NAC "No Shows" are a Problem that the $250 Fine Has Not Fixed
The frequency of fencers failing to notify US Fencing of NAC withdrawals remains stubbornly high, wreaking random havoc on pool sizes despite the imposition of a hefty $250 fine on fencers who fail to notify US Fencing of withdrawal via email by 5pm local time the day before the tournament. The fine has not been a significant deterrent and the inconsiderate behavior continues.
Pools are now created the day before the event based on the list of registered fencers at 5pm the day before the event. The system automatically checks in this list of registered fencers and seeds them for purposes of setting up the pools for that event. Those who do not intend to fence but who fail to withdraw are automatically included in this “forced” check in to create pools a day early.
When fencers fail to withdraw by 5pm the day before when they do not intend to compete in an event, their “no show” becomes a major problem because pools are set on the assumption that they will be present and fencing. A reduced size pool becomes a problem for the remaining fencers in that pool and disadvantages these fencers relative to other pools with more fencers.
HERE’s the problem
At the end of the second day of the December NAC on December 10, 2021, FP notes that a total of 22 fencers (for 10 events) failed to withdraw from their events and and failed to provide valid justification for withdrawal. Those who provided valid justification are marked as DNF and included in the results listing, those that did not simply go missing from the results list.
For example, in the Cadet Men’s Saber event on December 10, 2021, US Fencing checked in a total of 184 fencers at 5pm the day before, but the results list only 179 fencers including 3 fencers who were marked as DNF. A remaining five fencers went missing despite being marked as checked in. There are 2 possibilities here:
these fencers never came to the venue, but the new “forced” check in records these fencers as at the venue. Their failure to notify US Fencing of their withdrawal should subject them to the $250 fine, or
these fencers checked in but did not show up to the strip, which would have earned them a black card. However, under the current rules, they would not be subject to the $250 fine.
Due to the “no shows” with and without valid reasons, a total of 8 pools in the Cadet Men’s Saber event in the December NAC came up short, disadvantaging the remaining fencers in those pools.
The Size of the problem
Based on recent feedback from parents that there seemed to be a high number of “no shows” at the October NAC, FP tracked what was happening with “no shows” both during the 2020/2021 season when US Fencing switched to creating pools the day before the event, and the 2019/2020 season when pools were created based on the number of fencers who had physically checked in on the day of the event.
The number of “no shows” jumped sharply starting in April 2021 when US Fencing started creating pools the day before the event. FP shared a detailed spreadsheet with US Fencing and alerted them earlier this week to the fact that the fine has not worked to reduce “no shows.’ We understand that US Fencing is monitoring the situation at the December NAC.
Note: We notice that for Saturday, December 11 events, US Fencing has created a separate check in list to track those who physically check into the event by scanning their barcode compared to those “forced” checked in for purposes of creating pools.
“No Shows 2020/2021
These numbers represent fencers who are marked as checked in by US Fencing, but do not appear in the results listing
April 2021 - 27
May 2021 - 51
June 2021 - 55
Summer Nationals 2021 - 31
July Challenge 2021 - 12
October 2021 - 39
December 2021 - 22 (after 2 days of competition)
“No Shows” 2019/2020
These numbers represent fencers who physically checked in but did not show up to the strip and did not provide a valid reason
Summer Nationals 2019 - 1
October 2019 - 4
November 2019 - 0
December 2019 - 2
January 2020 - 0
Junior Olympics 2020 - 0
Based on the number of “no shows” starting with Summer Nationals 2021, US Fencing should have earned a total of $26,000 in fines to date if the system tracked these “no shows” accurately! Alternately, if these fencers checked in but “no showed” to the strip as the National Results on the website seem to indicate, US Fencing should have issued 104 black cards to date.
Neither of the above would be adequate compensation to those fencers left in the lurch in short pools.
The fine is not working
The number of “no shows’ obviously remains elevated despite the hefty $250 fine. These “no shows” wreak random havoc on pool sizes and unfairly impact fencers in their assigned pools.
US Fencing needs to find a better solution or increase the fine substantially to motivate fencers to give timely notice of withdrawal from an event.
We look forward to US Fencing coming up with a solution before the January NAC.
