Cadet and Junior Point Reset on January 10 for Regional Junior Cadet Circuit

JANUARY 10th is the first day of the year for Cadets and Juniors when it comes to the Regional Junior Cadet Circuit (RJCC) season reset. This is critical for parents, coaches, and fencers to remember as it affects qualification for Fencing Summer Nationals and Junior Olympics next year.

Junior and Cadet regional points run on a yearlong basis – from 1/10/2017 to about this date in 2018. This is of course completely different from other regional points (i.e., youth, Div1A, Div2), which run from summer to summer.

RJCC Point Reset for Cadet and Junior Fencers

Of course the big reason to remember this information is to understand qualification for the July Challenge during Fencing Summer Nationals and Junior Olympics next year. Next Tuesday, January 10, 2017 all of those points from 2016 will no longer matter in the hunt for a spot at the big tournament this summer and JO’s next year February and it will be time to start gaining new points. The reason is because cadet and junior season is aligned with International Cadet/Junior season and JO’s is the last qualifying event to choose the national team for cadet/junior world championship in Spring.

Here’s a quick refresher for how qualification works for Juniors and Cadets through regional points for this year July Challenge.

Cadets:

  • Earn 65 Regional Cadet or Junior Points
  • Be in the top 50% of your region’s points either Cadet or Junior

Juniors:

  • Earn 65 Regional Points, Junior
  • Be in the top 50% of your region’s points, Junior

For more details on qualification, check out our infographic. You’ll find all the important info you need to know all in one place not only for regional points but also for national points and everything else inbetween!

Your Youth Fencer is Growing Up So Fast

Kids grow up so fast, but they really grow up fast when transitioning to Cadet/Junior!

If your child was born in 2004 (the new age year for Cadets/Juniors new season), then they are eligible for these points starting from the next RJCC after January 10th. You thought that your youth fencer was a youth 12 fencer, but they’re aging in to Cadets/Juniors already!  How does time go so quickly? With the new January 10th point reset, your “little” fencer is not little anymore – they can fence cadets and juniors qualifying competitions as soon as now!

This is one of the more interesting quirks of youth fencing, and it’s common in lots of sports. Birthdays aren’t birthdays so much as birth years. The year turns over when the points turn over, not on an actual birthday.  Even if your child was born in December 31st of 2004, they can now fence in the next age category, which is either cadet or juniors.

The RJCC Circuit – What’s Left Before The July Challenge

Regional competition is pretty fantastic, as there are quite a wide range of fencers from adjacent states within the same region who compete against each one another. The RJCC Circuit is one that fencers come back to again and again, both because it allows them to push towards qualifications and also because it’s just a fantastic group of competitions for fencers!

So now you know that those points start over on January 10th. That means that if you want your fencer to make it to qualification, you’ll want to start attending some RJCCs. Don’t panic! There are plenty of them left in the season to help build up your Junior/Cadet’s stash for the coming qualification.

We’ve compiled a list for you right here of those RJCC’s that happen before Summer Nationals and will allow your child to qualify for the July Challenge and start gathering points towards next year’s JO’s. Watch for the RJCC’s in the next fencing season 2017-2018 to be published sometime in the summer.

Spring 2017 RJCCs

Region 1

  • 3/4 to 3/5 Orion RJCC in Vancouver, WA (Junior, Cadet)
  • 4/2-4/2 RJCC in Portland #2 in Beaverton, Or (Junior, Cadet)

Region 2

  • 3/3-3/5 Arnold Fencing Classic in Columbus, OH (Cadet, Junior)
  • 3/25-3/26 Heartland Fencing Academy RYC & RJCC in Overland Park, KS (Cadet)
  • 4/8-4/9 McKendree RJCC in St. Louis MO (Cadet, Junior)

Region 3

  • 2/25-2/6 NJFA RJCC in Maplewood, NJ (Cadet, Junior)
  • 3/24-3/26 The Brick City Regional Cup ROC/RJCC in Rochester, NY (Cadet, Junior)
  • 4/1-4/2 American Challenge RJCC in Metuchen, NJ (Cadet, Junior)

Region 4

  • 1/14-1/16 South Coast Invitational in Los Alimitos, CA (Junior)
  • 2/25-2/26 2nd Annual Sword in the Stone RJCC in Northridge, CA (Junior, Cadet)
  • 3/25-3/27 SDFA Rocky Mountain RJCC/ROC in Aurora, CO (Junior, Cadet)
  • 4/7-4/9 Stro Memorial ROC/RJCC in Pasadena, CA (Junior, Cadet)

Region 5

  • 2/4-2/6 Badawi Challenge RJCC/RYC in Austin, TX (Cadet & Junior)
  • 2/24-2/25 Two Blades Over Texas in Carrolton, TX (Junior Epee and Foil Only)
  • 4/28-4/30 Region 5 LCQ with Epee RJCC in Bentonville, Arkansas (Junior, Cadet Epee Only)

Region 6

  • 1/13 -1/15 Capitol Clash SYC and RCC in National Harbor, MD. (Cadet)
  • 2/11-2/12 Brent Nieman Epee RYC & RJCC in Atlanta (Junior, Cadet)
  • 3/4 – 3/5 Nellya March RYC/RJCC in Atlanta, GA (Junior, Cadet Saber Only)
  • 3/31-4/2 DuelLIFE SABRE ROC/RJCC in Fort Lauderdale, FL (Junior, Cadet)

These competitions mean that there’s time to earn those regional points and to move forward towards qualification for the Cadet/Junior July Challenge!  You can also start gathering points for the Junior Olympics coming up next year.

BTW, there is no such thing as July Challenge Divisional qualifier, so RJCC is pretty much the major way to qualify if your child does not have respective national points.

Bottom line – January 10th is the new year for Cadets and Juniors when it comes to regional points! Though the rest of the fencing season has a summer start and finish, cadets and juniors have their season aligned with International cadet/junior season and thus their regional points follow the same pattern.