Waiting for October NAC Indicative Check-In Times
Request to US Fencing for Indicative Check-In Times
FP emailed US Fencing on Sunday, September 12 requesting for indicative check-in times for the October NAC in St Louis as follows:
“Can US Fencing please provide indicative check-in times for the October NAC events as early as possible, and even before registration closes. US Fencing can clearly draw on a vast amount of experience in predicting the size of fields, so should reasonably be able to set preliminary starting times without waiting to see exact field sizes. An indication whether an event will start in the morning or afternoon will be very helpful for fencing families in planning both the number of days they need to take off from work and from school, and in booking their flights to St Louis.
Airfares have risen substantially during the pandemic as airlines have reduced their flight capacity across the board. Many fencing families on both coasts faced substantial airfare increases to NAC destinations last season, and we expect the same to be true this year. A substantial mitigant to paying expensive airfares is the ability to book flights far in advance of the travel date. Fencing families, on both east and west coasts, will be very grateful if US Fencing could release indicative times as soon as possible so that they can make reasonable travel plans to St Louis.
With the close of registration deadline on October 6, a short 3 weeks from the event date, fencing families cannot afford to wait for the official posting of check-in times to make their flight arrangements, and plan their job and school schedules.
We hope that US Fencing understands the need for families to manage their travel and lodging budgets even as US Fencing focuses on saving its own costs.”
US Fencing’s Response
On Tuesday, Spetember 14, US Fencing responded that “The October NAC is the first open registration (non-lottery) for a national tournament since COVID-19 began in 2020. The USA Fencing Events Team and the Tournament Committee are closely monitoring the event registration numbers to determine an appropriate check-in schedule over the next few weeks.”
Current Airfares to St Louis (Assuming a roundtrip from October 28 to 31)
In response, FP has shared with US Fencing the following indicative roundtrip airfares (based on a Google travel search), if tickets are bought on Tuesday September 14, to St Louis. FP has urged US Fencing to release indicative check-in times by next week so fencing families can purchase flights at reasonable prices before airfares escalate as we get closer to the travel date.
San Francisco: $350 (1 stop)
Los Angeles: $160 (1 stop)
Los Angeles: $191 (non-stop)
San Diego: $298 (1 stop)
Portland: $300 (1 stop)
Salt Lake City: $255 (non-stop)
Denver: $137 (non-stop)
New York (LGA): $250 (non-stop)
New York (JFK): $235 (1 stop)
New York (Newark): $240 (1 stop)
Boston: $260 (1 stop)
Washington DC: $160 (non-stop)
using past patterns to determine indicative check-in times
While we understand that US Fencing cannot predict exact numbers for each event, past patterns of which weapon and events are large and which ones are smaller still hold true.
Typically, foil events in all age groups tend to have larger fields, with epee coming in a close second while saber events tend to have the smallest fields. Men’s foil and epee events, especially in the Division 1, cadet and junior age groups consistently have the largest fields across weapons, age groups and gender.
These patterns have been consistent for several years, and especially through the NACs held during the pandemic in April, May and June 2021 as well as Summer Nationals, Junior Olympics and the July Challenge.
Based on current registration numbers for the October NAC, these patterns still hold true, and should be predictive of the final registration distribution between events. Planning a schedule based on comparable numbers at the 2019 October and November NAC for the events to be hosted at the St Louis October NAC would be a safe option for US Fencing. The numbers are highly unlikely to be larger than in 2019, and if they come in smaller, US Fencing is still in good shape.
We hope that US Fencing will look more closely at these patterns and design an indicative check-in schedule as soon as possible so that fencing families can make plans and save money.
