SANCTIONING
Tournament requests are now processed through your USA Fencing account. If you are a club manager and wish to host an event, go to your club manager portal in your USA Fencing account and find the “sanctioning” tab. You can submit your event here and it will be forwarded to the TN Board. The Executive Committee will review the request, and either approve or deny it (and provide a reason for the denial). If a competition has been denied sanction, the tournament organizer may request an executive committee meeting for further discussion. The tournament organizer may attend the meeting, but will have no Voting power.
From the TN division Operating Guide (8/2023)
6.1 Requirements for Division Sanctioning of Tournaments
To be a Division sanctioned USA Fencing tournament, the tournament must meet these minimum requirements:
1. The tournament must be announced at least 14 days before it begins. That announcement must be in a public forum, such as a publicly accessible web page, flyer, or announcement on “AskFred” or its equivalent, and must state the competitions to be contested, all fees that will be charged, and the name and contact information of the person to whom notices of withdrawal must be sent.
2. The hosting club or location and organizer must be insured for the full course of the tournament, in compliance with guidelines published by USA Fencing. This insurance must be through the USA Fencing club insurance program, or the equivalent from a third-party vendor. If the insurance is written by a third-party vendor, the Division reserves the right to obtain and approve a copy of the insurance policy (or its declarations) before sanctioning a tournament.
3. The competition must follow the rules of USA Fencing including proper use of equipment
4. The competition must use a tournament format approved by USA Fencing (See USA Fencing’s current Athlete Handbook for approved formats).
5. All tournament officials (e.g., bout committee, referees, armorers, medical staff) and such other persons as USA Fencing policy designates must meet USA Fencing’s requirements for U.S. Center for SafeSport certification, background check clearance and other qualifications, and where mandated, one or more referees of the required level must be present for the duration of the competition.
All sanctioned tournaments are REQUIRED to have at least one 'rated' referee. Passing the referee exam (P) does not constitute a rating. After taking a referee seminar/clinic and passing the written exam, a referee must take a practical, which means they must be observed by a Certified Referee Observer (appointed by National Office) in order to receive a rating. For more information about becoming a referee and the ratings process, please click HERE. All event referees, including P rated referees, must be listed as “good to go” in the USA Fencing referee database.
Tournament Organizers are ultimately responsible for validating that their hired Officials are within compliance of the Professional Membership and Background Check requirements. Please ensure your Officials are valid and screened using the required SafeSport process and the USA Fencing-approved . For more information, see the Policy Documents posted on the SafeSport page at USFencing.org. Please reach out to the board with any concerns.
DIVISION SANCTIONING FEES
During the 2026-2027 fencing tournament season, the following qualification procedures shall apply to enable the Division to sanction club-sponsored tournaments:
a. The Division’s tournament fee for each club’s sanctioned tournament is currently waived to facilitate event hosting by clubs.
RESULTS REPORTING/CLASSIFICATION CHANGES
Once a tournament has ended, the COMPLETE results (the Fencing Time results file) must be submitted under the Clab Manager Portal for the sanctioned event. DO NOT send the results directly to USA Fencing. The .results file will be reviewed and cannot be submitted if there are any errors, such as non-compliant referees or competitors without proper memberships. The results should be submitted to the Division as soon as possible, and no later than 1 week after the tournament has ended.