WWD Div II/III/Y14 Divisional Qualifier

FRED Announces the WWD Div II/III/Y14 Divisional Qualifier April 28-29, 2012 at Salle Auriol Seattle This event is the qualifier for the Division II, Division III, and Youth-14 events at Summer Nationals in July. All fencers who wish to fence these events at Summer Nationals must qualify through this event (unless they are pre-qualified as described below.) This tournament is only open to members of the USFA Western Washington Division. All fencers must be US citizens or permanent residents. Even if you do not plan on attending Summer Nationals, you are encouraged to come and fence. If you usually attend the local tournaments, you should attend this event! The fact that it is a qualifier does not make it any different than any other local tournament. The more fencers that show up, the more people qualify! ----- Qualification Info ----- The top 25% of fencers in each event will qualify (with a minimum of 3). If 3 or fewer fencers are present on the day of the event, it will not be fenced since everyone will qualify. However, you MUST be present at the venue at the close of registration in order to qualify! Veteran fencers that fence in the Div II/III event will automatically qualify for the corresponding Veteran event at Summer Nationals (regardless of finishing place.) If you have already qualified for Div II/III/Y14 through another means (see below), you can still attend this event. You won't "take up" a qualification since you are already qualified - instead, you'll help the numbers but will be skipped when awarding qualifications. ----- Event Schedule ----- Saturday 4/28/12: 10:00am -- Div II/III Men's Foil & Div II/III Women's Epee 1:00pm -- Div II/III Men's Saber & Div II/III Women's Foil Sunday 4/29/12: 10:00am -- Div II/III Men's Epee & Y14 Men's Saber Noon -- Div II/III Women's Saber 1:00pm -- Y14 Men's Foil & Y14 Women's Foil 2:00pm -- Y14 Men's Epee & Y14 Women's Saber 3:00pm -- Y14 Women's Epee All times are close of registration. ----- Registration Information ----- The registration fee is $20 per event. Registration on AskFRED is REQUIRED by 11:59pm PDT on Wednesday April 25th. If you do not register by the deadline, you will be charged DOUBLE fees on the day of the event. Event fees must be paid in cash or by check (made to "WWD") at the door. We DO NOT accept credit or debit cards. Follow this link to register online with AskFRED: http://askfred.net/Events/Prereg/prereg.php?tournament_id=15764 ----- Event Format ----- Events with 14 or fewer fencers will be run as a single round of pools followed by a direct elimination. Events with 15 or more fencers will be run as TWO rounds of pools followed by a direct elimination. The combined results from the two pool rounds will be used to seed the DE tableau. In events with more than 20 fencers, we will do a cut after the second round of pools (top 16 promoted to DEs.) This two-rounds-of-pools format has proven to be popular with the fencers since it gives everyone a lot of fencing. It also tends to "smooth out" the seeding - if you fence poorly in the first round of pools, you can redeem yourself by fencing well in the second round. ----- Tournament Rules ----- All fencers must be current competitive members of the USFA Western Washington Division. You may join or renew your USFA membership at the door. Full USFA regulation uniform is required, including plastron, knickers, and knee-length socks. No jeans or sweatpants allowed. USA Fencing has does not require the electric foil mask bib for non-national events, so "standard" foil/epee masks may be used. ----- Age Eligibility ----- Eligibility is based on entirely on birth year, regardless of when a fencer's birthday falls during the year. Senior (Div II/III) - Born 1998 or earlier Youth-14 - Born 1997 - 2000 ----- Equipment Check ----- Please arrive early to allow time for equipment checks. We will be checking masks, lames, and bodycords. ----- Am I Pre-Qualified? ----- Many fencers in the division may already be pre-qualified for Division II and III, as well as Y14. If you qualified for Division I-A at a ROC like the Battle in Seattle, you are already qualified for Div II/III. Some fencers also qualified for Division II/III at the ROC held in Tacoma back in September. Y14 fencers with Y14 national points are auto-qualified for the Y14 event. The USFA tracks who has already qualified on the USFA website. Visit http://usfencing.org/events/5868/page/13271 and click the "Auto Qualifiers" link to see the spreadsheet of qualified fencers. Check the spreadsheet for your name to see if you are listed as pre-qualified. If you are unsure, ASK YOUR COACH! Pre-qualified fencers are still welcome to fence at this event, since it helps the numbers and does not deny someone else a qualifier slot. ----- Petitions ----- If you are unable to attend the qualifier event, you may file a petition with the USFA requesting entry. In general, petitions are appropriate for people who were unable to attend due to illness or a schedule conflict (such as being out of town on business.) Contact chair@wwdfencing.org for more info on petitions.