Updated on Sunday, April 26,2020

CHALLENGES for the USA Fencing board

From May 6 to May 27, 2020, we get to choose who we believe is best suited to take on a leadership role on the USA Fencing Board of Directors, even as USA Fencing faces profound challenges as a result of the coronavirus crisis.

The big question is what will normal look like.

loss of revenue - need to diversify revenue sources

Massive losses of revenues, which we estimate to be around $3 million (Anaheim SJCC, March NAC, April NAC and Summer Nationals) will be hard to recoup even as our lives return to a new normal over time. With social distancing expected to be the norm for an extended period, it will be hard to hold fencing tournaments, especially those on the scale of the NACs for quite some time.

USA Fencing’s success with NACs and its heavy dependence on NAC revenues to pay the bills is now an achilles heel. Diversification of funding streams for USA Fencing has never been more urgent. Fencing Parents has addressed this issue extensively in our January 2019 article NACs will generate an estimated $1.9 million surplus this year, why did US Fencing raise event fees?

Without a active tournament schedule, USA Fencing’s expenses are limited to payroll, rent and administrative costs. While USA Fencing can hunker down now to preserve cash, revenue diversification is a priority going forward.

The charts below are based on numbers from the 2019/2020 Budget approved by the USA Fencing Board. NAC fees tower over all other sources of funds for USA Fencing. These charts are part of an FP produced video Who is USA Fencing?.

Loss of Income for Clubs and Coaches

In addition, USA Fencing is challenged to help the community of coaches faced with the sudden loss of income due to shelter in place and social distancing that closed down fencing clubs throughout the country. We understand that helping coaches and clubs with applications for SBA loans has been a priority for USA Fencing.

After initially cancelling insurance for clubs, USA Fencing has now arranged with insurers to cover liability for the Zoom fencing practices now taking place across the country. We thank the clubs and coaches for their initiative and energy in keeping fencing alive during this challenging time.

The important question is: When can clubs safely re-open so coaches can get back to work and fencers can start practicing again.?

Re-starting tournaments

Calling the right time to re-start tournaments at the local, regional and national levels will be a challenge. What metrics are in place to call it?

Keeping fencers, referees, officials, coaches and supporters safe is paramount. Whatever format they take going forward, they must include the ability to social distance. CNBC reports that sports arenas are expected to undertake renovations and halve their capacity to achieve social distancing.

See: Sports arenas could require ‘necessary renovations’ for social distancing, architect firm says

Fencing tournaments may have to get smaller, or venues will have to get larger. This will be challenging on many fronts for USA Fencing.

increased cost of air travel

When and how can fencers safely resume the intense travel on airplanes necessitated by the National Rolling Points Standing (NRPS) structure that requires thousands of competitive fencers and their parents to travel multiple times a year domestically, and for some internationally as well, in their quest to earn national points and rank on the NRPS. This structure pushes high travel expenses on to fencing families and increases our carbon footprint quite unnecessarily.

Air travel will change dramatically. Social distancing requirements will require seats spaced further apart which means we can expert the costs of air travel to escalate. Bloomberg’s article How Coronavirus Will Forever Change Airlines and the Way We Fly gives us insight into what that’s going to look like. It will be more expensive for fencers and referees to fly around the country attending NACs , and possibly less viable for many.

carbon footprint

Many of us have marveled at the clear skies over Los Angeles and many other cities, the clear water and return of dolphins to the Venetian canals, and the appearance of wildlife in places we didn’t think possible.

We have an opportunity and a responsibility to start doing things a little differently so that we can preserve a good thing that has emerged from this catastrophe by reducing our carbon footprint.

Sending thousands of fencers and their parents onto airplanes 8 times a year to attend a NAC is a practice that should be changed.

the National points structure makes fencing very expensive

One of the biggest issues for fencing families is the cost of fencing - it is expensive.  The issue has become more acute with the profound impact that coronavirus crisis has had on job security and business profits for many families.

The structure of the National Rolling Points Standing (NRPS) necessitates that competitive fencers and their families undertake a substantial amount of travel to earn national points and rank on the NRPS.  In fact, for Cadet and Junior fencers, it is near impossible to rank at the top on their NRPS without international points.  

See: How to earn national points in fencing and rank on US Fencing’s National Points List

Quite universally, for competitive fencers on a quest for national points, the cost of travel exceeds the cost of coaching, equipment and registration fees combined.  

The NRPS structure effectively locks out less affluent fencing families from national level competition, given that annual fencing costs can run between $30,000 to $100,000 per fencer at the Cadet and Junior levels, with more than half of those costs going toward travel expenses. For some parents, the cost of fencing amounts to about the same as 4 year tuition at an Ivy League or elite college.

For starters, these cost levels can be brought down with adjustments to the NRPS structure with less weight given to international points. More should be done, but that would be a good start.

Given that the quality of competition at the Cadet NAC level is just as high as competition at the European Cadet Circuit (ECC) level, there is no reason to allot 1.75 times the points for an international placement in a Cadet event compared to a domestic event. The winner of a Cadet NAC earns 400 points while the winner of an ECC event earns 700 points under the NRPS structure.

The winner of a domestic Junior NAC earns 600 points. Surely, USA Fencing doesn’t believe that the degree of difficulty of an ECC exceeds that of a Junior NAC to merit a higher points allocation.

The international points component of the NRPS makes the top of the NRPS an unattainable goal for many fencers regardless of talent.

Rankings on the Cadet and Junior NRPS are based on an accumulation of the best 4 domestic results and the best 4 international results with value heavily skewed towards international points. This weighting skews the NRPS towards those who can afford or can stretch to afford the very high costs of international travel.

We can realistically expect that airfares will rise in the post-coronavirus world which means that the number of fencers who can afford the substantial travel expenses will decrease.

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

If USA Fencing believes that international competition is necessary for the development of an internationally competitive fencer, then USA Fencing must substantially increase funding streams to underwrite the endeavors of all talented fencers for a fair shot at reaching the top.

USA Fencing must direct its resources towards leveling the field for fencers to climb the NRPS by allocating resources to support talented competitive fencers who can make it to the top if only they could afford the travel expense. With limited resources at USA Fencing’s disposal, this should be a priority over expending resources for an expansion of fencing at the grassroots level to schools and colleges for recreational purposes.

Introducing championships at the regional level will ease up the pressure, and enable high quality competition at a more affordable level with a lower carbon footprint for many fencers as well.

See FP article: Ideas for US Fencing to tighten Y12 and Y14 Qualifications for Summer Nationals 2020

We want to know how the candidates will rise to these extraordinary challenges for USA Fencing as we all struggle to return to normal.

THE election CANDIDATES

In 2020, we will elect 2 candidates to the USA Fencing Board:

President of USA Fencing

The candidates are:

1. DONALD ANTHONY JR - the current President of USA Fencing. If re-elected, this will be Don’s 3rd term as President. Don lives in Columbus, Ohio.

2. PETER BURCHARD - a coach and FIE level referee. He lives in Northern California. Peter has his own Facebook page explaining his platform at Burchard for USA Fencing President
   

At-Large Director

There are 4 candidates, with one to be elected:

1. LORRIE MARCIL HOLMES - a current Board member running for re-election. She lives in Washington DC

2. SCOTT WEBB - a fencing parent from Michigan. Scott has his own Facebook page explaining his platform at Scott Webb for USA Fencing Board of Directors

3. VICKIE MILLER - a fencing parent from North Carolina

4. RICHARD WEISS - a fencing coach from Virginia

FP’s Questions to the Candidates

In the next few weeks, we will share with you our thoughts and views on the candidates. FP emailed each candidate a set of questions and we will share their responses as we receive them. We reproduce FP’s email below:

“I trust you and your family are safe in these challenging times.

Parents of fencers, many of whom are now Supporting members of US Fencing are very interested in this current election cycle, and want clarity on who they should support to lead the organization and set policies that are in the best interests of all members, and not just a select few.

We recognize that USA Fencing faces additional organizational and financial challenges due to the coronavirus crisis. Leadership is paramount to get through these challenges.

In this regard, Fencing Parents is keen to know what, in your opinion, are the 3 greatest priorities that must be addressed at USA Fencing, and what specific steps will you take as a Board member to facilitate action that moves these priorities forward.

We look forward to sharing your responses with our readers.”

PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU VOTE in the Board Elections

Parents who joined USA Fencing as Supporting Members on or before February 1, 2020 are eligible to vote in this election. The best way to protect our children’s interests is to vote for candidates who listen to our concerns and align with us to represent the best interests of fencing’s youthful members.

Voting is electronic, and will take place over the period May 6 to May 27,2020. USA Fencing will be sharing instructions on how to vote before the start of elections.

You can see USA Fencing’s announcement of the Board elections HERE

Please share this article with other parents.