US Fencing Refereeing Comission Ombudsman

Many of our posts have served as a place to make recommendations and point out our perceived deficiencies in the way a tournament is run or a decision was made. For a change of pace, we are congratulating USA Fencing on running, and Patrick Webster winning, the election for the VP of Domestic Development on … More RC Domestic Development Election Feedback and Request For Outreach

A Brief Suggestion for Future Elections to the Referee’s Commission There was a delay and reboot to the election of the Vice President of Referee Development for the Referee’s Commission. There seems to be a lack of communication between the National Office and the Referee’s Commission and the working referees who compose the potential candidates … More Elections Committee Recommendations

Summer Nationals is now under our collective belts. It was successfully completed with a record setting number of bouts fenced over the 10 day period. There were many great successes throughout this event. One opportunity for improvement that arose pertained to the application of Black Cards, and what that means to the individual receiving a Black … More Defining Venue Boundaries

Summer Nationals was once again a great success and demonstrates the growth of our sport in the United States. The previous record for total bout slips turned in was 12,500 and we passed that in the morning of the last day, ending up with 13,500 bout slips turned in for the event!! That number, while … More 2017 Summer Nationals Postmortem

The 2016-2017 Season March NAC presented challenges for both referees and assigners.  The number of referees was barely above the minimum, there was a greater number of referees who worked less than four days, there were more referees who were in and out, working less than a full complement of events, and there were more … More Challenges and Recommendations for the March NAC

USA Fencing has made great strides, by surpassing historic milestones, and is becoming well-positioned to make even greater gains. One gain in particular, the expansion of national tournaments, has come at a cost of the overuse and burnout of volunteers. It is the opinion of the Ombudsman that the progress made by USA Fencing has … More Why are we so bad at getting better?

Recently the FIE and US Fencing have accepted a rule that concerns the placement of Saber fencers at the beginning of fencing (on guard). There was a test period for a the new rule internationally and it was changed, according to correct process. US Fencing, in an immediate need to allow fencers to train and … More US Fencing Saber Rule Clarification Reccomendation

To complete the Safesport training required for US Referees to maintain their professional memberships. Have your USFA member number handy (from your railstation at, or the membership database located here). Goto the following website: http://training.teamusa.org/store/details/1 You will see the following screen Click Add to Bag. This will take you to a shopping cart. Click Checkout. This … More Safesport Training Required For US Referees By January 1, 2017

This is a repost of the information that went out from the referee coordinator. All personal information has been removed. Host Hotel Holiday Inn Express & Suites Detroit Downtown 1020 Washington Blvd. Detroit, MI  48226 Venue Cobo Hall Convention Center Halls B & C 1 Washington Blvd. Detroit, MI  48226 Breakfast Breakfast will be served … More Detroit NAC Info