WWD 2020-2021 Season Update

[nor...@askfred.net]

Dear friends,

It's been a while since my last update... hopefully everyone has been able to remain safe and healthy during the past few months as we all long to get back to fencing!

Today is the last day of the current fencing season.  The 2020-2021 season officially starts tomorrow (August 1st), although it is looking like it will be heavily impacted by the COVID-19 situation.

Earlier this week, the USFA updated the division officers with their four-step plan for resuming sanctioned competitions.  

In the first step of the USFA's plan, which goes into effect tomorrow, divisions will be able to resume sanctioning local tournaments.  These tournaments will initially be restricted to fencers that reside in the host division (so you can't go to Oregon to fence, and they can't come to the WWD.)   

However, there is an important caveat:  tournaments can only be sanctioned if the local and state regulations allow it.  In our case, that means we must follow the Washington State Safe Start plan.  Currently, virtually all of the counties in the WWD are in Phase 2.  The restrictions imposed in Phase 2 make competitions impossible, so the WWD will NOT be sanctioning any competitions at this time.  When the counties within the WWD become eligible for Phase 3, we will evaluate the restrictions in place at that time to determine if competitions can be held safely.  (See https://coronavirus.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2020-07/PhasedChart_7-24.jpg for the state guidelines on what activites are allowed in each phase.)

Looking into the future a bit, eventually the USFA will move to the second step of their plan which will allow RYC and RJCC events to resume.  In the third step, ROCs will resume.  Finally, national events (SYCs, SJCCs, NACs, JOs, and Summer Nationals) will resume in step four.  As with step one, regional events hosted in the WWD will only be allowed if they can be done in compliance with the state regulations in effect at that time.

At this point, the dates for steps 2-4 have not been determined since the USFA needs to see how things are going with the COVID-19 situation before they feel it is safe to allow progressively larger tournaments to be held.

It is my opinion that the USFA will probably not move to step two until the fall, perhaps October or November.  Given that, I think it is safe to assume that the October, November, and December NACs will not be taking place this year.  Again, this is just speculation on my part and is not official.  

Regional events are also not likely to happen anytime before December or January.  The USFA has contacted the organizers of regional events scheduled for September through December and those events have been rescheduled for next year. At the moment, regional events scheduled for January and beyond (such as the Battle in Seattle) are still planned, but that may change as the COVID-19 situation develops.

It certainly is looking like the 2020-2021 season is going to be heavily impacted by COVID-19. While this is disappointing, and as much as we would all like to return to competition, everyone's safety is the highest priority concern for both the USFA and WWD.

We will keep you updated as things change.  In the meantime, stay healthy, wear a mask, wash your hands, and do your best to socially distance so that we can get this thing under control!

Thanks,
Dan Berke
WWD Chair