Drop in Summer Nationals 2021 Participation Most Acute with Youth Fencers
With the close of the regular registration deadline yesterday, FP took a closer look at the Summer Nationals registration numbers. While the overall registrations across the Senior, Cadet, Junior and Youth events dropped by about 22%, registration for youth events (Y14, Y12 and Y10) dropped off at double that rate when compared with registrations at Summer Nationals 2019, the last Summer Nationals held before the pandemic.
Biggest Drop in Youth Events
The area highlighted in yellow below shows the Y12 Men’s events, with Y12 Men’s Foil falling off 56% followed closely by Y12 Men’s Epee falling 55% making them the 2 biggest drops in registrations at Summer Nationals. The Y12 age group suffered the biggest drop of any age group, dropping 45% overall driven largely by the men’s events. Y14 Men’s events also dropped off substantially exceeding 40% in every weapon though Y14 Women’s Foil suffered the highest drop within the Y14 age group at 47%. Starting from a smaller base, the Y10 events dropped off about 32% indicating a strong core of young fencers despite the challenges presented by the pandemic.
We should not be too surprised by these drops in youth events. The drastic reduction in qualifying events made it very difficult for young fencers to qualify for Summer Nationals even with US Fencing lowering the number of regional points required to qualify. Different regions were affected differently by lockdown rules, but the effect overall was devastating to the ability to hold tournaments at the regional and national level. Based on US Fencing regional points lists, it looks like Region 1 did not host any regional youth qualifying events at all, while others only held a fraction of the normal number of regional qualifying tournaments.
Safety issues arising from air travel and large group settings gave many parents’ pause especially with younger fencers who have less need to chase national points at this point in their fencing careers. FP has also received feedback that wearing a mask inside a mask has been hard on younger fencers, and may be a contributing factor in young fencers temporarily stopping their fencing. As the pandemic recedes, and with more people vaccinated, including our young fencers, we are optimistic that fencing’s youngest will return to the sport.
Cadet and Juniors Resilient
Registrations in the cadet age group increased by 3% despite the pandemic, the only age group category to register an increase over 2019. The areas highlighted in green show you where the increases have taken place in the Junior and Cadet age groups. . Women’s Saber looks to be the biggest winner with a 12% increase in Juniors and a 17% increase in Cadets.
4 of 6 Cadet events experienced increases in registrations over 2019. In fact US Fencing raised the event caps for Cadet Men’s events at least twice to accommodate the high number of qualified fencers. The cap on Cadet Women’s Epee was also raised by about 5% to accommodate all qualified fencers.
Junior events lost about 9% compared to 2019, with 3 of 6 events losing less than 10% of their registrations, and only Junior Women’s Foil experienced a loss in registration of greater than 20%.
Our teenage fencers are demonstrating strong commitment to fencing and are determined to earn national points as they get close to their college application dates and possible athlete recruitment.
Division 1 Also Resilient
Driven by committed Cadet and Junior fencers, the registration numbers have held up exceedingly well for Division 1 where the overall registration numbers remain even with 2019 in the men’s events, and falling off by only 4% in the women’s events, bringing the overall drop in Division 1 to about 2%.
Divisions 1A, 2 and 3 Fields Drop between 20% and 34%
While Division 1A fields have comprised of fencers from Y14, Cadet and Juniors age groups, Division 2 and 3 events have traditionally been crowded with Y14 fencers seeking additional national tournament experience and an opportunity to up their rating classifications. With the drastic drop-off in Y14 registrations, Division 2 and 3 registrations have also suffered and are down 24% and 34% respectively. Division 1A with a more diverse competitor base has not dropped off as much experiencing a 20% drop in registrations overall.
It’s most likely temporary
The pandemic threw off everyone’s rhythm, temporarily taking away the structures that underpin fencing, like training at clubs, and competing at tournaments at local, regional and national levels. We are optimistic that as we move away from the pandemic that youth fencers and their parents will be comfortable to return to the sport, and once again make it as vibrant as always.
