Virginia Division Tournament Scheduling

For a fencing tournament to be sanctioned by the Virginia Division and the USFA, it must meet these minimum criteria:

• It is published by the Division to the membership no less than 30 days before it is held.
• It is run as published by the Division.
• At least one Division Officer is present at all times to oversee the tournament.
• It is held in compliance with all USFA rules.
• All competitors are current USFA members (sign up at registration shall be allowed).
• Venue meets minimum standards: floor is suitable for fencing (concrete or tile over concrete are not), strips and margins are correctly sized, sufficient space for tournament size, lighting is adequate, water and restrooms are available for competitors, etc.

Procedure for Setting the Virginia Division Tournament Schedule

For the purposes of this process and in this document, the Executive Committee (EC) comprises only the seven elected Officers of the Division: the Chairman, Vice-Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, and three Members-at-Large.

The season is divided into scheduling periods. The Executive Committee may designate two or more periods, of whatever length deemed necessary. An example is for August through December to be one period, and January through July to be another. All scheduling for a period shall be complete no later than 30 days before its first day. Marquee tournaments will be scheduled six months ahead.

The Division Tournament Committee (TC) comprises all Division Officers, plus one representative from each club in the Division. Clubs must be USFA member clubs in good standing to be represented, or be a club recognized by the EC. Each club will designate a person of its choice to represent it on the TC, in addition to any Division Officers from that club. Clubs not interested in hosting a tournament are not required to have a representative.

The EC picks an officer to lead the scheduling process for each scheduling period (the scheduler). Once designated, the scheduler will begin the process by gathering as much of the following information as available for the period:

• USFA national calendar
• NCAA and collegiate fencing calendars
• SAT/ACT national testing dates
• US National and religious holidays
• Chesapeake Challenge Schedule
• Neighboring Division premier tournaments

The scheduler will compile a list of open dates and partially open dates (limited conflicts allowed) in the period.

The EC will then establish dates for Marquee tournaments, such as the Kickoff and Hangover Classic. Tournaments are designated Marquee when they are associated throughout the region and country with the quality of the Division and attract fencers from longer distances. Marquee tournaments get first priority in the scheduling process, and should be established before the remaining dates are published to the TC.

After the calendar for the period has been compiled, including holidays, national tournaments, marquee tournaments, etc., the list of open and partially open dates will be published to all members of the Tournament Committee, at least two weeks prior to the scheduling conference.

The Tournament Committee may hold its scheduling conference by an in-person meeting, by phone (a teleconference), via email, or by any other means of communication available to all members. The date of this scheduling conference will be set to anticipate its completion 60 days before the start of the period.

At the TC conference, the members will make a list of clubs in random order for polling their interest in holding tournaments. The list is run through in order, starting after the last club which accepted a tournament, for each category of tournaments until all tournaments in the category have been accepted. This list is called the rotation.

In preparation for the TC conference, the EC will make a list of all tournaments in the period, and the range of dates on which they may fall. The TC may create additional tournaments as they desire. There are many tournament scheduling criteria:

• One Open per month, on average (includes Divisionals)
• One Ratings Restricted per two months, on average (includes Division II/III Qualifiers)
• Qualifiers late in the required period, and in an advantageous order
• Two Veterans events in each weapon each season
• Three Youth events in each age and weapon each season (includes Youth Qualifiers)

Tournaments fall into the following categories:

1. Marquee tournaments (Kickoff, Hangover)
2. Traditional tournaments (2 or more years in a row, hosted by same club, in same general portion of calendar)
3. Required Championships and Qualifiers
4. Remaining Tournaments
   1. Club-run
   2. Division-run
5. Open Dates

Category 1 tournaments are put on the schedule by the EC, prior to the TC conference.

Category 2 tournaments are placed on the schedule automatically, with conflicts mediated during the TC conference. For tournaments in this category, the club will have secured the venue prior to the conference, or the club representative will have multiple dates available for consideration.

Category 3 tournaments will be offered to clubs in order, and ideally are moved from one geographic area of the Division to another as much as possible from year to year. The club choosing to hold an event will pick the date from available non-conflict dates in the period. Category 3 tournaments are always division-run.

Category 4 tournaments are required to allow each type of fencer in the division adequate opportunity to compete with his peers. E.g., Youth, Veteran, Ratings Restricted, and Open events all must occur on a sufficiently frequent basis for the tournament type. If there is an imbalance in the number of events for the three weapons (e.g., one more Foil event than Epee or Saber) that imbalance must be addressed in Category 4.

Category 4 tournaments will be offered to clubs in order in two passes: the first pass through the list offers each tournament only as club-run. Tournaments remaining on the list after having been offered to every club as club-run will then be offered as division-run. (This is to lessen the workload of division officers: club-run tournaments require the presence of one officer, while division-run tournaments anticipate the presence of a majority of the officers.)

If tournaments remain unaccepted after being offered to every club as either club-run or division-run, the EC will set a date and assume the duties of securing a venue.

Review of Category 4:

• Phase 1: Offered as club-run.
• Phase 2: Offered as division-run.
• Phase 3: EC sets date and venue.

Category 5: If dates remain free after all tournaments are set, the remaining dates are offered to the clubs, for club-run tournaments only. Free weekends may also be taken by clubs on a first-come-first-served basis after the TC conference, as long as scheduling, conflict, and publishing requirements are met. The EC may refuse additional division-run tournaments after the TC conference as it sees fit, but will always accept additional club-run tournaments that fit into the balance of categories of tournaments.

Lacunae

Rotation Example

If a tournament under consideration is declined by every club in the rotation, the EC will then set a date for it and assume the duty of securing a venue. If every club refuses a date, it will remain without a tournament.

Governance

Last Updated March 1, 2007.