Fencing tournaments & events: how to find and enter them
Once your fencer has a few months in, tournaments are where it gets fun. Here's how the
system works and exactly where to look for the next event.
Where to find tournaments
- askFRED.net, the registration hub for almost every local and regional US tournament. Search by state and register here.
- Your division calendar , Gulf Coast Division (greater Houston / SE Texas) and South Texas Division (Austin, San Antonio & south) post local events.
- National events , USA Fencing runs the North American Cups (NACs), Junior Olympics and Summer Nationals.
The ladder of events
- Local & Youth (Y10/Y12/Y14) , your first tournaments; no rating required, low pressure.
- Regional (RYC / RJCC) , earn regional points toward national qualification.
- National (NAC, Summer Nationals) , the big ones; feed rankings and the path to the national team.
Your first tournament: get there early, bring water and your gear (borrow anything you're missing from
clubmates), and expect to fence a round of
pools then a
direct-elimination bracket. New to the format? Read
how scoring works. Win or lose, you'll learn more in one day than a month of class.
Not competing yet? Find a club with a competitive program, or read about ratings.
