I don’t think it should be off putting. You need to really understand what the coach is offering you, and if something is not clear - the coach needs to clarify. So, I would be very direct and straightforward. You can also ask if your child is the coach’s top pick, or there are people ahead of him. Some coaches told my daughter straight away that there are other recruits they are waiting to hear from first, and while it sucked in a sense that that particular school was her top choice and she wasn’t their first choice, the clarity was very helpful to know which way to go.
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Thank you- I’m sorry to ask such basic questions! Is it recommended that the email asking for clarity come from the parent or the fencer?
I just realized that I made it sound like I was doing the communicating, lol! 
In reality, my daughter was doing all the emailing and talking on the phone (emailing with my review, but still…). Every piece of communication came from her.
Ha ha! That’s why I asked actually. All the communications have been from my child directly to the coaches as well, which might account for the slight lack of clarity. I remember reading your post from 2019 when your daughter was a B19 fencer and you were asking about the process. May I ask did she end up happy with the recruitment process? I’m assuming she’s a senior now.
She’s actually a college freshman now. The process was a bit stressful, especially with covid making things very unpredictable, but she is happy where she ended up. Feel free to PM me with any specific questions.
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All communication was between our son and the coaches. Only time I interacted with any coaches was at the end of visits, if they asked.
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I have a question for fencers (and parents). Do college fencers still go to NACs and Summer Nationals? What about regional competitions? Is there any reason to go other than personal ambition? Do many college coaches encourage their teams to attend NACs (I know not every program can pay to send their fencers to NACs)?
Thanks!
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College fencers most definitely continue to compete at NACs and Summer Nationals, and there is certainly nothing necessarily stopping them from competing at regional competitions. In my experience, this fades as student-athletes progress through college. Between NCAA commitments, school obligations, and new social and other experiences, time does not often permit the commitment to travel required for most national competitions. Clearly, this is different for those fencers who continue to strive for World Teams and for the Olympics.
As for funding, it depends on the school, the coach, and the level of the fencer. Competitive fencing programs will often provide a budget for outside fencing for their most competitive fencers, including some allotment for NACs, and even possibly for World Cups.
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Thanks, this all makes sense. Just trying to better understand what the drop off in competing is like for an average fencer - the one who is not trying to get on the World Team. Do they go to just one NAC and SN? Two NACs? There is definitely a drop off in participation in NACs for college fencers.
That’s a bit out of my hard stats wheelhouse. I don’t know if anyone tracks that sort of thing. Again, in my experience, most competitive fencers continue to go to national competitions. As time goes on, this number decreases. The frequency is definitely impacted by the academic schedule. For instance, the December and January NACs often see a much larger turnout due to extended winter vacations at most colleges.
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As a data point: My daughter’s D1 school attended the January NAC as an official team event. Age-eligible fencers also attended JOs. There were no other expectations of NAC or regional event attendance and most fencers did not compete outside of NCAA events other than those one or two NACs.
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I know January NAC is well attended by college fencers. This December NAC was kind of in the middle of finals, and was a tough one to attend. My D is going to the January one, but she is not interested at all in attending JOs or the April NAC. She says she enjoys the college meets a lot more than individual competitions now.
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It seems to depend on the school, the coach and of course the fencer. At my son’s D1 school, the coach is very interested in supporting the goals of the fencers and encourages them to fence at NACs (or World events) if they want to. The most serious fencers seem to choose to go, even if they aren’t at Worlds level; there is an element to helping with overall training and preparation. There were certainly plenty of college fencers at the Dec. NAC (but not a great schedule for those in finals periods!).
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Your daughter’s response to NCAA competition and disinterest in continuing to attend national events is not atypical. NCAA fencing is really fun. The audience is very enthusiastic without most of the helicopter aggression often seen at national events. It is truly a team experience, with a lot of hanging out and bonding. Competing in an event with other college teams also reintroduces regular national competitors to so many people they have seen or known during their high school fencing years. The pressure to perform is also not the same and I think the fencers enjoy the experience much more.
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We were also interested about this as our D started her freshman year. She told us she also likes the NCAA format as it creates a lot team spirit, bonding and camaraderie. Fencing has really helped ease her transition to college where her team mates are now her closest friends and makes her college experience much more memorable.
For this January NAC, their group just decided to join on their own as it’s just after the holidays and kind of extended bonding for them. Coach is ok but no financial support from the school - expected as the school is not one of those Powerhouse Fencing/ Sports schools (Though we thought we would already be free from paying fees and competition expenses!).
We told our D that we’ll probably support her with 1 NAC and maybe Summer Nationals max. Then told her to just follow the school’s competition calendar as she is not vying for any World or Olympic team anyway. Some we could still see follow crazy schedules joining NACs then the next in Junior World cups in Europe, etc. It’s good if some schools do provide support but otherwise we cannot imagine continuing non-stop funding the costs 
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If a fencer is not offered official recruitment but is admitted to the school, how do they become a walk-on? Do they email the coach to ask? We are not sure what the process is and would appreciate advice
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Yes. You would email the fencing coach directly introducing yourself (results, rating, school, academic interests, etc.). Whether or not the coach will accept walk-ons depends on the school and the current makeup of the team. Have known a decent number of walk-ons to college fencing teams and they seem to do well.
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Once she made her final decision on where she would go, my daughter emailed the coach to (re)introduce herself, say she would be attending that school, and to ask about an opportunity to walk onto the team. This was at a small D3 school, and the coach ended up emailing her back and welcoming her to the team. So, while she was technically a walk-on, she was able to come in day one, with the rest of the new fencers.
At a larger school, or bigger team, things may go different. But I’d start with emailing the coach and see what he/she says.
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I know a bit more about MIT fencing. They don’t recruit actively. If your kids are interested in fencing for MIT, she/he can fill the recruitment form, and can contact coach to introduce their academic and fencing credentials. If the coach believe them have good chance to be admitted to MIT on their own merit, and your fencing credentials can add to strength of his team, he can write a letter of support to admission office on their behalf. The coach has a limited number of letters to write so he usually doesn’t commit to writing letter until kids already applied to MIT early. The pull is very limited as your kids basically need to be a strong applicant on their own merit. But a letter of support from a varsity coach does mean a lot, especially if the applicants are at a tiebreak with some other strong applicants.
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Longtime lurker, first-time poster… 
As my daughter is in her final season of NCAA fencing, I have (of course), looked around at the rosters of the various schools she has competed against or will be competing against this year.
Just as interesting to me as the new names (“oh, so that’s where so-and-so ended up”) are the names that are missing. The fencers who, for whatever reasons, stopped fencing for their schools. Possibly even stopped fencing full-stop.
It happens more than you’d think. Even with STRONG (I know of at least two former national team members who did not fence all four years of college) fencers. I’m sure the reasons are varied — from burnout in the sport, to injury, to a falling out with the coaches, to pursuing other interests, to dropping out of school entirely.
It’s something for prospective recruits to think about…will you be happy at SCHOOL X if you aren’t on the team? And for scholarship athletes…will your family be able to afford your remaining semesters at SCHOOL X without the athletic aid?
Anyway, figured I’d add another nuance to the discussion. As you were.
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