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Tedd Padgitt (left) discusses the finer points of fencing with Referee Derek Cotton at a tournament in Rome, Italy.

On Sunday, September 24, internationally rated fencing referee Derek Cotton will be conducting one of his rare clinics for aspiring referees, and you could attend for FREE! See details below.

Qualified referees are an essential component at any fencing competition, and the SoCal Division is always looking for more. One of the requirements to become an official USA Fencing Referee is to attend a referee clinic taught by a certified instructor. So, if you are interested in contributing to the sport you love while earning money at the same time, or just want a better understanding of the rules of fencing, this is your opportunity to learn from one of the very best!

Derek Cotton is the most highly rated fencing referee in Southern California. He has an International Rating of B in all three weapons and has refereed many National Finals. His international experience includes the Pan American Games, the World University Games, the Junior World Championships and the Senior World Championships. In 1996, he was selected for the Paralympic Games in Atlanta. He was the only US referee selected to go to the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000 and Athens in 2004. Derek is a member of the Fencing Officials Commission where he previously served as Chair of the Referee Development Committee and as a member of the FIE Arbitrage Commission.

This clinic is FREE to all members of the Southern California Division who are under 18.

This clinic is FREE to members of the Southern California Division over 18 if they have taken the following steps to becoming a referee (accessible through the USA Fencing member’s profile page):

• purchased the +CheckEd membership add-on
• completed the 90-minute, online SafeSport course
• applied for a background check

For everyone else the cost is just $60.

Attendees will benefit from studying the following material prior to attending the clinic:

• Referees’ Commission National Referee Examination Study Guide
• Rule Book
• Penalty Chart

When: Sunday, September 24, 2023 from 8 AM to 4 PM

Where: Fortune Fencing, 139 W Maple Ave, Monrovia, CA 91016

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On Sunday, June 25, 2023, the Kern Athletic Fencing Foundation (KAFF) held its inaugural Bakersfield Walk-&-Roll 2-weapon Open Tournament. This USFA-sanctioned tournament format offered the exciting opportunity for able-bodied fencers to compete along with parafencers in a traditional pools-through-direct-elimination format.

When one or both of the competitors in a bout is a parafencer, the bout takes place with both fencers fully seated in wheelchair fencing frames. When both fencers are able-bodied the bout is conducted on a conventional fencing strip.

The Kern Athletic Fencing Foundation is developing a successful parafencing program and KAFF is proud to present the first tournament of this style in Southern California and maybe the West Coast!

If you have any questions please contact Lucas Dobrzanski.

The newly minted National Champions from the Southern California Division, are:

Daryl Taylor – Vet-70 Men’s Epee National Champion
Howard Li – Y-12 Men’s Saber National Champion
Patricia Bedrosian – Vet-80 Women’s Epee National Champion
Regina Lee – Y-12 Women’s Epee National Champion
Regina Lee – Y-14 Women’s Epee National Champion (Yes, she won them both!)
Xuanyi Zhang – Y-12 Women’s Saber National Champion

Congratulations to all our medalists!

SoCal medalists are listed below. For full results, go here.

SoCal Medalists – Women

SoCal Medalists – Men

Fifty-nine SoCal fencers fought their way to the top at this year’s Summer Nationals Qualifier in Calabasas on Saturday to earn the right to compete in the 2023 Summer Nationals to be held later this year. Fencers qualified by finishing in the top 25% in their events (Veterans qualified regardless of results).

The Summer Nationals (technically known as the National Championships & July Challenge) are held annually in various cities across the country where more than 4,000 fencers vie for medals and titles in dozens of events, making it the world’s largest fencing tournament. This year’s competition will be held in Phoenix, Arizona from June 30 to July 9, 2023.

Congratulations to all of our qualified fencers and good luck in Phoenix!

Qualified fencers are listed below. Full results can be found here.

Qualified Fencers

SoCal medalists are listed below. For full results, go here. For past results check out our Results Archive.

SoCal Medalists

The UCLA Fencing Club, which is part of the Intercollegiate Fencing Conference of Southern California, will be celebrating their 100th anniversary this year, and they could use your support. Go here to check out their fundraiser page and help them reach their goal of $5,000.

On the evening of Monday, November 13, 1922, on the campus of USC, eight foil fencers gathered before a “good sized, and very enthusiastic crowd” to compete in the first tournament of the first season of the newly-formed Southern California Division of the Amateur Fencers’ League of America (now USA Fencing). First place went to Reginald Leslie ‘Snowy’ Baker, a multi-talented athlete who had come to Hollywood from Australia in 1920 to make movies. The Los Angeles Times reported the event like this:

On Sunday, November 13, 2022, the Southern California Division will be celebrating its 100th birthday with a tournament on the campus of Pasadena City College. Events include Y-14 (born 2008-2001), Senior (born 2009 or earlier) and Parafencing.

Sign up now on AskFred. Preregistration closes on Thursday, Nov. 10.