at least limit it.

These changes have seemed ornerous to some, but normal to others. The main issues that we've heard is that the membership is still trying to figure out how to acquire an Observer, and how to pay for that observer's expenses. As clubs work to change their marketing plans, and budget for the observer costs, we think this will start to balance out. We encourage bartering between clubs- making sure that clubs reach out and work across the State to observe each others' events, and to see how other clubs run tournaments.

A full list of observers is up on the Division website

This is an exciting season for fencing in North Carolina! More and more clubs are working together, and with the new Carolina Cup series, and Southeast Sectionals, there will be several opportunities for NC fencing to show it's strengths and love for our sport.