VFA Bulletin
October 9, 2023

1. General Announcements
All practices as normally scheduled this week. Level 1 fencers, don't forget, if you missed class last week, arrive about 20 minutes early this week for a quick catch up.

Looking ahead a few weeks: Halloween falls on a Tuesday this year. In order to allow trick or treating with minimal disruption to the Level 1 sequence, I would like to swap practices in Charlotte that one week
Tues Oct 1: 7-7:45 Open fencing (so people can arrive after trick or treating), 7:45-9 Level 2/3 class
Thurs Nov 2: Level 1 class 7-8:15, Competitive Squad 7-9

This week at the end of Level 1 class, we will go over the rules of foil fencing and fence our first official bouts. I encourage parents of teen and youth fencers to listen in to the presentation on the rules so that you better understand the sport. I will also send you all a link to a page of notes on the rules.

Level 1 students, you are welcome to drop in and watch the Fall Foliage Tournament at UVM this Saturday. There is no fee for spectators. Location is the indoor tennis courts in the Patrick Gym building. Fencing will be happening from 10:30 a.m until approximately 5:30 p.m

Looking to practice your footwork at home? At the very start of the pandemic, I made a couple of video workouts you can do using a ball on a string. Since many new club members have joined since then, I thought I would give you the links again. Plus you get to meet my cats!
Cat Toy Fencing Drills #1 (suitable for newbies)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU_H50QrOqA&ab_channel=VermontFencingAlliance
Cat Toy Fencing Drills #2 (more advanced)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNVJ48CgU5U&ab_channel=VermontFencingAlliance

2. Champlain Cup tournament season kicks off on Saturday!
It's not too late to sign up! Register by midnight tonight (Mon Oct 9) and avoid a $15 late fee.
Fall Foliage Classic 2023
Sat. Oct 14, UVM Indoor tennis courts (inside Patrick Gym building, enter as if for basketball court and go to your right)

Event schedule:
10:30 a.m Open (aka Senior Mixed) Foil
10:30 a.m Unrated mens epee, unrated womens epee (will be combined if fewer than 6 of each gender)
12 p.m Open Saber (may be cancelled due to low numbers)
2 pm Open (aka Senior Mixed) Epee
2:30 pm Unrated mens foil, unrated womens foil (will be combined if fewer than 6 of each gender)

All events are open to fencers born 2010 or before. All fencers must have USA Fencing membership. Please bring proof of your membership (log in to your USAF account and print out your membership card, or download it to your phone).

Entry fees: $10 registration fee, plus $10 per event (so, you pay $20 if competing in one event, or $30 for two), plus a $15 late fee for registrations made after today. Payment is at the door, cash or check only, no credit cards or phone apps.

To register, get directions and see who else is coming:
https://www.askfred.net/tournaments/614bd774-4964-4241-beb2-ff41e20dad90

Please do not sign up for two events that start at the same time or within an an hour of each other (even though AskFRED lets you).

Need to withdraw from an event you signed up for? It's a little different with the new AskFRED system. Log in to your AskFred account. Click "My Dashboard" and you will see a box that says "My next tournament". Within that box, click "edit registration" and then when it opens a new window, click "edit registration" again next to your name. Uncheck any events you are withdrawing from, check any you want to add that you didn't originally sign up for.

3. Competing for the first time, or the first time outside of unsanctioned youth events?
Things you need to know:
a. Always arrive at least a half hour before your event start time, to check in and warm up. If you like a longer warm up, give yourself even more time. We will not wait for you if you are late, or let you join an event that has already started.

b. When you arrive, find the registration table, show your USAF card (phone image is fine if you prefer that) and pay your entry fees (again, cash or check only, bring exact change if paying cash).

c. Bring all of the equipment you have. I will not have loaner uniform items with me, just loaner electric equipment. Competition uniform includes fencing pants (knickers) with knee-high socks (soccer socks work well), plastron, and for women, some kind of chest protection (full plate or little pocket protectors). If you need to borrow electric equipment, find me and I'll get you set up.

d. Additional equipment is needed for electric foil, including a mask with an electric bib and connecting cord. The club has several of these to loan out if you just have an epee mask (one without the special bib). If you have definitely decided that foil is your game, you can convert an epee mask into an electric foil mask by buying a sew-on bib for about $20. In addition, if you wear a plastic chest plate for electric foil, it is supposed to be covered in a special padding that keeps your opponent's point from bouncing off without registering. Again, you can convert an epee (unpadded) chest plate into a foil one by buying some stick on padding for about $20 (and it's fine to wear a padded chest plate for epee if you fence both weapons). The club does not have loaner padded chest plates. The padding rule will be enforced for open foil, sometimes the organizers let it slide (don't ask don't tell...) for your first unrated foil tournament.

e. Be ready for a long, active day. Bring a water bottle (there is no fountain in the tennis courts) and snacks (I like fruit, nuts, trail mix, granola bars - the kind of snacks you might take for quick energy on a hike for example). A single event typically takes between 2 and 4 hours from start to finish, depending on how many competitors there are and how well you do.

f. First time fencing electric? Never let go of the reel cord (it's spring loaded and rapid retraction may break it) - walk it back to the reel, or hand it to the next competitor. If something goes wrong with your equipment, ask your ref or another experienced fencer to help you troubleshoot and replace the broken item. Never fence with a loose handle (it may wiggle around and break the wire), tighten it immediately or change weapons. Try not to look at the scoring machine - keep your eyes on your opponent until you hear the ref say "halt". If you think you hit and the machine did not show a light, you may ask your ref to test your weapon (if it happens repeatedly and the ref always tests it as working, the problem is with your technique, not the equipment). Put all borrowed equipment away in the correct bags when you are done fencing (please don't just leave it on the ground for me to clean up). If you need to change your weapon or body cord because it stopped working, please mark it with tape (there is usually some at the registration table) rather than just toss it back in the bag for someone else to have the same problem. I only repair club equipment between tournaments if I know it is broken.

g. Stay near your assigned strip between bouts, don't wander off. If you need the bathroom, tell your ref. Use the time between bouts to observe your opponents as they fence each other and think about what you would like to try against them.

h. Fencing tournament format: you will be assigned to a pool of 5-9 fencers (if there are more than 9 in your event, there will be 2 or more pools). You fence each other competitor in your pool a 5 point bout. The results of the pool round are used to seed you into a Direct Elimination (DE) table. All fencers move up to the DE round, even if you lost all of your pool bouts. DE is a knock out round (kind of like college basketball's March Madness....). The winner moves up the ladder and the loser is eliminated, until one person (the gold medalist) is left standing. DE bouts are usually for 15 points (3 3-minute periods with 1 minute rest breaks as needed, although the bout is over as soon as someone reaches 15), but are 10 points (2 3-minute periods) for Youth and Veteran events (and sometimes for preliminary rounds of U events if there are a lot of competitors and we are behind schedule). While you may leave once you are eliminated if you have somewhere you have to be, I highly recommend hanging around and watching the finals, and/or the open event. You can learn a lot by observing better fencers.

i. Salute your opponent and the ref before putting your mask on to begin each bout, and salute your opponent again at the end of the bout (failing to salute is a serious breach of sportsmanship). Since covid, instead of shaking hands with your opponent at the end of the bout, we have been doing a friendly blade tap.

f. Don't stress about the scores, or get down on yourself if you lose all your bouts (I most certainly did in my first few tournaments!). Use the opportunity to learn, try things, have fun and meet new friends. Okay, meet new friends and stab them.

4. What is a rating and how do I earn one?
Fencers are seeded into competitions using rankings called "ratings" (also called "classifications"). These are like the rankings in chess (Grandmaster etc), based on previous competitive success, rather than like the rankings in karate (black belt etc) which are based on passing a skills test. The ratings range from E (the lowest) to A (elite level), with the majority of fencers being Unrated (U) because that is where everyone starts. You can earn an E rating by winning a small local event of 6-14 fencers, placing 2nd or 3rd in an event of 15+ that has at least 4 E-rated fencers in it to start, all the way up to placing 48th in a large regional or national event with 64+ fencers and at least 12 As, 12 Bs and 12 Cs. You can see the entire chart of what ratings can be earned in what tournaments here:
https://member.usafencing.org/files/ClassificationChart.pdf

Ratings may only be earned a USAF sanctioned events. Ratings can not be earned at youth (age 12-) events, except the occasional regional or national event where the tournament is a C1 or higher level.

Some tournaments are restricted to lower rated fencers, to give them the fun of fencing each other and a shot at earning an E or D rating. If you are a newbie, you might particularly enjoy our local U and E-Under events (first one this Saturday!). At large regional and national events, Div3 indicates it is open to U, E and D fencers, Div 2 is open to U, E, D and C fencers, Div1 is open to C, B, and A fencers, and Div 1A is open to everyone.

If you look at a list of registered fencers for a particular tournament, you will notice that their letter rating has a year beside it. That indicates the most recent year they earned or re-earned that rating. If you do not re-earn your rating within 4 years, it goes down by one (for example, my foil rating went from B2019 to C2023 this season).

This letter rating system is for the USA only. Other countries have their own ranking systems (Canada also uses letters, but has different rules for earning them). Foreign fencers (like our frequent Canadian guests) may earn US ratings when they come here to compete. For international competitions (like World Championships, Grand Prix or the Olympics) fencers are seeded according to international ranking points.

Ratings are benchmarks of progress, and fencers take great pride in earning them. But they are not the be-all and end-all of fencing. Lower rated fencers can, and frequently do, defeat those with higher ratings (if they didn't, no-one would ever move up the ladder). So never count yourself out just because your opponent has a higher rating than you. Personally, I prefer to not even know the other fencers' ratings until the tournament is over! Also keep in mind, in our small community where all ages and genders fence together most of the time, a 20 year old man will likely earn ratings faster than a 60 year old woman, just due to the natural difference in athletic ability. Similarly, someone who has the opportunity to train 5 days a week, with regular private lessons, is going to move up the ratings ladder faster than someone who can only practice once or twice a week and/or only in a group setting. Your rating alone does not reflect your experience, knowledge or value to the fencing community.