Competition Prep

All competitors who wish to compete at LOCAL level tournaments are required to have an Access Membership with USA Fencing.
All competitors who wish to compete at REGIONAL or NATIONAL level tournaments are required to have a USA Fencing Competitive Membership for the season.
If this is the first USA Regional Tournament for your student, they may be required to present ID that verifies their birth. Please bring an ID card, passport, or birth certificate that can be presented at Check in.

Take the time to double- and triple-check the fencing equipment and make sure the tournament bag is fully packed before leaving home. If possible, do this the night before so that you don’t increase your stress on the day of the tournament.

Know the schedule. Aim to arrive about 1 hour before the start of your event.

For the check-in and the equipment check ask your accompanying parent to help you. You should start warming up, do not stay waiting in the line for equipment check, if it is not necessary. Once equipment has been checked and labeled, keep it separate.

Warm up (10 min stretching, 5 min footwork, 5 min target hitting). Then get your gear up and fence with at least 2 opponents for warming up (at least for 15 min). Do not overdo it and wear yourself out!

Have 10-15 minutes resting time before tournament starts. Make sure you have all the equipment with you. Put your extra cords and other small equipment in your WFA bag and take it and your extra weapon with you. You can have your parents keep track of this, but you will want them easily accessible during each of your matches.
Keep your water bottle with you and take it to each match.

Cheer on your Teammates and friends if you are not competing at that time. Watch other fencers to see how they fence. Stay engaged in your match, do not just sit around and chat!

A good night’s sleep is essential for a good performance, so don’t let your child stay up late the night before a tournament. Sleep deprivation is cumulative, so your child should get at least 8 hours of sleep in the days preceding the tournament.

What your child eats and drinks: The night before a tournament, a meal with carbohydrates and lean protein, such as pasta with chicken, will prepare your child’s body. The morning of a tournament, breakfast should include another protein (eggs are good) for an additional boost. Avoid fatty foods (such as donuts) which can slow your child down. Hydration is also vital to an athlete’s success, so be sure your child drinks plenty of water the night before the tournament, and during the tournament as well.

When traveling to tournaments, make sure weapons are working properly before departure and after arrival. Weapons can be damaged during transit.

Cheer your student on! Congratulate them after a match on what they did well. We can’t win every match, but we can use every match to improve and identify what we need to work on.

The coach’s job is to coach, the student’s job is to compete, and the parent’s job is to cheer.

When your student is being coached by the coach, please let the coach do their job. It can be confusing for students to be given contradictory advice by coaches, fellow students, and parents.

There will be times that the coach cannot be there to strip coach. They may be working with a student on another strip, or two students from the WFA may be competing against each other (in this case, neither student will receive strip coaching from the coach.) This is where fellow students and parents can step in and help coach.

We suggest taking a look at this great article about parent strip-coaching: “Strip Coaching A parent's guide to coaching your fencer at a tournament” by Coach Toby Lee
PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING CHANGES BEGINNING THE 2023-2024 SEASON:
- Beginning in the 2023-2024 season, USA Fencing will no longer allow verbal coaching while the competitor is on the strip at any USA Fencing Sanctioned tournament. This includes verbal coaching from spectators as well as from coaches. This is ostensibly to prevent abuse of the referees from coaches and spectators during the tournaments.
- USA Fencing has delayed implementation of this rule until September 1, 2023 in an attempt to clarify the changes and allow for a smoother transition to the new rules.
- Clarification and additional info will be available after the August 19-20 Referee’s Commission meeting.
- We understand that this results in SIGNIFICANT changes for your student’s competition experience, and we are awaiting direction from USA Fencing with regards to how to proceed.
- For more information on the changes, see the USA Fencing website.

REQUIRED GEAR

ADDITIONAL ITEMS

Point System