Competitions Guide

Introduction

If you’ve been fencing for a while and you can hold your own at the club, you might start to think about competitions. This guide is intended to point younger fencers, and their parents, in the right direction. It might also help you avoid some of the potential pitfalls until you become used to what happens at competitions.

When should you start competing?
It does help to know which end of a sword to hold, and which to poke with! At least six months regular attendance at a club is probably about right, with some experience of “electric” fencing. After that the best time is when you feel ready – if you wait until you think you can win, you will probably wait forever – while you are practising and perfecting your skills, there are other fencers out there doing the same thing, and getting competition experience at the same time. They might not be winning, but they will be improving faster than by club training alone!

What do you need to compete?
A complete set of kit for a competition would comprise (starting from the feet and working up):

Electric foils, body wires and lames can often be borrowed from your club, on a first come, first served basis. Check with your coach or armourer.

How do competitions work?

Every competition can use a different system so here is a general format that most are based around. For this example we will show how the Leon Paul Junior Series runs its competitions. LPJS competitions start with two rounds of “pools” followed by “direct elimination” (known as “DE”) In the “pools” the fencers are sorted into groups of approx 5 – 7 competitors, depending on the number of entries. Each fencer competes against every other member of the pool in a bout to 5 hits . There are also time limits – so if a bout exceeds the time limit the decision may go to the fencer with the greater number of hits so far. All fencers are then organised into a second round of pools, with the fencers that did best in the first round evenly distributed, and again – all members of each pool fight against all others.

If, for example, there were 20 fencers entered into a competition with 2 rounds of pools, the competitors might be divided into 4 pools of 5 fencers each. Each entrant would have 4 bouts in the first pool. Then a second set of pools would be devised, with each fencer fighting four more bouts. At the end of the pools, the fencers would be seeded depending on the results of the pool bouts. (The seeding is usually posted on a notice board) The direct elimination (knockout) phase would then begin, with the highest seed fighting the lowest seed, the second highest fighting the second lowest and so on. Some higher seeded fencers may get byes through the first round of the DE – because the aim is to reduce the number of competitors to 16, then 8, then 4, and eventually just 2 finalists.

Direct Elimination bouts are usually the first to 8 hits (under 9), 10 hits (under 11 and under 13) or to 15 hits (under 15 and under 17). Once you lose a direct elimination fight, you are out knocked out of the tournament. Some LPJS organisers do not use direct elimination for under 9 – the winner is the fencer with the most victories in the pools.

The pool system ensures that all competitors get a reasonable number of bouts. Without pools it would be possible to travel miles to a tournament, get all psyched up, and then get knocked out in the first round. Very demoralising! It also prevents the two best fencers meeting in the early stages of direct elimination – the seeding system tends to keep the better fencers apart until the quarter- or semi-final stages.

Tips for Fencers
Warm up thoroughly before your first bout and again if there is a gap of more than about 20 minutes between bouts.

Remember “Fencing Etiquette”. Salute your opponent and the referee at the beginning of the fight and shake hands at the end.

When you are not fighting, stay near your pool. Fights can finish very quickly, and referees get annoyed when fencers vanish!

If you don’t understand a decision, ask politely for the referee to explain it, but don’t argue.

At the end of the pools, check the pool sheet to ensure that your results are recorded correctly. It’s much easier to sort out mistakes if they are picked up immediately.

Try not to show excessive pleasure on winning a hit or bout, or bad temper on losing one. Throwing down masks or swords is considered very bad sportsmanship.

Tips for Parents

Check the age categories carefully. Fencing age groups are based on ages on Jan 1 st in the current year, which means that a child who is 11 on 2 nd January can continue to compete as a U11 for the rest of that year. Meaning he was 10 on the first of January but became 11 the next day would stay as an under 10 for the whole year.

Take plenty of drinks. In all that kit, fencers get hot, and children dehydrate quickly. Avoid fizzy drinks – a good combination is mostly water, with a sports glucose drink occasionally when resting.

Some fencers eat lots at a competition, others feel too nervous. Lots of chocolate and sweets are best avoided, but bananas, dried fruit and cereal bars provide energy and are not too messy.

The time shown on the application form is for “check in”. Fencing usually starts 20 – 30 minutes later, but if you are not there for the check in – your entry will probably be scratched.

Take a good book. You will spend lots of time of sitting around! Folding chairs are also popular.

If you want to take photographs, register with the organisers first. Don’t photograph other children without asking their parents’ permission, and never use flash when a fight is in progress nearby.

If your child fences foil or sabre, and you are new to fencing, ask someone to explain the Right of Way rule. Inexperienced parents can get upset when their child’s light comes up before their opponent’s, but the hit is given against them!

Wear trainers or similar. Many venues don’t allow outdoor shoes in the sports hall.

Keep younger children away from the action.

There is usually a Leon Paul stand selling weapons, clothing and other fencing merchandise. It is an ideal time to buy breeches and jackets, as you can actually try them on, instead of guessing for mail-order.

Be nice to the organisers, and thank them on the way out!

Don’t forget to enjoy yourself!