San Jose McEnery Convention Center will be home to 2015 US Summer National Fencing Championship

USFA has just announced that the 2015 Summer Nationals will be held in San Jose, CA … for the first time since 2008! This is great news for all competitive fencers because who doesn’t love to travel to California? It’s particularly exciting for us here at AFM and all fencers on the west coast, including California, Oregon, and Washington. USFA also announced that the December NAC will be held in Dallas, TX.

USFA chooses these locations carefully and based on certain criteria. California’s selection as the location for Summer Nationals says a lot about the rise of fencing’s popularity in California, particularly in the Bay Area. In addition to the honor of having nationals so close to home, we can think of several other advantages to this news.

For us west coasters, traveling to Summer Nationals will be more convenient and less expensive, which will likely lead to a stronger representation from our area and nearby regions. Also, even those local fencers who are not competing will have the chance to watch the best of the best in U.S. fencing compete at every age and every level: an opportunity especially valuable for young fencers.

Not to mention, fencers traveling from other parts of the country may seek local clubs to visit in order to prepare … we are hoping that many talented U.S. fencers will join us to train at AFM! Hosting visitors will give our fencers the invaluable opportunity to fence against those competing at nationals: exchanging experiences, making new friends, and joining together for intensive training.

Overall, this is great news for the west coast, our region, and of course for our fencing club. We should celebrate this announcement as we head into the home stretch of this fencing season!