Take Note of These Updates to Events and Formats for the 2024-25 Tournament Season

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — While you can’t always anticipate your opponent’s next move, USA Fencing wants you to see changes coming for our tournaments and events from a mile away.

That’s why we’re sharing five key updates to events and formats for the upcoming season:

For the 2024-25 season, Division I Men's Epee (DVIME) and Division I Men's Foil (DVIMF) events will use the two-round format if an event has 203 fencers or more.

That means two rounds of pools, with the top 34 fencers receiving an automatic bye to the afternoon.

The cutoff for determining the number of fencers, and the format to be used, will be the regular fee deadline for the respective competition. In the unlikely event the number of fencers drops below 203 after regular fee registration closes, the two-pool format will remain in place.

We’ve updated our article about this format to reflect the changes for 2024-25. But we’ll also share how it works here:

• 203 fencers or more: 

  • One-day event with two rounds of pools. 

  • The top 34 fencers (based on the USA Fencing National Rolling Points Standings) receive a bye into the second round of pools.

  • The top 75% of all fencers from the first round advance to a direct elimination (DE) tableau, fenced to 64. 

  • These 64 join the 34 fencers with byes for the second round of pools. 

  • The top 75 fencers from the second round advance to the final DE rounds, fenced to a gold medal.

• 202 fencers or fewer: One-day event with one round of pools. The top 75% of all fencers advance from pools to the DE rounds.

For 2024-25, this format is only for Division I Men's Foil and DIvision I Men’s Epee, due to the growing size of these events. All other Division I events, including Division I Women's Foil and Division I Women's Epee will use the single-round format, as this is more manageable based on typical event sizes.

"Classification" will be adjusted to "Rating" across all documents and platforms.

This change aims to alleviate confusion, as many already use the term "rating" instead. It also avoids mixing terminology with parafencing, where "classification" has a different meaning for the participating fencers.

Please be patient as we begin to roll out this change in places like the Athlete Handbook and elsewhere.

Based on feedback from the parafencing community, coaches, and referees, the parafencing format will be adjusted, beginning with the December Para NAC (which is the first parafencing tournament of the 2024-25 national season). All event sizes will include 100% promotion to DEs.

Here’s the plan:

• Events with 6 or fewer fencers: One pool, two rounds of pools.
• Events with 7-8 fencers: One pool, one round of pools.
• Events with 9-12 fencers: Two Pools, two rounds of pools due to smaller pool size.
• Events with 13-14: Two Pools, one round of pools
• Events with 15-18: Three pools, two rounds of pools.
• Events with 19 or more fencers: Number of pools determined by number of fencers, one round of pools.

Beginning in the 2024-25 season, ratings will be awarded to parafencers, using the same structure for event grouping as able-bodied.

Athletes will start with a "U" rating, similar to able-bodied fencers, and will earn ratings according to the grouping chart in the Athlete Handbook.

Current national team members will receive a "C" rating and will be eligible to earn new ratings based on their performance in World Ability Sport (WAS) World Championship. New ratings earned at WAS World Championships will be based upon the same rating award structure as that used for the FIE Veteran World Championships.

Regional organizers will continue to be allowed to cap events in the coming season to keep sizes manageable, and the National Office will continue to monitor caps to review if they are being set equitably and according to data-based rationale.

For the 2024-25 season, there will also be added recommendations to organizers for how they should set their caps, particularly as it relates to gender-equity. This framework will be used to evaluate the caps being set for regionals in the coming season, and beginning in 2025-26, the recommended framework will be adopted as a requirement for those tournaments wishing to implement caps.

For organizers wishing to cap their events in the 2024-25 season, the recommended structure will follow the below chart. Initial caps for the event should be set within these parameters, and then, at four weeks our from the tournament, organizers may adjust their caps, based upon demand across the different events. Whenever possible, organizers are still encouraged to adjust their caps and add entries equally for the two genders in the same weapon/age category (i.e. JNRME and JNRWE).

*Assumes regional tournaments use pools of five to seven athletes, with a targeted goal of pools with six or seven athletes whenever possible.

**The recommendations for capping differential apply only to events of a different gender within the same age/weapon category. For example, a tournament with a Cadet Men’s Foil cap of seven pools could have a Cadet Women’s Foil cap of six, seven or eight pools (one pool maximum difference).

Important update: On Sept. 16, 2024, USA Fencing Board of Directors approved a motion to suspend immediately the previously approved and announced changes for the Y8 category. The Board sent the idea back to the Tournament Committee and newly formed Coaches Committee for further consideration.

This means local and regional tournament organizers should stop enforcing the changes to Y8 fencing, such as a shorter blade length for Y8 fencers, shorter strip length and modified competition format.

The original post follows...

Blade Size Maximum — Implementation suspended after Sept. 15, 2024 Board ruling (go here for new post)
Effective August 1, all Y8 fencers will be required to compete using only a Size 0 blade. This means a maximum blade length of 775 mm for Foil and Epee, and 765mm for Saber.

Shortened Strip Length for Y8 Events — Implementation suspended after Sept. 15, 2024 Board ruling (go here for new post)

For Y8 events only, the strip length will be reduced to 10 meters. Effectively, this means the warning lines at the end of the strip for all other age categories become the end lines for Y8, reducing the size of the "field of play".

The warning area for Y8 events will be kept the same length of two meters, as it is for all other age categories. To minimize the necessary changes to existing equipment, the passed proposal recommends that non-permanent markings be applied directly on or to the sides of all strips being used for Y8 competition. These markings can then be removed after use or when the strip is put in use for other age categories during the course of a tournament. 

Examples of acceptable ways to mark a fencing strip with these adjusted warning areas and end lines include: brightly colored painters or gaffers tape, applied directly to the strip at the appropriate distances and/or cone markers or tape applied on the sides of the fencing strip at the appropriate distances.

Competition Format (Recommended for 2024-25)  — Implementation suspended after Sept. 15, 2024 Board ruling (go here for new post)
The proposal approved by the Board of Directors also entailed a new competition format that was recommended by the YDRT for Y8 only. 

This format will be recommended for use by all Y8 competition organizers for the 2024-25 season, with it becoming a required format beginning in 2025-26.The format will be referred to as the Youth Developmental Format and will be ran as follows:

• Fencers will compete in two rounds of pools with no direct elimination.
• The first round of pools will be seeded using fencer's rating/year (pools sizes of 7 should be used whenever possible)
• For fencers with the same rating/year, birth year and month will be used to determine order, with the older fencer being seeded ahead of the younger.All unrated fencers will be seeded randomly as normal
• After the first round, the second set of pools will be constructed based on results from the first round, with the top N fencers in the first pool. The next group is placed in the second pool, and the third in the pool after that (if applicable), until all pools have been constructed.
• Athletes then fence against the other fencers in their pool to determine final placement.
• Athletes in the top pool will fence off for places 1-N.
• Athletes in the second pool will fence off for places N+1 through (2N).