FENCING VICTORIA COMPETITION ELIGIBILITY
Victorian fencers must be affiliated with Fencing Victoria in order to compete in a Fencing Victoria event. That affiliation must be:
- Full Junior or Full Senior for Open (Category 1) Competitions;
- Club/School or Full Senior for Veterans (Category 2) Competitions;
- Full Junior for Age (Category 1) Competitions. or
- Club/School, Full Junior, or Full Senior for Category 2 Competitions.
Members of Fencing Victoria who wish to compete in a Fencing Victoria competition must complete the Fencing Victoria internet-based entry process. An exemption to this requirement can be made by prior arrangement with the Finance Director, or by the payment of a late entry fee.
AGE COMPETITIONS
For the purpose of determining age eligibility for participation in competitions of Fencing Victoria, the following rules apply:
- for U/20 and U/17 competitions, the rules of the Federation Internationale d’Escrime (FIE), as amended from time to time, apply;
- for Veteran and U/15 competitions, the rules of the Australian Fencing Federation (as amended from time to time) apply;
- for U/13 competitions, only fencers aged under 13 as at 1 January of the calendar year in which the relevant competition occurs are eligible to participate; and
- for U/11 competitions, only fencers aged under 11 as at 1 January of the calendar year in which the relevant competition occurs are eligible to participate.
SCHOOL COMPETITIONS
Competitions designated as "Schools" are open to students of Primary or Secondary Schools only. Fencers must compete in the name of their School, rather than their Club. Home-schooled students are also eligible for Primary, Junior & Senior events. Senior Secondary-aged Fencers, not currently enrolled in Secondary School, are ineligible - even if they meet the age requirement of the competition.
For the purpose of determining eligibility for participation in Schools League competitions of Fencing Victoria, the following rules apply:
- for Senior Competitions, only fencers in Years 8-12 (Foil, Epee) or Years 7-12 (Sabre) are eligible to participate;
- for Junior Competitions, only fencers in Years 5-9 are eligible to participate;
- for Primary Competitions, only fencers in Years 6 and below are eligible to participate.
INTERVARSITY COMPETITIONS
Competitions designated as "Intervarsity" are open to current Undergraduate and Postgraduate students only (excludes Short Course and Certificate students) and fencers will compete in the name of their University rather than their Club. There are no age restrictions on Intervarsity events.
B-GRADE OPEN COMPETITIONS
B-Grade competitions are Open to any fencer, regardless of age or experience, except any fencer who has achieved a top 8 result in an AFF Open competition in the weapon of the B-Grade event within the last 3 years. The only exceptions relate to ranking points and the fact that there is no requirement for on-strip weapons testing.
Eligibility for B-Grade competitions is assessed in each weapon individually i.e. it is possible to be ineligible in a primary weapon but eligible in a secondary weapon providing the criteria for eligibility are met for that secondary weapon.
Note : All rules relating Category 2 competitions (affiliation, uniform, etc.) apply for B-Grade competitions as of the 1st January 2015.
NOVICE COMPETITIONS
(a) Subject to paragraph (b), novice competitions organised by Fencing Victoria are open to any Member who:
(1) has been a Member for less than 2 years; or
(2) is less than 13 years old on 1 January of the year in which the competition is held.
(b) A Member is ineligible to fence in a selected weapon at a novice competition if in that weapon they:
(1) have finished in the top 50% of any Open competition organised by Fencing Victoria; or
(2) have fenced in any competition organised by, the Australian Fencing Federation or the FIE; or
(3) have finished first in the State Novice Championships or the State Novice rankings for any previous calendar years.
(Adapted from Fencing Victoria Procedures Manual, 21 Oct 2009).
