The November NAC, Event Composition and NAC Locations in the Future

November NAC and Event Composition

US Fencing confirmed with FP in an email exchange this week that the November NAC will be restored in future fencing seasons, its absence this year is an one-off occurrence. US Fencing also indicated that:

  • they would like to replicate having Junior and Cadet events at the April NAC going forward

  • the future composition of events at the November NAC may change. Any changes will depend on feedback from Athletes, Sports Performance, Officials, Parents and Coaches

In the 2021/2022 season, the 1st Junior event of the fall will be at the December NAC over a weekend that immediately precedes final exams for many high school and college students. Due to this schedule conflict, the 1st Junior fencing tournament of the regular season may not be till January for many fencers. Note that due to pandemic disruptions in 2021, the July Challenge in Salt Lake City for the purposes team selection points is considered the start of the 2021/2022 season.

In response to FP’s email pointing out this schedule conflict, US Fencing indicated that the addition of Junior and Cadet events in April together with the availability of the usual schedule of Junior and Cadet events in the Spring gave fencers plenty of options despite the December schedule conflict with final exams.

Given what is a permanent exam schedule conflict for many high school and college fencers in December, US Fencing should schedule the Junior and Cadet events for the November NAC and schedule other events for the December NAC.

We urge families who feel strongly about restoring Junior and Cadet events to the November NAC to email US Fencing about your preference. You can do so by emailing Christine Simmons at c.simmons@usafencing.org and Kris Ekeren at k.ekeren@usafencing.org.

NAC Locations

FP also asked if US Fencing had contracts in place with the cities of Richmond and Columbus, and if there were contracts, how long these contracts are for. This is US Fencing’s response:

“We periodically cycle off cities for a couple of seasons as we did with Kansas City and Milwaukee. Some of the locations on the current National Events calendar will rotate off in the future for a period of time.”

This response is hugely disappointing given that Richmond, Columbus, and Milwaukee all fail the test of having good flight connections at a reasonable price, in particular, from almost anywhere in the West.

In the absence of any legacy legal obligations that require US Fencing to hold a NAC in these locations, there is no reason for US Fencing to select one of these locations ever again . This is especially so given the clear feedback that FP and many fencing families have given US Fencing over many years that these locations are both inconvenient and expensive to get to.

Donna MeyerUS Fencing November NAC, US Fencing November North America Cup, Fencing NAC Locations 2022/2023, Fencing Event Combinations at NACs