From Reddit/fencing:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/10/24/ruth-shalit-just-wrote-atlantic-would-readers-know-it-byline/
Questions credibility of the author of the Atlantic article.
Thanks for sharing that @“helmut?” . It was clear at the very least that there were exaggerations in the article, but it was concerning to read things that strained credulity. It was hard to believe that level of injury happened at the Nationals as described (fair enough for USA Fencing to maintain privacy), although I can understand as a parent that something that seems potentially serious is scary so I could believe that the author may have heard something about this from a parent and then reframed it to sound like a near-death experience for drama. People who know nothing about fencing might also believe that it is dangerous and that angle adds to the narrative – “look how much danger these crazy parents are putting their kids in!” I’m glad that the Post reporter was able to quote a real expert. (I think we’ve also seen this graph (not sure if the link will work but including it (I don’t know it’s the best link, I just used google to find it: https://www.fencing.net/13020/fencing-safer-than-badminton/ )
At any rate, the real fencing community knows what we are about (kids (and adults) who just love the sport). Mostly just trying to keep in mind the big picture - we are all hoping for an end to the pandemic and for the kids to get back to some semblance of a normal school/young adult life.
Happy Halloween [insert your favorite mask joke here]
From the article: “In Columbus, Ohio, at the junior-fencing nationals with the couple’s two younger girls and son, he reported that their middle daughter, a 12-year-old saber fencer, had been stabbed in the jugular during her first bout. The wound was right next to the carotid artery, and he was withdrawing her from the tournament and flying home.”
We were there. Our daughter competed in that event, Y12 WS. We spent a lot time that day and week with many other Y12 parents from many different clubs, and this is the first I’ve heard of this incident. I guess it’s possible, but it seems like it would have been talked about some. It’s a small community.
There actually was an incident at Nationals similar to what was reported. It happened to a friend’s child and involved a sabre going up under the bottom of the child’s mask. It did cause a minor physical injury in the area referenced, but, as I understand it, the real impact to the child was more emotional than physical.
However, the writer either intentionally changed characteristics about the family to preserve anonymity OR was referring to a different incident, since many of the other words/actions/demographics attributed to the family did not match my friend’s.
@newfencermom, it doesn’t take long to look up the results of Y12 WS at the Columbus SN to see who withdrew for medical reasons. 
Fencing is a very small community, indeed.
Roll call for current NCAA fencing parents (and my answers):
(1) Is you child at campus or remote? On-campus, even though school is “remote”
(2) If on campus, has the team started practicing? Yes, practice has started
(3) Do you think they will actually compete? Not so sure, but plans are currently “yes”
(1) Is your child at campus or remote? On-campus, along with about 60% of the student body. The rest are remote, including some fencers.
(2) If on campus, has the team started practicing? Yes, practice has started, but with restrictions on how many can be in the facility at one time.
(3) Do you think they will actually compete? Not sure, but the optimist in me is hopeful.
@stencils
This provides a good overview of how the ivies are handling athletics:
http://www.thedp.com/article/2020/10/penn-athletics-coronavirus-ivy-league-look-around
Appreciate the personal feedback from the NCAA fencing parents though.
(1) Is your child at campus or remote? My daughter is a 2nd yr student. Her school staggered who would be on campus by year. Fall semester…1st, 3rd, and 4th yr are on campus. Spring semester…2nd, 3rd, and 4th year. So, she’s remote this semester.
(2) If on campus, has the team started practicing? She isn’t on campus, so I don’t know.
(3) Do you think they will actually compete? I seriously doubt it.
1 Like
(1) He is living in an off campus apartment; he has one class that meets on campus, but the rest are all online.
(2) The team has been practicing for several weeks, but each weapon practices separately because of limitations on the number of people in the facility.
(3) Unless NCAA automatically gives everyone an extra year of eligibility (as they did with football) then to be honest I hope there aren’t any NCAA fencing competitions this year. If there ends up being some sort of half-assed partial season in the spring, with many teams sitting it out, then he is going to have to choose whether to use up one of his remaining years of eligibility just for a few limited competitions and either no championship or one that will hardly count. He was gutted when they cancelled last year’s championship, and if the spring “season” isn’t going to be anything like a real season he would rather save his eligibility and use it as a grad student.
(1) Is your child at campus or remote? My son is a freshman, on campus, with one in-person class and others remote.
(2) If on campus, has the team started practicing? Team has been practicing, plus strength/conditioning. Coach has done great job keeping team engaged.
(3) Do you think they will actually compete? No - school just announced cancellation of winter season. I suspect schools with big football teams that are playing will also allow their fencing teams to compete, but not the smaller schools. ?
- Is your child at campus or remote? Remote
(2) If on campus, has the team started practicing? I believe the team has had physically distanced practices, I.e., conditioning & footwork.
(3) Do you think they will actually compete? Nobody knows.
Muddier and muddier.
My initial post after reading the article expressed that I felt it was embellished. No surprises here.
The article has now been totally withdrawn.
- campus closed for fall. Taking classes online from home
- n/a. There have been some online team zoom calls. That’s about it
- they are supposed to go to campus for Spring. No word on a season but hoping they can at least practice. As my son is a freshman it would be nice for him to get to spend time with the team.
(1) Is your child at campus or remote? On Campus - 25% of the student population was allowed to move on campus in August and classes are hybrid model.
(2) If on campus, has the team started practicing? Yes.
(3) Do you think they will actually compete? There has not been any decision on this yet. Its possible, but unlikely.
Who knows what the future has in store, but the NCAA appears to be making plans for the possibility of a 2021 Fencing Championship.
http://www.ncaa.org/championships/national-collegiate-fencing
Further announcements expected from other programs. This is probably an omen of things to come…