RCFC June Youth Tournament

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On June 19-20, 2021, we will hold our first sanctioned youth tournament since reopening! Read on for details about the event formats and COVID protocols.

This event is open to all Western Washington Division fencers.

Registration

Please pre-register on AskFRED.Net to speed up the tournament setup process. We will bill entry fees to your account in our membership system, to avoid a long line at the front desk on the day of the event. Entry fee is $30 per event.

Event sizes will be limited to 30 competitors. If an event is full, you may email us and ask to be placed on a waiting list. If you pre-registered and will not be able to attend, please cancel your pre-registration as soon as possible to let others sign up.

All fencers must be current (2020-2021) Competitive members of USA Fencing. If you need to join or renew your membership, please do so online before the tournament.

Age Eligibility

Youth-10 – born 2010-2013
Youth-12 – born 2008-2011
Youth-14 – born 2006-2009

Check-in

Please check in at the front desk when you arrive. We will do temperature checks of all competitors. As always, anyone who has symptoms of COVID-19 or has had recent close contact with someone who has tested positive should stay home.

Equipment

All fencers should wear full fencing uniform, including fencing pants and long socks, and make sure their electric gear is in good working order. Foil fencers must have a mask with an electric bib, and a mask cord to connect the bib to the lame. Foil fencers who wear a chest protector (required for girls, optional for boys) must have approved padding on the chest protector. We have a limited number of padded chest protectors available to borrow.

Event Format

As mentioned above, each event will be limited to 30 competitors.

Boys and girls may fence separate or mixed depending on number of entries of each.

Format will be one round of pools with 100% promotion to direct elimination.

Pools of 5 and 6, rather than 6 and 7, will be used where possible. Pool bouts are to 5 touches or 3 minutes.

Direct elimination bouts are to 10 touches and two 3-minute periods (for Youth-10) or 15 touches and three 3-minute periods (for Youth-12 and Youth-14).

Medals will be awarded to the top 4 finishers in each event.

COVID-19 Measures

All of our COVID-19 Safety Rules will be in place.

Only one parent or guardian should accompany youth and junior fencers to the tournament. Spectators should watch from upstairs.

Face masks (surgical or cloth) must be worn at all times by all fencers, spectators, and officials, including under the fencing mask. Face masks must be worn properly, covering the nose and mouth.

Fencers should wash or sanitize their hands frequently.

Drinking fountains are for filling water bottles only. Please bring a water bottle with you and keep it near your strip.

Locker rooms are limited to 2 people at a time, per state guidelines. Please come dressed in your fencing pants and long socks if possible. Showers remain closed.

Referees will wear masks and disposable gloves at all times.

Pools and direct elimination tableau quadrants will be spread out through the facility. All fencers should remain near their pool/quadrant, and maintain social distance from other competitors while waiting for their next bout.

Medals will be handed to the finalists. Each medal ceremony will be socially distanced.

After the completion of your event, please leave the facility so we can sanitize all high-contact areas, the electric wires, machine remotes, etc. before the next event starts.

We will be following USA Fencing’s recommendations as well. In particular, athletes should refrain from shouting and/or screaming after scoring a touch. Referees will begin with a reminder warning to athletes who do so, but are authorized to assess penalty cards if it continues.

RCFC In-House Tournaments

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We hold periodic in-house tournament for our Continuing and Intermediate students, to get their feet wet in competition. Read on for details about the event formats and COVID protocols.

These event is open to members of Rain City Fencing Center only. We also hold USA Fencing sanctioned events which are open other Western Washington Division fencers.

Registration

Please pre-register on AskFRED.Net to speed up the tournament setup process. We will bill entry fees to your account in our membership system, to avoid a long line at the front desk on the day of the event. Entry fee is $20 per event.

Event sizes will be limited to 24 competitors. If an event is full, you may email us and ask to be placed on a waiting list. If you pre-registered and will not be able to attend, please cancel your pre-registration as soon as possible to let others sign up.

Age Eligibility

Youth-10 – born in 2011 or later
Youth-14 – born in 2007 or later
Junior – born in 2002 or later
Senior – born in 2008 or earlier

Check-in

Please check in at the front desk when you arrive. We will do temperature checks of all competitors. As always, anyone who has symptoms of COVID-19 or has had recent close contact with someone who has tested positive should stay home.

Equipment

All fencers should wear full fencing uniform, including fencing pants and long socks, and make sure their electric gear is in good working order. Continuing/Intermediate fencers may borrow pants and club electric gear. Foil fencers must have a mask with an electric bib, and a mask cord to connect the bib to the lame. Foil fencers who wear a chest protector (required for girls, optional for boys) must have approved padding on the chest protector. We have a limited number of padded chest protectors available to borrow.

Event Format

As mentioned above, each event will be limited to 24 competitors.

Format will be one round of pools with 100% promotion to direct elimination.

Pools of 5 and 6, rather than 6 and 7, will be used where possible. Pool bouts are to 5 touches or 3 minutes.

Direct elimination bouts are to 10 touches and two 3-minute periods (for Y10) or 15 touches and three 3-minute periods (for Y14, Junior, and Senior).

Medals will be awarded to the top 4 finishers in each event.

COVID-19 Measures

All of our COVID-19 Safety Rules will be in place.

Only one parent or guardian should accompany youth and junior fencers to the tournament. Spectators should watch from upstairs.

Fencers should wash or sanitize their hands frequently.

Drinking fountains are available, but it is recommended to bring a water bottle with you and keep it near your strip.

Spring Regional Tournaments Canceled

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Hello RCFC tournament fans,

Due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, Rain City Fencing Center will not be holding any regional tournaments in the spring of 2021. Our Spring RJCC and our Super Youth Circuit will be rescheduled to next season. While we understand that this is disappointing for everyone, we believe it is the right course at this time.

COVID-19 numbers in Washington State continue to improve, but we believe large tournaments are still too risky right now. Regional tournaments in particular involve competitors traveling from multiple counties and states, which are not recommended activities right now. We want to make sure all of the region’s fencers, parents, coaches, and officials stay safe.

At RCFC, we take pride in a well-planned and well-executed tournament. The current restrictions make it impossible to adequately plan for numbers of competitors and availability of officials. We want to make sure every tournament we run meets our high standards.

We will look at running small local events when USA Fencing’s Western Washington Division agrees to sanction them. Meanwhile, stay safe during training, and we look forward to seeing everyone at regional events next season!

Rain City Fencing Center
Tournament Organizers

Private Lessons Resume January 11th

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Based on the Governor’s new “Healthy Washington-Roadmap to Recovery” initiative released this week, we are planning to reopen for private lessons starting Monday, January 11th. If you were already on the lesson schedule in November, your schedule will remain the same.

Group classes and open fencing are on hold until February, or until we receive more detailed information from the State about the new guidelines.

Read our latest email announcement for complete details on our reopening plans.

COVID Update: Closure extended to January 11th

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Governor Inslee recently announced that the current COVID-19 restrictions which began in November are being extended one more week, to January 11th, 2021. This means we are still closed for all in-person fencing activities – classes, lessons, and open fencing. Our online Conditioning/Footwork and Technique/Tactics classes will resume on January 4th, on their usual schedule.

We expect the State to publish new reopening details next week. When they are, we will look at how they affect us, when we will be able to reopen, and whether our schedule will need to change.

We are still available for retail purchases by appointment. Please send us an email if you would like to arrange a time to buy equipment or logo apparel.

Happy New Year to everyone, and stay safe!

Greg Jones
Owner and Head Coach
Rain City Fencing Center

COVID UPDATE: In-person fencing suspended through January 4th

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Governor Inslee recently announced that the current COVID-19 restrictions which began in November are being extended to January 4th, 2021. This still includes shutting down all of our in-person fencing activities – classes, lessons, and open fencing.

We will continue to hold our virtual Conditioning/Footwork and Technique/Tactics classes through December. As January 4th approaches, we will be keeping track of the status of the state restrictions. We hope to be able to resume in-person fencing in January.

We are available for retail purchases by appointment. Please send us an email if you would like to arrange a time to buy equipment or logo apparel.

Happy Holidays to everyone, and stay safe!

Greg Jones
Owner and Head Coach
Rain City Fencing Center

COVID UPDATE: In-person fencing suspended starting Tuesday, November 17th

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Governor Inslee recently announced new restrictions to take effect at midnight on Monday, November 16th. Unfortunately, this includes shutting down all of our in-person fencing activities. While this is disappointing, we understand the need for additional measures to combat the recent dramatic increase in COVID-19 activity in our county and state.

Monday the 16th will be the last day of in-person classes, lessons, and open fencing for a while. We will continue to hold our Conditioning/Footwork online Zoom classes, and are considering adding other online classes and clinics as well. We will also be available for retail purchases by appointment. Please send us an email if you would like to arrange a time to buy equipment or logo apparel.

The new restrictions are currently scheduled to last through December 14th. We will keep everyone updated via email and our website as more information becomes available. When we are able to resume in-person activities, we plan to keep our current class and lesson schedule unless our operating requirements change significantly. If you need to change your schedule when we reopen, please let us know. If you want to keep the same schedule as before, you do not need to do anything.

We will be running our monthly automatic payments in the next day or two. Before doing so, we will adjust all November class and open fencing bills (other than online classes) to reflect the half-month participation. If you have already paid for November classes, thank you! We will keep a half-month credit on your account to apply towards future classes or lessons. If you would prefer a partial refund instead, please let us know via email.

We encourage all of our fencing family to follow the new COVID recommendations to help slow the spread, so we can get back to normal activities sooner. We hope everyone stays safe during the holidays, and we look forward to being able to return to in-person fencing soon!

Greg Jones
Owner and Head Coach
Rain City Fencing Center

Holiday Schedule 2020

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We will be closed from Thursday, November 26th through Sunday, November 29th to observe the Thanksgiving holiday. (We apologize for a typo in our email broadcast that indicated the wrong dates.) Our last day of regular classes will be Saturday, December 19th. We will resume our full schedule on Monday, January 4th. Happy Holidays to everyone!