In exceptional cases, subject to approval by the national office, a member of USA Fencing in good
standing may be granted qualification to the Division I Championships, Junior Olympic Fencing Championships, the July Challenge or the USA Fencing National Championships by petition. No petition may contravene the results of a qualifying competition – a fencer who has fenced in the qualifying competition without withdrawing due to a disabling injury or illness cannot then petition to disregard or override those results. Petitions will be denied for fencers who chose to fence in a regional qualifier (RYC, SYC, RJCC, and ROC) over their division qualifier. U.S. citizens and Permanent Residents are eligible to petition.
The following criteria and procedures are applicable to filling a petition: A petition may be filed by a fencer who qualified (by means of competition or petition) to that same competition in the prior season or whose recent competitive record indicates a strong possibility that the athlete would have qualified had they been able to compete in the qualifying competition but:
• Was unable to compete in the various qualifying competitions this season due to injury, illness, military deployment, study abroad, compulsory school requirements, pregnancy OR
• Did compete and had to withdraw because of a disabling injury or illness OR
• The number of qualifying athletes at a division qualifying tournament changed due to the inclusion
of ineligible fencer(s) in the tournament (Note: Athletes who attend a school or university in
the United States, outside of their division, shall not constitute inability to compete) All petitions must be made through an online system to USA Fencing National Events; the petition link is available through the specific tournament page on usafencing.org. Under no circumstances will petitions be accepted if received after the posted petition deadline for the Championships.
The petition must be accompanied by:
1. A nonrefundable petition fee of $100, to be charged at the conclusion of the online petition
process.
2. A written statement that gives specific details of the dates, reason for absence or withdrawal,
and other pertinent facts. Written notice from the independent attending physician and/or statement
from the Bout Committee must substantiate any medical reasons if the medical reason required
withdrawal from the qualifying competition.
3. A summary of the fencer’s significant recent competitive results. In particular, results in previous National Championships and recent North American Cup (NAC) competitions should be noted.
(Example: top 64 international, top 8 in a USA Fencing NAC/Championship, top 16 at a ROC, top 24 at
an SYC).
4. If the petition is not approved and the athlete is already registered for the Championship, only the
event fee will be refunded.
5. Responses to the petition will be made via email. Petitions that do not meet these requirements will
not be considered.
6. Decisions on petitions will be based upon the validity of reasons given for absence or withdrawal and the probability that the fencer would have qualified had they competed in the qualifying competition to its conclusion, based on results achieved in other recent competitions.
7. If a fencer is permitted to enter the Junior Olympic Fencing Championships, Division I National
Championships, July Challenge or USA Fencing National Championship competition by this petition
procedure, the fencers’ entry will in no way affect the number of qualifiers from the division involved.