MS or WS?
@SevenDad: WS please. Thank you.
Happylife4: For the sake of privacy (after all, it is only “Unverifiable Rumors and Dubious Gossip”), I sent list to you via PM.
For those who might not know what Happylife4 is referring to, on Fencing.net there is an annual list compiled of where various fencers have committed to attend college. Note that not every fencer listed is necessarily a recruited athlete nor is there any guarantee that a fencer listed plans to fence in college. Additionally, the info is generally reported to the compiler by someone other than the fencer/the fencer’s parent…so may not be 100% accurate. But it’s not a bad place to start if you’re curious about these sorts of things, and in my experience with it over the years and proved to be mostly accurate. To get the PDF of the spreadsheet, you must be a registered member of Fencing.net.
@SevenDad: Got it. Thank you.
Can’t believe that it’s already been 2 years since I posted this re-boot/consolidation of the college fencing thread(s) just as the 2016 SN in Dallas was starting.
With the HS class of 2018 making the transition to college this year, the recruiting focus now turns to the HS class of 2019 and 2020 (the latter added in due to change in NCAA recruiting rules that allows OVs in the student’s junior year of HS).
Bumping in case anyone has questions about the process going into SN and the meetings with coaches that occur there. Best of luck to all (on the strips and in the recruiting process)!
If I haven’t said it before, I’ll say it now - this thread is a great resource for the prospective collegiate fencer.
On a personal note, we’re getting excited for Summer Nationals. Fencing daughter and I already have our tickets to a Cardinals game, and are hoping to get to the top of the arch before we leave town. Planning to slow roll by some vendor booths (especially LP), and of course there’ll be some fencing, too. 
As to collegiate fencing, freshman year is now complete and I’d say it was a success. Daughter is not a highly ranked/rated fencer and is competing at a lower tier DIII school, but all-in-all things went well. She got in some quality fencing (against some great teams), and achieved successes both as a squad/team and as an individual.
Biggest “con” for the year - adjusting to a completely different style of coach and coaching. After spending 6 years with her club coach, my daughter has found an almost polar opposite in her collegiate coach. (I seriously think that if I flipped a coin in front of them and asked them both to call it, there is close to a 0% chance they would both call the same side of the coin.) Now, I’m not saying her college coach is a bad coach, but the dramatic shift in style and personality has taken a little while to get used to (actually, the adjustment is still in progress).
Biggest “pro” for the year - hands down is her new teammates/friends. From the beginning of the year she was instantly part of a supportive social group. Her fellow freshmen were people thrown into the same new situation(s) as her, and the upper classmen were an immediate resource to turn to about navigating through her first year. Until the end of fencing season, most weekday dinners were basically team dinners as they all went enmasse from practice to the dininghall. Even after fencing season was over, the people she hung out with the most were a subset of the team.
One thing I’d say to parents/fencers scrolling through this thread - don’t think collegiate fencing is only for A rated/national points kids. There are lots of programs out there, and many slots on each team. If you look hard enough, you’ll probably find one that works for you.
Best of luck to all of you in your college search.
At the club last night, a few of us were wondering if any announcements had been made regarding the head coach vacancies at various schools. One would hope that the programs with vacancies would want to make some announcement in advance of SN…so that they can take meetings/represent their school in St. Louis.
Top of mind there are at least 3 openings unfilled (or at least no announcement regarding a new head coach): Brandeis, UNC, and UCSD.
With Summer Nationals starting in a few days, I’m surprised that the forum hasn’t been more active in recent days. Maybe people will come back from St. Louis with questions?
I’ll kick off the pre-S/N questions! I’m getting conflicting information on when meetings can begin with coaches. I have heard that they can’t begin until the fencer has completed his/her events, and I have heard that they can’t begin until at least one event has been completed. Can anyone provide clarification? Under the latter scenario, a fencer could meet in between events if they are fencing on multiple days.
NCAA stipulates off campus contact:
Allowed after
completion of participation
in the USA Fencing
National Championship and
July Challenge and after
completion of junior year.
To me, that clearly states after completion of all events. Also, I would imagine your athlete might be more relaxed with the competition behind them. I know my daughter is very much in her head during these events. Additionally, your athlete’s results from SN might serve as fodder for discussions with prospective coaches.
@fencingmom, thank you. Can you point to a link on a website or document that makes that statement? My athlete had a coach at a top program state that this was not a requirement. I want to ensure no NCAA rules are broken. I agree regarding the advantages of meeting afterwards, so we may still propose changing meeting dates.
@fencingmom That was a rule in prior years when nationals were earlier, but it’s not in this year’s set of contact rules from the NCAA (see the PDF link below).
@Rollhigher Based on 2017-18 recruiting guide from the NCAA, starting July 1 off-campus meetings are allowed, regardless of fencing events at nationals. There is no special rule for fencing this year. Fencing falls into the “all other sports” category in the PDF link below.
http://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/2017-18DIREC_DIOtherSportsRecruitingGuide_20171205.pdf
In past years, when nationals have started earlier and there was a good chance that a rising senior fencer would be done with all of their events prior to July 1, there was been special dispensation allowed for fencers to meet at nationals BEFORE July 1 but after a fencer has completed their last event at nationals. When this was the case, it was specifically mentioned in NCAA recruiting calendar like the one I linked above for prior years. This special rule allowed fencers to not need to stay at nationals for many days after they finished their last event before being allowed to meet with coaches if they were done before July 1 with all of their events. But since nationals don’t even start until June 28th this year, there’s no such exception in the recruiting rules for fencing this year.
I’ll also add that these are only Div I rules. There are also many Div III coaches at nationals and I think they can meet off campus even before July 1. Maybe @SevenDad can confirm?
@Rollhigher you can find that here:
http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/CBSA18.pdf
Page 32 – under “Off-campus contact” – I’m assuming your athlete is a junior.
I’ll ask a question as a total newbie. My son is a rising 9th grader and will be going to SN for the first time. Anything we should be looking for or doing this early in the game in regards to possible future recruitment? Thanks!
@fencingmom @Rollhigher
Well, not surprisingly, the NCAA has published two inconsistent documents. Frankly, I think they forgot to delete the special rules for fencing from the prior year’s glossy booklet and the text PDF I Iinked above is correct, but if you’re concerned, I’d send a note to either the coach(es) you intend to meet or the NCAA for confirmation. Believe me, the coaches don’t want to break the rules either! I will say that many prospective athletes met with coaches after July 1 but before they were done with SN events the year my DD was a rising senior.
@stencils I believe the link I provided is for
2017-18. Perhaps there is no inconsistency and both scenarios are true; after completion of events or July 1st – whichever happens first. I know there are new rules that @SevenDad had published earlier that begin September 1st 2018 – primarily about official visits. I’m assuming the 2017-18 rules are in effect until September 1st. Frankly, I don’t think anyone is checking if a particular athlete has completed all their events prior to meeting so long as they have completed their junior year of high school. However, it behooves an athlete to wait until their events are finished because, good or nay, athletes can discuss those details with prospective coaches, who perhaps have even seen those bouts firsthand.
@Atyraulove Navigating Summer Nationals for the first time and focusing on fencing is the order of the day. Thinking about recruitment at this time in your son’s high school and fencing career will only be peripheral noise that will take energies and focus away from what is important now – only fencing. Have fun and enjoy!
Checking my calendar, it appears June 28-30 occur before July 1 this year. So if the contact date is July 1, with no exception for fencing, and if you are JWE, JMS, JMF, JWS, JME, or JWF, and that is your only event - then you either have to stay over past the day of your competition, or you won’t get an opportunity to meet with a coach? That would kind of bite.
This won’t affect my daughter, but I could see it being frustrating for any junior fencers who are only competing in junior events and who wish to meet with college coaches.
@Rollhigher: This is one situation in which I would just ask the coaches directly…because they certainly don’t want to lose a recruit on a technicality, so I’m assuming they will know the latest rules on this. But like others, I advise on meeting AFTER all of your fencer’s events are complete regardless if you are allowed to meet earlier. Just one less distraction.
@Atyraulove: If you’ve been to NACs before, it’s pretty much the same thing, just on a slightly larger scale (depending on event). If anything, I’d try to treat it exactly like any other event, so as not to “psych out” your fencer. You are early in the process, and should heed fencingmom’s advice to focus on the fencing. The only think I might add is to scan the Junior and Div1 seeding charts in your fencer’s weapon type to see if there are any fencers from schools on your “to consider” set…if you have time, go watch them fence a few bouts to get a feel for size, skill, and style of a college fencer. But most of all, have fun!
I spoke to several of the top DV1 coaches regarding the questions raised in the most recent series of posts.
Fencers who have completed their junior year of high school may meet with coaches in St. Louis at Summer Nationals on the earlier of the completion of the final event in which they are competing or July 1st.
So, for example, if a fencer’s final event ends on June 29th, that fencer may meet with coaches starting after that event, on June 29th.
Hope this clarifies.
Good luck all!