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Want To Compete? What You Need To Know

So you want to compete in a Fencing Tournament – this is what you need to know!


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  1. BCFA/CFF annual membership:


This membership is extremely important!

You cannot compete if you are not a BCFA/CFF member!

This memberships is bought every season typically at the end of August, beginning of September.

Your club is: DYNAMO FENCING CLUB




  1. Register for your event


Be aware of registration deadlines for your tournament!

Some events close their registration 6-8 weeks before the event date.

Some tournaments may require you to preregister for the event.

**Know the registration process at the start of the season for the events you wish to participate in.

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For North American Cups, US Junior Olympics, and US Summer Nationals, the deadline for registration is more than a month before the tournament.

Most local USFA sanctioned events are having their registration managed by an online system called AskFRED or USA Fencing. Note a competitive license is required to participate in all US tournaments.


Sign up for Dynamo Youth Open/RYC/SYC events in your section at http://www.askfred.net/.

Sign up for Canadian tournaments (CFF/Canada Cups) www.fencing.ca 

Sign up for USFA NACs https://www.usafencing.org/register

  1. Required Equipment for a tournament

List of equipment to compete

1 Mask (specific for weapon)

1 Fencing Jacket

1 pair Fencing Pants

1 Plastron

1 Chest Protector

1 Glove (regular glove for foil and epee, special glove or cuff for sabre)

1 pair Long Socks

At least 2x Weapons

At least 2x Body wires (2x head wires for foil and sabre)

1 Foil or sabre lame

**these are minimum requirements for competition. If the fencer does not have these at the start of the tournament, a Yellow Card is Issued.



  1. What you need to know for a tournament

These are things you need to do at a tournament to prevent getting a Card - a warning or penalty from the referee.

Carded events

  • You must present yourself to the referee when your poul is called

  • You must have your plastron and chest protector on and visible for the referee to see

  • You must show your 2 weapons and 2 body wires to the referee and then keep them with you at your poul

  • You must stay at your poul for the duration of the poul, do not go anywhere without the referee knowing

  • When called for your turn to fence, the 1st called fencer goes to the right of the referee

  • At the start of your bout, you must salute the other fencer and the referee

  • You must fence your bout with control, not running into the other fencer

  • You may only ask the referee what the call was, you CANNOT tell the referee they are wrong, or argue with the referee over a call they make

  • Once a referee makes a call about an action, that decision is final

  • At the end of each bout, go to the En Gard line, salute your opponent and the referee

  • At the end of the poul, when all matches have been fenced, you must sign the poul sheet only if all of your bouts are recorded correctly. If there are problems with a bout, the referee must know at that time. Do not sign your poul sheet if there are mistakes on it for your matches

  • Wait for your DE (Direct Elimination) match to start, do not leave the gym until you know you are finished for the day

  • You must keep fencing your DE bouts until you lose. Depending on when you lose, you still may get a medal for the top 8 fencers. Ask the referee if you can go home


***If any of the above points are not done, you will be Carded by the referee. The referee/DT (computer person running the tournament) and armoury person have the ability to Card fencers, coaches and parents for bad behavior, this card is often Black – the highest/worst infraction possible in fencing.

  1. FIE Technical Rules

In fencing we use FIE Rules. Most of these rules are used in most tournaments. If there are exceptions to these rules, they will be mentioned in the invitation to the that specific tournament.

Please pay attention to t.170, this table shows infractions and how the referee deals with them on the piste.

  1. If you win a medal

The medal ceremony happens soon after your fencing event is completed. It is a ceremony, please be on your best behavior. You must wear either your fencing whites, or your club jackets with your fencing pants. Remember – you are representing your club!


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  1. Glossary of fencing terms


 
 
 

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