4997 West Bellfort

Houston, TX

$10.00 registration per fencer (if pre-registered, $20 if not)
$10.00 per event

Make checks payable to Gulf Coast Texas Division
Pre-registration closes at the end of Thursday, December 4th.

Pre-register using FRED (http://askfred.net/Events/moreInfo.php?tournament_id=7247).

Registration Closing Times

Only members of the Gulf Coast Texas Division may compete in this Division's Qualifying Competitions. Competitors whose memberships are not verified during pre-registration will be asked to show a membership card or a current and valid receipt of membership to the registration committee. USFA membership forms will be available at the tournament. Fencers under the age of 18 are reminded they need the signature of a parent or guardian (not a coach) on the membership form (and the Gulf Coast Texas Division waiver and consent for medical treatment); payment for memberships is made directly to the USFA. Participants are required to fence in proper fencing attire; USFA rules will be applied. There are no alternate qualifiers to any National tournaments.

All weapons will be fenced electrically. Mask, lamé and saber manchette/glove, and cord checks will be performed. There are separate men's and women's events.

Fencers may fence in all three events (and any appropriate team events) on a given day, but no three- or ten-minute rest will be given in one event for a bout just fenced in a different event.

• One round of pools will be fenced, 100% promotion to DE's.
• If there are fewer than four non-auto-qualified fencers, the organizers reserve the option not to conduct any fencing for the event, and declare all fencers to have qualified.

All participants must sign a Waiver of Liability form. People under age 18 must have a parent's signature on this form. Waiver is emailed with pre-registration confirmation. A copy is available at http://www.gulfcoastfencing.org/GCwaiverconsent.pdf .

JUNIOR OLYMPIC QUALIFIERS

Athletes are permitted to fence in the Gulf Coast TX Division Junior Olympic Qualifiers only if:

1)      The athlete meets the USFA membership requirements, and citizenship or residency requirements, to fence in the Junior Olympics Championships (below)

2)      EITHER

a)      The athlete's birth year is 1992-1995 for Cadet or 1989-1995 for Junior OR

b)      The athlete is on the national rolling point standings (NRPS) in the next younger age (Y-14 for Cadet, Cadet for Junior) at the time of the qualifying competition.

JUNIOR OLYMPIC CHAMPIONSHIPS

Fencers must be U.S. citizens OR permanent residents of the United States and current competitive members of the USFA who MUST meet qualification standards specified for each category to enter the USFA Junior Olympic Championships.

Any fencer who is a citizen or permanent resident who has represented another country in the last three years and who has not yet been granted permission to represent the USA is not eligible for any USFA National Championship competition, individual or team, including Division and Section qualifying competitions. A foreign fencer who is in the US on a visa is NOT eligible to fence in any National Championships. On the USFA Membership list and membership card a foreign fencer is designated with an asterisk after their first name (*). If you have conflicting information about whether a fencer is foreign, contact the USFA at (719) 866-4511.

Fencers must have a USFA "Competitive Member" card with an expiration date of 7/31/09 or later. Automatic qualifiers will be posted on the USFA Web site and updated periodically

NRPS stands for National Rolling Point Standings, which can be viewed on the US Fencing Web site.

In determining the number of qualifiers, the number of competitors is the total number of fencers who competed in the qualifying competition who are eligible to fence in the Championships. Once the number of qualifiers is determined, those who have already qualified to the Championships in that event (athletes determined to be automatic qualifiers) are skipped in determining those who have become qualifiers in that competition. For example, if there are 20 competitors in the qualifying competition, of which four have already qualified for that particular championships event, those four are skipped in determining the five qualifiers from that competition. So if the ones who have already qualified are 1^st, 3^rd, 6^th, and 7^th, then the qualifiers are those who have placed 2^nd, 4^th, 5^th, 8^th and 9^th.

The number of qualifiers is 25% of the total number of fencers who competed, rounded up to the next whole number, EXCEPT that at least three (assuming there are that many fencers) always qualify.

UNDER-17 CHAMPIONSHIPS

Fencers must be born between 1992 and 1995 (or on the Y-14 NRPS) AND BE

·         on the Cadet NRPS on Jan. 16, 2009 OR

·         in the top 8 of the Youth 14 NRPS on Jan. 16, 2009 OR

·         a fencer who has qualified for the Under-20 JO Championships OR

·         in the top 25% in the U-17 Junior Olympics Qualifier

UNDER-20 CHAMPIONSHIPS

Fencers must be born between 1989 and 1995 (or on the U-17 NRPS) AND BE

·         on the Junior NRPS on Jan. 16, 2009 OR

·         in the top 16 of the Cadet NRPS on Jan. 16, 2009 OR

·         in the top 25% in the U-20 Junior Olympics Qualifier