I know I'm the only "fencing" geek here on the forums but I'm going to be at the national championships in Columbus, OH with a group of my fencers.
The largest US fencing competition ever will be taking place. Competition starts on Friday June 28 and runs until July 7. 5400 nationally ranked fencers will gather to compete in Saber, Epee and Foil events. The events are divided by male and female categories. They are further divided by national ranking and also by age group.
Division 1 is the top level. I have 1 student in Div 1. It is the group that includes Olympians and National Team members. Next down is Div 1-a. Below that is Div 2 and then Div 3. But to confuse everyone, the JUNIOR category includes many Div 1 and Div 1-a fencers so its a hybrid category that is probably more competitive than Div 1-a. There is also CADET, which is age limited to kids below 16 years old, and again also includes a few Div 1 and Div 1-a fencers, but not very many so its clearly below the JUNIOR event.
College recruiters hunt the JUNIOR event as roughly 1/2 that event includes the best high school students in the US.
I'll have a bunch of friends from the RedStar club in Chicago fencing. I have been adopted by RedStar as my club really doesn't have a major competitive presence on the national scene and some of the coaches at RedStar help coach some of my students. So me and my students will gather with the RedStar group when we are in the competition hall. They all know each other. All practice together. RedStar will likely have about 20+ competitors at the event. My club will have a total of 6, the 5 listed above and 1 described at the bottom of this post.
The lovely Mrs_Bob and I will pick Dasha up at the airport on Thursday as she is coming in from California where she is with Melen and is attending a fencing camp at Stanford University. Dasha is staying with us during our time in Columbus. The other students will be staying with their parents. I will only be at the competition through July 1, which is also the last day that Dasha will be at the event. We put her on a plane to Boston.
I've got 3 of my high school students meeting college recruiters at the event. Dasha, Dominic and Mateo. Those 3 are hunting scholarships. Dasha & Dominic have the best chances of eventually getting scholarships. Mateo has an outride shot. Lexi & Chrissi are already in college. Lexi is on a scholarship because of her fencing.
My Northwest Indiana Fencing Club has 1 more competitor attending. She is the coach for the Marian team and is competing in the Veterans Women's Foil Age 50+ bracket. She is the woman who despises me and who is also the main reason there was almost a walkout from the Marian Catholic team. RedStar despises her. She has not been invited to join the RedStar competitors in the hall. None of my NIFC competitors want to hang out with her. It will be interesting to see if there are any interactions with her. She is arriving on July 1 and competes on July 2. I will safely be gone when she competes but expect I will run into her on the floor while I'm coaching on July 1.
The largest US fencing competition ever will be taking place. Competition starts on Friday June 28 and runs until July 7. 5400 nationally ranked fencers will gather to compete in Saber, Epee and Foil events. The events are divided by male and female categories. They are further divided by national ranking and also by age group.
Division 1 is the top level. I have 1 student in Div 1. It is the group that includes Olympians and National Team members. Next down is Div 1-a. Below that is Div 2 and then Div 3. But to confuse everyone, the JUNIOR category includes many Div 1 and Div 1-a fencers so its a hybrid category that is probably more competitive than Div 1-a. There is also CADET, which is age limited to kids below 16 years old, and again also includes a few Div 1 and Div 1-a fencers, but not very many so its clearly below the JUNIOR event.
College recruiters hunt the JUNIOR event as roughly 1/2 that event includes the best high school students in the US.
- Dasha, my Russian fencer, will compete in Division 1 and Junior Women's Saber
- Lexi, my former Lowell H.S. team captain, will compete in Junior Women's Saber
- Chrissi, one of my college students, competes in Div 3 Women's Saber
- Dominic, one of my Marian students, competes in Men's Team, Div 1-a & Div 2 Men's Epee
- Mateo, another Marian student, competes in Div 2 and Div 3 Men's Saber
I'll have a bunch of friends from the RedStar club in Chicago fencing. I have been adopted by RedStar as my club really doesn't have a major competitive presence on the national scene and some of the coaches at RedStar help coach some of my students. So me and my students will gather with the RedStar group when we are in the competition hall. They all know each other. All practice together. RedStar will likely have about 20+ competitors at the event. My club will have a total of 6, the 5 listed above and 1 described at the bottom of this post.
The lovely Mrs_Bob and I will pick Dasha up at the airport on Thursday as she is coming in from California where she is with Melen and is attending a fencing camp at Stanford University. Dasha is staying with us during our time in Columbus. The other students will be staying with their parents. I will only be at the competition through July 1, which is also the last day that Dasha will be at the event. We put her on a plane to Boston.
I've got 3 of my high school students meeting college recruiters at the event. Dasha, Dominic and Mateo. Those 3 are hunting scholarships. Dasha & Dominic have the best chances of eventually getting scholarships. Mateo has an outride shot. Lexi & Chrissi are already in college. Lexi is on a scholarship because of her fencing.
My Northwest Indiana Fencing Club has 1 more competitor attending. She is the coach for the Marian team and is competing in the Veterans Women's Foil Age 50+ bracket. She is the woman who despises me and who is also the main reason there was almost a walkout from the Marian Catholic team. RedStar despises her. She has not been invited to join the RedStar competitors in the hall. None of my NIFC competitors want to hang out with her. It will be interesting to see if there are any interactions with her. She is arriving on July 1 and competes on July 2. I will safely be gone when she competes but expect I will run into her on the floor while I'm coaching on July 1.