Coaches Invited to Open Forum at Summer Nationals About ‘Strip Coaching’ Rule Change

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Coaches, your voice is valued.

That’s why you’re invited to a special forum held during Summer Nationals during which you  can express your perspectives on the implementation of a new rule change that takes effect next season.

Let’s get you up to speed: In April, the USA Fencing Board of Directors approved a change to Rule t.109, which concerns giving advice or other verbal feedback during a bout. During bouts, coaches and others are not “to go near the strips, to give advice to the fencers, to criticize the Referee or the judges, to insult them or to attempt to influence them in any way.” (Read the full text of the rule, as it will appear in next season’s rulebook, below).

The Board tasked the RC with determining how USA Fencing will interpret and implement these revisions to rule t.109 during the 2023-24 season. This forum is a chance for Coach members to offer their valuable feedback on how this rule change might affect them.

The forum will be held at 5 p.m. local time on July 3 in Meeting Room 127A of the Phoenix Convention Center, where Coach Members can join USA Fencing staff members and members of the Referees' Commission (RC) to discuss the rule change.

Here’s the language of the revised rule that will appear in the Aug. 1, 2023, edition of the Rules:

t.109

Everybody taking part in or present at a fencing competition must remain orderly and must not disturb the smooth running of the competition. During bouts no one is allowed to go near the strips, to give advice to the fencers, to criticize the Referee or the judges, to insult them or to attempt to influence them in any way. Even the team captain must remain in the space assigned and may only intervene in the situations and in the manner provided for in Article t.130 of the Rules. The Referee must stop immediately any activity which disturbs the smooth running of the bout which the Referee is refereeing (cf. t.137.1-3).

 

Any person who, for any reason, threatens or insults an official commits an offense of the 4th group and is penalized according to Article t.169.

Once again, remember that the new adoption of t.109 will not go into effect until the 2023-2024 season, so the current t.109 will still be in effect during the 2023 Summer Nationals. So, for those of you heading to the 2023 Summer Nationals, know that this rule change won't have taken effect just yet. 

The forum will be held in Meeting Room 127A at 5 p.m. on July 3. Leading the chat is Donald Alperstein, Board Liaison to the RC. Alperstein as well as members of the RC and USA Fencing staff will be on hand to hear feedback on the new rule, its implications and the possible nuances of its enforcement.

USA Fencing encourages anyone with questions about the open forum to contact nationalevents@usafencing.org.