What state are you in? Yes they are all sanctioned events by the local chapters of USAF. They are only limited by whatever state sanctions there are.
I am curious if anyone is updating the current recruit lists to fencing programs (like in this thread) for the 2021-2022 academic year?
Was nice to catch up with lots of fencers and parents at this past weekends American Challenge in Valley Forge PA. Did anyone else attend?
Yes, we were there. First competition since the pandemic (last one was JOs in Columbus in February 2020). Ouch :). Hard to get back into the game.
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@Kycbka I’m a bit late here, but wanted to mention that both Stevens Institute of Tech (D3 fencing) and NJIT (D1 fencing) have 3+4 direct admit programs with Rutgers NJ Med School.
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May NAC lottery day! We ended up 1 for 2. Now to decide if we will make the trip down for just one event
Does anyone know if there is an updated sheet with the list of colleges and recruits from this year?
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Can someone please explain how walkons in recruiting work? Are there different types? preferred walkons? Do they compete at the same tournaments as the ‘team’? if only 4 fencers compete as a team at a tournament what happens with the other fencers on the roster? some schools have small rosters some have huge rosters - confused - can anyone explain this system?
Hi @2020qfc !
There are a lot of “it depends” caveats to your question depending on the schools you’re considering.
Most schools have at least 5 people per weapon/gender to consider their roster full. Collegiate fencing competitions are usually done in sets, where many colleges compete in a round-robin fashion over a weekend. Because there’s so much fencing, more than four fencers per gender/weapon will typically compete – both so some fencers get a rest and to allow more fencers the opportunity to compete.
But the size and strength of the roster (as well as the coaches own style/preferences) are big factors in whether being a walk-on is possible.
- Ivy league schools and other selective admissions schools can rely on some level on non-recruited (officially) walk-ons to fill their roster, because they don’t get enough recruitment slots to fill their roster. But that doesn’t mean an unrated, beginner fencer who was accepted to Harvard or Yale will be able to “walk on” to the fencing team. But a B or A rated fencer may be welcomed to walk on.
- At lower level division 1 or most division 3 schools, a D fencer can likely walk on
As you noted, some schools have bigger rosters and some have smaller. When there’s a big roster, not all fencers may travel to “away” competitions, and there’s internal squad competition to be part of the travel team. So if you’re considering a big squad school and want to travel/compete, you’ll need to consider your level relative to the other fencers already on the squad.
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I asked the same question - I don’t think there is one as of right now.
Like @stencils said, some schools don’t get the number of slots that they want. What they may do is encourage fencers that they may want on the team to apply and hope that they will get in. My daughter was encouraged to apply to one of the selective schools by the coach, but the coach could not recruit her. I guess it’s better for the school than just hoping for the best.
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To all who are interested in going to the May NAC but didn’t win a lottery:
There are still many open slots on Day 1 (Y14) events; if USFA can shuffle the schedules a bit, move some of those events and slots to other days, more fencers can be accomodated while keep the everyday total capacity under the healthcare protocol requirement.
I have sent a few emails to USFA but was told they are busy with April NAC now. Please consider write/call them ASAP while there are still time to implement the change. Thanks!
Based on how the Dallas NAC went, this type of reallocation would be hard. With each event being in its own room and own time, it is hard to see how you can reallocate slots from one event to another. Maybe there is a way to end a Y-14 event earlier and free up an overflow room or something, but it does not seem to be an easy fix for moving slots between events.
It looks like May NAC is constructed differently that at least 3 events are going on simultanuosly. Not sure if each event has its own room but I suppose they can always move a pool to a different section/hall.
I think the biggest challenge is time. Are they comfortable of changing certain event time with only 2 weeks out, which will require some people to change travel schedule.
It’s matter of if the benefits outweight the inconvenience.
Or, at least something to think about for June NAC and later.
The April NAC also had three events going on simultaneously, at 8:15 or 1:30.
If you really wanted to accommodate more people, you could start an hour earlier for the morning events and double-flight people and have them leave after the first flight. You could then do the same thing with the afternoon events, and go later. If you double-strip you can get through pools pretty quickly. But it would be quite cumbersome and not easy to change so close to the event. I suspect that they are reconsidering numbers and registrations for the June NAC (hence the delay in opening registration) but don’t see there being a chance for May.
Virginia expanding numbers of people who can attend amusement and sports venues. Virginia will loosen these 4 COVID-19 restrictions, including social gathering limits, next month (wsls.com). Have to wonder whether the June NAC pause is related to this, maybe an expansion of the number of people who can compete in a given event?
I really don’t think they are trying to push the envelope too much. I think it would have been a good idea to limit kids from fencing more that one age bracket up this year, or at least open it up by age first.
Currently, the May and June NACs are limited to 126 fencers per event, and summer nationals is limited to 210. It wouldn’t be hard to just start the 210-limit a few weeks earlier.
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FYI - just received reply from USFA that May NAC is set and they will not alter schedule. Not entirely surprised. Let’s hope June will be better!
No change to May NAC is not surprising, just getting extra refs at last minute would be hard. But you still have to wonder about updates to the June NAC, given the loosening restrictions and improving case numbers. Hysterical (and sloppy/inaccurate) posts by Damien Lehfeldt notwithstanding, there clearly is a large amount of pent-up demand for NACs, as shown by waiting lists exceeding fifty people in some cases.