2024-25 Membership Renewals: What to Know When the Window Opens on July 1

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — When our members speak, USA Fencing listens. That’s why we’re pleased to announce a series of member-focused changes for the 2024-25 season.

Here’s what you need to know!

We’ll start with the update that affects all members: membership fees are remaining flat! That means there’s no change from the 2023-24 season rates. With the costs of flights and hotels rising, we’re hoping this is a small way to help families manage their fencing budgets.

To recap, the rates for 2024-25 will be:

• Access Membership: $29
• Competitive Membership: $99
• Coach Membership: $150
• Collegiate Competitive: $55
• International Competitive License: $115
• Life: $1,500
• Life installment: 10 annual payments of $150 each
• +Check Ed add-on: $30
• +Coach and +Junior Coach add-on: $30

Based on feedback from parents and family members, we’re adding a new membership tier: the Parent Membership. Available for $19.99 per season, this membership includes the ability to vote, invitations to parent-specific webinars, a special newsletter and an exclusive bumper sticker available only to Parent members.

Parents (and other caregivers) will be able to purchase the parent membership for the 2024-25 season beginning July 1.

Beginning with the 2024-25 season, those who purchase a competitive membership type will need to become age-verified within 14 days after the membership purchase. 

Competitive members who do not complete the age verification process within that window will still retain access to membership benefits but can’t register for regional or national events until age verification is completed. 

Longtime members will know that age verification has long been required — this update merely streamlines the process. (Read more in our article.)

Renewals for club memberships open July 1, 2024, and there’s good news for clubs, too. 

No club will pay more than $800 next season. (Last season’s cap was $825, meaning every club will pay less in 2024-25.) Discounts based on the previous season’s club membership numbers are still in effect.

Use the calculator on this page to determine exactly what your club will pay, but here are two examples:

• A club with 26 members at the end of the 2023-24 season will receive a discount of $51.50 off their 2024-25 club membership, meaning their 2024-25 club membership fee will be $748.50.  
• A club with 101 members at the end of the 2023-24 season will receive a discount of $138.00 off their 2024-25 club membership, meaning their 2024-25 club membership fee will be $662. 

Good news for clubs that qualified for the reduced membership fee in the 2023-24 season.

Clubs that applied for and received the $199 rate — such as school-based clubs, start-up clubs and social/recreational clubs — will not need to re-apply for that reduced rate for the 2024-25 season.

All clubs will need to reapply for the 2025-26 season (with that process taking place in June 2025). 

While USA Fencing will still provide online course offerings and recorded speaker series events for coaches and members, the coaching education requirements (CEUs) have been removed for returning coaches. (New coaches will still need to complete the Foundation of Fencing Coaching Course.)

These coaching education modules will remain as an optional resource for returning coaches wanting to expand their knowledge.

While we have coaching materials in FenceLab, we also encourage you to visit the USFCA website to find coaching education materials.

This essential training will continue to be required every two years for coaches, officials and staff working at national tournaments (North American Cup series tournaments, Junior Olympics and Summer Nationals). 

To be very clear, the training is mandatory for these specific roles only — not for all members of USA Fencing. However, it is available to all members should you be interested in learning more about keeping fencers safe.

Those individuals who completed the training during the 2023-24 season will not have to take another training until the 2025-26 season.

Updates to members’ accounts will go into place on Aug. 1 to reflect your status. Again, if you completed the Creating a Culture of Belonging or Understanding Mandatory Reporting training during the 2023-24 Season, you will not need to take another training in the 2024-25 season.

In another step toward streamlining and improving the experience for our parafencers, these athletes will now be able to add their classification information into their membership profile.