The 2021/2022 NAC schedule is finally out this morning.

No November NAC and Event Re-shuffle

It looks like there will not be a NAC in November. The usual November NAC events, Junior, Cadet and Y14, have been distributed instead to the October NAC (Y14 event) and the December NAC (Junior and Cadet events). To make way for these changes, the usual Division 2 event at the October NAC along with the usual Division 2 and Veterans events at the December NAC have been removed.

The December NAC will run from December 9 to 12, typically the weekend before final exams for many high school students throughout the country. Scheduling Junior and Cadet events during an academically critical weekend for many teenagers seems rather out of touch. We have written the following email to US Fencing and await their response on this issue:

“Kris and Christine:

It looks like the November NAC events have been re-assigned to October for the Y14 event and the Cadet and Junior events have been assigned to the December NAC. For many cadet and junior age fencers, the weekend of December 9 to 12 is typically the weekend before finals. By moving the Cadet and Junior events to December, US Fencing has placed teenagers in a no-win situation.

While we appreciate the scheduling challenges US Fencing may face, the scheduling of Cadet and Junior events in December fails to take account of a high school exam schedules common to nearly all private and public schools in the country. We would very much like to hear from you why US Fencing thought the schedule would be a fair trade-off for Cadet and Junior fencers.”

“In addition, could you please confirm if the November NAC is permanently cancelled or is the cancellation a one time event due to scheduling constraints.”

Junior and Cadet events have been added to the April NAC replacing Divison 2 and Veterans events. These newly added events will be helpful to those fencers who had final exams and could not compete in the December NAC, though those who missed the December NAC would have lost an opportunity to earn national points.

NAC Locations

Richmond

We are stunned that Richmond is on the list again for a NAC. While it is the only East coast location on the schedule, it certainly fails the test of having good flight connections from around the country. While we can understand the circumstances that led to Richmond in May and June this year, there surely is no reasonable explanation for selecting it again for the 2021/2022 season. It is definitively a 3rd tier city which lacks even adequate ground transportation for arriving flights at the airport. Surely, US Fencing could have done better than this!

Columbus

For most of us in the West, we thought we had seen the last of Columbus at Summer Nationals 2019. But here it is again. Unless the selection of Columbus is fulfillment of a legacy contract that US Fencing is obligated to complete, there is no reason for a NAC to be held there. It is a 2nd tier city in the Mid-West with poor flight connections from the West, especially.