August 21, 2005

The meeting was brought to order at 4:10 PM , by Tomek Amborski, chair .

Attendence: Tomek Amborski, Chair; Anna Estrada, Secretary; Eric Dew, Club Rep (First Place Fencing), Peter Brouchard, Club Rep (Halberstadt Fencing Center); Mike Pederson, Club Rep (Golden Gate Fencing Center), Maureen Griffin, Club Rep (Kids on the Fence), Greg Massialas, Club Rep (The Massialas Foundation - M-Team).

DIVISION QUALIFIERS

The first order of business was a decision as to how the division qualifiers would be held for the 2005-2006 season.

There were three options:

Clubs will bid run the tournaments (just like it the past).
Clubs will run the tournaments but hire individuals designated by the division to oversee the tournaments and pay them for their service. These division representatives would handle registration and results.
Have the division assume complete responsibility for running the tournament.
It was brought up that some of the qualifiers which have a small turn out might make it more difficult to pay for the refs and the tournament administrators.

Therefore, it was proposed that a change be made to the second option. Rather than have the clubs pay for the division representative, the division will pay them for their services. The hosting club will provide them with lunch.

It was determined these representatives should be: A member of USFA who is determined to be knowledgeable with the Northern California bylaws. That representative should engage in no activity during the tournament that will interfere with their duties. There will be two representatives present per day per venue.

After discussion option #2 was passed unanimously.

TOURNAMENT FORMAT FOR 2005-2006 SEASON

The second order of business was the format of the tournaments.

Another proposed option was that the clubs run the qualifiers, but they will pay the division to have an executive present to make sure everything is in order, both in terms of entries and the fencing out of results where indicated.

USFA rules require that the format we choose be a format used by the USFA. The acceptable options were determined to be. One round of pools Two rounds of pools One round of pools followed by a Direct Elimination One round of pools with 80% promotion

Last season if there were seven fencers or less there was a round robin that determined the final order of fencers. If there were eight fencers or more you did a direct elimination. It was decided that for a group of eight fencers or more a round of pools followed by a DE will continue to be the format. All qualifying places will be fenced off. If there are nine fencers or less there will be a single pool. If there are 10 fencers or more there will be two or more pools. There was a great deal of discussion about trying to find a method that would more fairly determine the qualifiers with a smaller groups of fencers. USFA rules state that the top 25% are qualified, but allow for at least three qualifiers, the fourth qualifier being added once you have 13 competitors. Therefore, when you have four to seven fencers you might have several individuals with an equal numbers of victories and the qualification spot being decided by an indicator alone. It was brought up that a five touch pool alone, with the possibility of touches being decided by a questionable call. The alternative of having a DE with these smaller groups was brought up. However, it was felt that with an incomplete table the top fencers are getting a bye, you are still not eliminating the problem. Because of the small numbers, promoting either 80% or 60% essentially eliminates the weaker fencers but does not eliminate the basic problem of those fencers in the middle who are tied with victories. The decision was made that when you have four to seven fencers in a qualifier, placement will not be decided by indicators alone. Instead, the final placement will be decided by a barrage for the qualifying spots. The fencers results from the pool and the barrage together will determine the final standings. In a qualifier with only three fencers a single round of pools will suffice. A motion was made to vote on this format. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

REQUIREMENTS FOR HOSTING CLUBS

Clubs must provide center lights on the strips.
Club must provide qualified referees.
There must be an adequate number of strips and space for the event.

The fourth order of business was determining who the hosting clubs would be for the season’s three qualifying events.

JUNIOR OLYMPIC QUALIFIER DEC 17TH & 18TH

It was agreed that the events should be separated by weapon.
Halberstadt Fencing Center will host the foil qualifier. Golden Gate Fencing Center will host the epee and saber qualifier. The exact schedule will be provided by HFC and GGFC to the division four weeks ahead of time.
The junior event will always precede the cadet event in each weapon.
All events will be held on Sunday, December 18th.

Y14/Y16/U19 TEAM ON MAY 6TH & 7TH

Halberstadt Fencing Center will hold the individual and team sabre event on May 6th.
Golden Gate Fencing Center will hold the foil and epee team events on May 6th, HFC will hold the men’s foil events on May 7TH , and GGFC will hold all the epee events and the women’s foil.

DIV II/III/VET/SR TEAM

Halberstadt Fencing Center will hold all the foil events.
The hosting clubs for the remainder of the events will be determined at a future date.

DIVISIONAL REPRESENTATIVES TO OFFICIATE AT QUALIFIERS

This will be done by the executive committee for each qualifier.
At 6:00 PM it was moved that the meeting be adjourned. The motion was seconded and passed.