Fox Chapel Fencing Club
Overview
Fox Chapel Fencing Club is a co-ed team that focuses on team commitment, developing skill, and competitive play.
Mandatory practices are typically held twice weekly from October through Feb/March:
- Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7:00-9:00 pm in the O'Hara Elementary School Gym, Starting mid-October
Matches are scheduled through the Pittsburgh Interscholastic Fencing Association (PIFA) on Friday evenings in January and February. Students must meet district requirements to be eligible.** (Need to officially Register student for Winter Sports through FC Athletics Dept and get Physical: Complete forms Sections 5 & 6/BigTeams/ and meet/maintain school GPA requirements. *Fencers DO NOT need to get an IMPACT concussion test.
League: Pittsburgh Interscholastic Fencing Association (PIFA)
- Fox Chapel
- Pine Richland
- Winchester Thurston
- Oakland/Central Catholic
- Peters Township
- Bethel Park
- Seton La Salle
- Aquinas Academy
- Allderdice
- Mt Lebanon
Requirements
Maintain USA Fencing membership
- Required for insurance purposes; USA Fencing membership runs by calendar year from August 1 to July 31. Register at http://www.usafencing.org/membership
- Please note the three levels of membership (reference https://www.usafencing.org/membership)
Access Membership $29/year. Access members can compete at all sanctioned local tournaments. This is the minimum required membership level in order to participate in the practice.
Competitive Membership $99/year. In order to compete at Regional or National tournaments, Access Members must upgrade to the Competitive membership. Note that fencers can always upgrade the membership type during the season by paying the difference, so there is no need to have the competitive membership in the beginning of the season.
Register with FCAHS Athletic Department
- As Fencing is a winter sport, students must register on the school's registration system called Big Teams Central https://studentcentral.bigteams.com/index.php?keyword=/user/signin.
- Students will also need to submit a completed physical.
- Submit Section 5 & Section 6 (physical signed by a doctor) to the Athletic Office
- More information can be found on the Fox Chapel Athletics website
Club Fee: $200, covers facility rental, league fees & team equipment and coach salary.
Required personal fencing equipment is listed here.
Fencer commitment: Attend all practices and competitions unless prior arrangements are made with the coach
Parental commitment:
- 2 adults must be present at every practice to provide support in case of emergency. In the past we have asked that parents share the responsibility of taking a few practice dates on our fencing practice calendar (parent volunteer calendar sent via email for choosing dates to attend)
- Fox Chapel Fencing Club hosts one of the January/February PIFA competitions. Parent involvement is vital to a successful tournament. We typically ask that parents pitch in for set up the night of the FC hosted tournament (typically in January).