Update on Western WA Division Fencing

[nor...@askfred.net]

Hello WWD Fencers,

I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe during this unprecedented time. I know everyone is probably going a bit stir-crazy not being able to fence, but everyone's health is paramount so it is a necessary measure we have to take. Hopefully things will return to some kind of normal in the next few months and we can get back on the strip.

I have been attending a weekly conference call hosted by the USFA National Office for division officers. The call mainly is to keep us up-to-date on what they are doing regarding the shutdown. In this email, I will pass along what information I have, as well as what we are planning to do in our Division.

The USFA has taken a big financial hit due to the cancellation of the March and April NACs, the various regional events (SYCs, ROCs, etc.) and the Junior/Cadet World Championships which were supposed to take place in Salt Lake City earlier this month. They are working through this and using reserve funds where necessary. If you are worried that the USFA will "go away", I don't think that's a concern - being the NGB for an Olympic sport, I think the USOC will make sure that all of the sport NGBs remain afloat.

The same, unfortunately, cannot be said for the hundreds of clubs around the nation. Most clubs are run as a small business, and they are profoundly feeling the effects of the shutdown since they still have expenses like rent and payroll to pay. The clubs here in the WWD are not immune to this, and they are getting through this as best they can. If you are in a position to do so, I urge you to contact your club to see if you can help them out financially during the shutdown.

The other main topic discussed on the weekly call with the USFA National Office is the status of the events for the rest of the season.

As you may have seen on the USFA website, all club activities must be suspended through April 30, and all tournaments suspended through May 11. Those dates will likely change, and of course the dates set by the Washington state shelter-at-home order take precedence over the USFA dates.

While the March and April NACs are technically listed as "postponed", I don't know if they will be held at a later time or eventually just cancelled. Summer Nationals, however, is currently still planned to be held, although it has been postponed to a date (yet to be decided) later in the summer.

The USFA is currently reviewing the qualification paths for Summer Nationals. Since many divisions had not yet held their Division II/III/Y14 qualifiers prior to the shutdown, as well as the cancellation of many regional events, the USFA is trying to figure out how to alter the qualification paths to account for that. As soon as they decide on the new qualification rules, we will let you know.

Given that uncertainty, we have cancelled the WWD Div II/III/Y14 qualifier that was scheduled to be held next weekend. While the plan was to hold the qualifier "virtually", there still was a chance that some events would need to be fenced, and since that's not currently possible, we are cancelling the event for now. We will reschedule the event (if necessary) after the USFA announces the updated qualification rules.

The final event that the WWD hosts each season is the WWD Championships, currently scheduled for June 6-7. At the moment the status of that is uncertain - if the COVID-19 situation improves and the USFA authorizes sanctioning of tournaments prior to that (and the shelter-at-home order allows it), we will hold the event. If not, the event will be cancelled but we may hold it later in the summer if the situation improves.

The one thing that cannot be postponed, however, is the annual election for the WWD Officers (usually held at the WWD Championship event.) We are still planning to hold the WWD Annual Meeting on the weekend of June 6-7, at which we will hold the election. If the WWD Championships are cancelled, we will make plans to host the meeting and election online using Zoom or other videoconferencing option. We'll announce plans regarding that sometime in mid-May.

That's all I have a the moment... if you have questions, feel free to email me at dber...@gmail.com. In the meantime, stay safe and healthy. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone back on the strip once this is all over!

Dan Berke
WWD Chair