Comments on: Your First Tournament – Part One: Getting to the Strip https://www.socaldivision.org/your-first-tournament-part-one-getting-to-the-strip/ USA Fencing Mon, 05 Mar 2018 19:40:54 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 By: Kathryn https://www.socaldivision.org/your-first-tournament-part-one-getting-to-the-strip/#comment-38 Mon, 05 Mar 2018 19:40:54 +0000 https://www.socaldivision.org/?p=1790#comment-38 In reply to Fencing Dad.

Thanks so much for your feedback. You are absolutely right recommending checking the weapons beforehand. Those testing kits are a great investment. Even if you don’t have weights and shims at home, fencers can find a free reel at the tournament and hook up their weapons to make sure they are working before pools begin. And also checking those screws before each bout in pools. The next article in this series goes into much more detail about the actual tournament, and includes checking your weapons, but it would have maybe been better here. Thanks again!

]]> By: Fencing Dad https://www.socaldivision.org/your-first-tournament-part-one-getting-to-the-strip/#comment-37 Sun, 04 Mar 2018 15:57:23 +0000 https://www.socaldivision.org/?p=1790#comment-37 These are great recommendations and highlights of how a young fencer (and parents) should get ready for a tournament. In the beginning, my wife and I performed all these checks ourselves (rather than having my beginning fencer do them), but gradually, we have been transitioning many of the preparedness/responsibilities to our child. Great training to get ready for life! One add — which not everyone does, but we recommend: test the weapons before the tournament with a testing kit (weight/shim/cords) and eyeballs (tips/wires/loose parts) to make sure they will pass. Kids and parents get rattled if the first thing that happens is the fencer getting a yellow card because of weapon defect and you frantically search for a working weapon from friends/vendor.

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