USFA Age Eligibility

* Veteran ages are determined by the first day of the month of the Championships that year.

Fencers must be current competitive USFA members in good standing to compete in competitions conducted under the auspices of the USFA.  Foreign fencers must have a current FIE license.

For a fencer to compete in a specific age category competition or any “Open” level of competition conducted under the auspices of the USFA at divisional, sectional, or national levels, the following criteria must be met. 

• The fencer’s birth year falls within that age bracket OR ---

• If a fencer is currently (current as of the entry deadline for that tournament) listed in a National age group point standing, the fencer may enter the next older age category of competition, even if that fencer is younger than allowed by the age bracket.

• For categories of competitions in which criteria in addition to age must be met, the fencer must also meet those criteria by the entry deadline.  There are different age eligibility criteria for the Veteran tournaments.

EXCEPTION TO AGE ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA (All other qualification criteria remains): 

 1.    Youth 12 – A fencer born after 1999 can fence in Youth 12 IF the fencer is on the National Youth 10 point standings at the time of the entry deadline for that tournament.

2.    Youth 14 – A fencer born after 1997 can fence in Youth 14 IF the fencer is on the National Youth 12 point standings at the time of the entry deadline for that tournament.

3.    Cadet (U17) – A fencer born after 1995 can fence in Cadet (U17), NAC Cadet and Junior Olympic U17 Championships qualifying round, IF the fencer is on the National Youth 14 point standings at the time of the entry deadline for that tournament.

4.    Junior (U20) – A fencer born after 1995 can fence in Junior (U20), NAC Cadet and Junior Olympic U20 Championships qualifying round, IF the fencer is on the National Cadet (U17) point standings at the time of the entry deadline for that tournament.

5.    Cadet (U16) – A fencer born after 1996 can fence in Cadet (U16) qualifying competition for the 2009 Summer National Championships IF the fencer is on the National Youth 14 point standings at the time of the entry deadline for that tournament.

6.    Junior (U19) – A fencer born after 1996 can fence in Junior (U19) qualifying competition for the 2009 Summer National Championships IF the fencer is on the National Cadet (U16) point standings at the time of the entry deadline for that tournament.

7.    Div. I, IA, II, III – For NAC those born after 1995 must be on the National Junior point standings; for the 2009 Summer National Championships and qualifying competitions those born after 1995 must be on the National Junior point standings.

For any USFA competition that is not specific to an age group, the fencer must be at least 13 years old as of January 1 of the current fencing season. The fencing season is the same as the membership year, August 1 through the following July 31. The exemption to this rule is that a fencer who is on the Junior national point standings (NRPS) at the entry deadline for the competition and is younger than 13 as of January 1 of the current fencing season will be allowed to compete in the USFA competitions not specific to an age group.

Examples of such competitions are: “Open”, “Unclassified”, “A” competitions, “C” or under competitions, Team competitions of any category unless specified for juniors or similar age restricted category.