Now I have a personal bone to pick with U.S. Fencing. This comes as a result of realizing that I’m not getting paid for Anaheim Summer Nationals.

I was never told by anyone tied to the organization (of course), they don’t have the balls to do that, but I’m guessing that they don’t even realize that they owe me for working five days of that event because their management, accounting, bookkeeping, and communication has been and always will be substandard. Let me ask you how it is that they accept my commitment to work for them, pay for my airfare, attempt to reserve a room for me (I didn’t have a room when I arrived), assign me work as a referee and mentor every day for five days, and decide that they don’t owe me anything for my time?

I discovered when I arrived in Anaheim (from other disgruntled referees present) that we weren’t going to leave with a check in hand as we had at all the other events that season, a precedent that the organization had set by example at every event all season long. On the last day of any given National event, we received a check for honorarium on our last day of work before we left the venue. The only reason to submit a reimbursement form was for “out of pocket expenses”. Apparently there was an email circulated that addressed this very issue; however, I never received this communication. Nor did I ever receive any communication regarding the apparent change in policy regarding the necessity to submit a reimbursement for honorarium. Although I’m confused as to why one would need to submit a reimbursement form for daily pay when one is not “reimbursed” for services rendered, only for expenses incurred that need to be settled via “reimbursement”.

But maybe I ain’t so good with englush…

I looked into my lack of a check by way of asking a friend that is employed by U.S. Fencing if she could find out why I was never paid, and I mentioned that I had never received a check for out of pocket expenses either and that I would look for a copy or receipt-confirmation-email of the reimbursement form from Amanda. After waiting about a month to receive any communication, I sent her an email reminding her of my request. I finally received a reply stating that they had no record of receiving an out of pocket expense reimbursement. I reiterated that “out of pocket” was not my original concern, and clarified that I was trying to find out why I had not been paid for my work. The response I received to my clarification stated, “The SN expense form had a field to indicate honorarium and per diem; this is what the checks were based on.” So again, not only the inability to state factually that they had no intention of paying me, but also that there had been a policy change that affects all officials for a specific event (that I had not been notified of). So I had to surmise that they didn’t intend to pay me, without anyone having to address me personally to say so. Does this sound familiar to you? How many times have you heard from someone else that things were very different what you expected, someone other than the organization? It’s sounds caustic to refer to U.S. Fencing as an “organization”.

Reference my last blog where I state, “This is another thing that’s typical of U.S. Fencing – the inability to contact everyone affected by any given change.” This is exactly the reason I have to spend my own time researching reasons for non-payment when as far as I’m aware – nothing has changed! Wouldn’t it be nice if FOR ONCE the organization was fucking pro-active?!

Granted, the current administration isn’t responsible for this “oversight”, however they inherited ALL of the existing circumstances. Yes, ALL OF THEM. And… they knew full well what they were getting into. It’s only been about twenty years of goddamn mismanagement!

Yes, the USOC should step in and take over fencing, like they did with handball. Then we will only have two events a year – qualifiers, and Nationals and that’s it, and at least I’ll know what’s on my schedule, AND AT LEAST I’LL GET PAID!

Oh, and by the way… I’ll be on the phone to my attorney regarding my lack of pay, and I’m pretty sure it will cost them much more than the $500 or so they owe me to try and defend a case that they can’t prove/or win.

Think about it, they’ll have to produce emails or other documents (that don’t exist) to prove that they notified me (and everyone) that everything had changed for this one event at the end of the season, and that now I had to submit a form that doesn’t exist in order to get paid for work that they have a record of, and can’t deny. Because there were only about 200 people that saw me there, working as I always do, and always have at every National event for the past ten years…

January NAC – Louisville, KY

Before I departed, before I even began to pack, there was a post from a friend on facebook that started, as we say in the film business, “A ruckus”.  The post was regarding the new lunch policy for officials. Can I say at this point that one of the things that bothers me most about U. S. Fencing is that they constantly change policies without any input from those affected by the change, and then they are surprised when they discover that those affected aren’t happy with the change. Go figure.

As it turned out many of those affected never even received the email that went out addressing the pending change. Most of them found out via the facebook post. This is another thing that’s typical of U.S. Fencing – the inability to contact everyone affected by any given change.

So the new policy was going to eliminate the catered lunch that is normally provided for the officials in a separate room that can only be accessed by officials, and instead give all of the officials cash daily to purchase their lunch from the venue concessions. Call me crazy, but that sounds like a conflict of interest (if not illegal). “Here’s your money to buy lunch, but you have to spend it here. No, you’re not allowed to spend it where you want”. Another problem with this new arrangement is that it would give officials yet another excuse to disappear. It’s bad enough that we lose them to cigarette breaks, or when they sneak off to coach their students. I would love to have two hours to go hunt down a meal elsewhere, but it would definitely take at least two hours to do that, not to mention how much it would slow down the tournament.

At any rate, “management” thought better of it, and lunch was provided in the usual fashion, until further research can be committed to the issue.

Clearly the organization is broken, but why are they trying to fix the parts that work well? I understand the desire to save money, and I support any reasonable effort to do so, but one needs to look at the big picture every time. Play out the entire scenario, and check the math at the end, and always take into account the worst-case scenario.

I can give you a personal example of typical U.S. Fencing “oversight”. When I tried to book my itinerary (that I had picked) for Louisville, the main office countered with alternate itineraries that were cheaper. They came up with different airlines and different routes that just didn’t work for me, or make sense. Now I‘ve been traveling across the country for 10, maybe 15 years to referee for the organization. Constantly operating at a loss every time I leave my regular job at home to do so. I always search for the lowest priced itinerary that works for my schedule. What “my schedule” consists of is leaving my home at a reasonable hour and arriving at my destination at a normal hour too. On the return trip, I don’t want it to take 2 days to get home, i.e. spending the night at an airport hotel (which raises the cost) and adds another day of work that I miss at home. It’s the same reason that I don’t like to stay an extra night in the tournament city and fly home the next day. The main office and I went back and forth for about a week trying to agree on a suitable itinerary. At one point they even had me arriving in Milwaukee again instead of Louisville. Wouldn’t that have been embarrassing for them if I had accepted that flight-plan? So by the time I give in and okay one of the Itineraries that they suggested, the price is too high and THEY wont approve it. I decided that I wouldn’t be going to Louisville after all, and emailed the hiring referee to let them know what has happened and that I wont be able to work for them at the event. Being rated in 3 weapons, and fairly highly rated in 2 of them, I realize that I‘m an asset to any assigning referee and the head referees appreciate having me there. The hiring referee emailed the main office in an attempt to find out why they didn’t want to approve my ticket. They lied to him saying that it was because I refused to take a 9:00am departure on the return flight. What had really happened was that I asked if it would be the same ticket price to take the 10:20 flight instead, because they both connected to the same flight for my last leg home (and they never got back to me regarding my question). That’s all. They just decided that I was being difficult.

After this whole fiasco, I was in Milwaukee talking with the person that hired me for the Louisville event. He was upset that it looked like I wouldn’t be there, and also very bothered by the way the main office handled it all. I agreed to keep looking for reasonably priced flights in hope of making the event. While still in Milwaukee I found an itinerary that left from Alexandria, Louisiana instead of my home airport, but in order to keep the price down I could only work for two and a half days at the event. The airfare went up if I stayed longer. Are you paying attention? Does this sound like an efficient use of a good referee? That’s only two whole days of a four day event, and they’re ok with spending the money on an airfare that only keeps me there briefly AND ends up costing more (in the long-run) than the flights I had originally picked, because I had to drive over 200 miles round trip to get to a different airport! This is a complete waste of money … that they are trying so hard to hang onto. But the ticket price fell within their range, and that’s the only math they look at. NOT THE WHOLE PICTURE!

This happens, and will continue to happen because they are incapable of looking at the big picture. They have set a cap on individual itineraries, instead of setting a cap on the sum of all itineraries together. If it costs a certain amount to fly fifty referees to an event, then that should be your target. Instead they set a limit stating that they will not spend more than a certain amount to fly any referee from anywhere in the country. So hypothetically, if ten referees have tickets that are $100 less than normal for a given event, they’re perfectly happy pocketing the $1,000 savings, but unwilling to turn around and pay $50 to $100 more than normal for one itinerary. They should hire someone with a degree in finance. That would make a big difference in how well the organization runs.

As long as I’ve been involved with the organization, it has felt like a public school that is staffed entirely by substitute teachers. There’s no focus, and no commitment because no one plans on staying. It seems like everyone (except a few) uses U.S. Fencing as a stepping-stone to a “real job”. Second only to communication, employee turnover is the organizations biggest weakness. I believe there may be only one person currently at the main office that has been with the organization as long as I have. That does not reflect well on U.S. Fencing.

I don’t have any faith that the organization will ever run efficiently. New Executive Directors and Presidents come in with their own agendas. They try to fix one thing and ignore the rest. And then in a couple of years they leave and someone else gets to try.

Let’s see how the rest of the season goes. I expect a few changes, but nothing that really benefits the organization or it’s members. I expect change for the sake of change, as opposed to change for the better. I invite you to pay close attention with me…

December NAC – Milwaukee

I arrived Thursday evening around six and grabbed a cab to the Hilton. It’s a charming old building with a brick exterior in a part of town that had plenty of bars and eateries within walking distance. Breakfast for the officials was provided at the hotel each morning, and was the typical fare of reconstituted scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon, sausage and fruit.

Division 1 men’s foil was the first event for me on Friday morning. It seemed to go well. The number of entries wasn’t exceedingly high, and the event didn’t run too long.

We usually get our lunch “catered” by the venue personnel, which consist of a variety of hot meals and box-lunch sandwich day mixed in somewhere. This time U. S. Fencing decided to try an alternate plan, and gave the referees $15 vouchers for the venue concession stands. It appeared to be a reasonable plan to me, and I was surprised that they actually had a veggie-burger on the menu. My understanding is that this new lunch arrangement saved the organization quite a bit of money. I was told that the normal catered meals cost at least twice the voucher amount per person. I remember some surprisingly good catered meals that we’ve had throughout the past couple of years; albeit offset by some depressingly bad ones in previous years too. The general consensus among the referees seemed to be that they were displeased with the choices provided for lunch as well as poor quality. “Strike, strike, strike…” was a chant repeated by one of the agitated officials. Granted, that’s an extreme option to display discontent with the lunch situation, but clearly someone was upset. Now bear in mind people that we don’t agree to do this because they promise to feed us well. I said this to an official last year, “You are here to work, and you get to eat. You are not here to eat, but have to referee.”

The organization is clearly on a mission to cut spending and recover from debt (something they’ve allegedly been attempting for years now). And sacrifices obviously must be made in order to effect change. The only way to find out if a particular cost-cutting measure works is to try it out. “Trail and error”, folks. Those of us that have been doing this for a number of years should be used to that mantra. Of course most of us only remember the errors, because that’s our nature.

I motion that we grant the organization some latitude in terms of changes, and provide them with constructive criticism, and hopefully viable options where we experience shortcomings. Whatta ya say?

The organization is clearly broken, and will not be fixed over night. I’m just frustrated that it has been broken for so many years and no one seems capable of fixing it. I feel that Kurt was on the right track. He was able to cut the debt. He had a vision, and was focused on attainable goals. I don’t understand why so many people think that the person in charge needs to be a fencer, or former fencer to be able to run the organization. I really don’t think that the CEO of AT&T was ever a cellular technician, or worked in telephone repair, but he knows how to control a company and keep it profitable.

What I understand about the last Executive Director of U.S. Fencing is that he accrued even more debt for the organization, and he came directly from the fencing community. So how does that speak of the necessity to hire “one of our own”? People that come from within the organization have their own specific agenda in regard to what they desire to achieve and why. They don’t think in terms of rescuing a business that can turn a profit, they think in terms of how they, and their friends can personally benefit from being in a position of power. Case in point - the E.D. that was putting company charges on his own personal credit card (a lot of money), so the he could earn points and then reimbursing himself from the organizations bank account. That’s disreputable, if not entirely illegal.

This community encompasses a very diverse group, and it’s impossible to please everyone. Policies need to be adopted that protect and benefit the organization and it’s members, and favor no one. NO ONE. This needs to enforced across the board without favoritism or exception of any kind. Currently there is no accountability. The rate of turnover at the main office supports this condition. U. S. Fencing is a stepping-stone for some of the staff members that feel no loyalty to the organization, and that’s exactly why they don’t take their responsabilties seriously, and also explains why communication (the key to success) does not exist at U. S. Fencing. There are a few high quality individuals at the main office that are capable and do their jobs very well. But I feel that they are few and far between, and that it’s been this way for a while.

Kurt was a big proponent of transparancy and communication, but I think that some people felt threatened because of that. There has been a lot of secrecy and deception in the past at U.S Fencing, and until this ends completely nothing will change. We as a community need to blow the whistle on any injustice we witness regardless of magnitude or insignificance, and demand immediate resolution. If we don’t stick together and support each other as a community, nothing will change and history will repeat itself. Are you happy with the way things have been going for years? Don’t you think it’s time to help yourself, and your friends, or will you just leave it up to someone else to do something someday, somehow…?

2012 Summer Nationals – Anaheim, CA

Having moved out of Southern California almost a year ago, I was looking forward to visiting my local friends and familiar climate for a tournament. I flew into San Diego to visit friends for a couple of days before heading up to Anaheim to start reffing.

Depending on whom I spoke with when I arrived, the event was either going well, or not going well at all. My personal experience was that it seemed to be sufficiently staffed, and run efficiently (enough). My first day at work I was released around 5:00 pm, my second day report time was 1:00 pm; my third day was 10:00 am.  No complaints there.

I worked late Thursday and was assigned the gold-medal bout of the junior men’s foil. When I found out that I would be reffing that one, I thought I wouldn’t have any problems at all. I’ve done bouts at that level often enough. It started out well, but shortly after the first appeal things headed south in a hurry. About two phrases after the first appeal, I had trouble following the action, and began second-guessing myself. I reviewed the video about four times on my own… and I never do that. The third time, I laughed at myself while on the way to the video monitor, realizing that I was clearly exhausted. I was embarrassed by my performance and I hope I never repeat that fiasco.

In general the workload wasn’t overwhelming (for me). I did a bit of mentoring, ran a few D.E. pods and fortunately had some quality referees working with me. The accommodations were adequate, despite my reservation being very screwed up. For some reason they had me checking in a day early, and checking out a week early. Meaning I would be reffing only one day. Does that make sense to you? I didn’t enjoy being in such close proximity to the elevators either. Too much noise to a get a decent nights sleep, and the hotel being overbooked didn’t help.

My departure from the event was suspense-filled to say the least. The day before my scheduled flight home I inquired as to the arrangements for getting the officials to the airport.  No one seemed to have any idea, save one friend at the bout committee that directed me toward the paper printout on the bulletin board in the ref’s lounge.

It stated basically that shuttles had been procured for all officials flying out of SNA, departing from the main entrance of the hotel 2.5 hours before his or her departure time. Additionally, there was a contact number for the shuttle company, to contact them in case you needed to change/adjust one’s pickup time. After getting no help information-wise from the hotel staff the morning I was hoping to leave (they were completely left out of the loop as far as arrangements having been made for their own guests, in terms of their airport transportation), I decided to call the number provided for the shuttle. What I discovered was that a company based on providing service to customers, had no customer service to speak of. I got an answering machine and was prompted to leave a message. Apparently they don’t need our business badly enough to pay someone to answer the phone. Next, I called our (USFA) representative responsible for tournament transportation. My call went straight to voice-mail. How do you think that made me feel? The USFA representative called me back about five minutes after I tried calling them (thank you) and told me that the shuttle should be there soon, and suggested that I cab it if they didn’t show. I never received a reply from the shuttle company, and when the shuttle arrived (fortunately it did), the driver had no idea whether or not I would be there. Apparently, the company was never given any of my contact info. Can I just reiterate how important communication is? Can I take this opportunity to point out how easy it is to draft an email/letter and circulate it? Hell, that’s what I’m doing right now, and I’m not even getting paid to do this. Can you imagine if it were actually my job?! … and my job depended on it? Shouldn’t I expect to be unemployed? I wish USA Fencing were MY employer. Even if I did get fired… they would re-hire me later. We’ve seen THAT happen. Ya gotta love the perpetual “Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free” card. I would love to work for an organization that actively promoted the hiring my personal friends, regardless of their experience. Yes, it has been done.

Now call me crazy, but the organization had already set precedence earlier in the year; for the purpose of saving money (which I’m all for), and began arranging shuttles for the tournament staff. Okay! I’m cool with that. I’m also very okay with the constant email communications regarding the arrangements that had been made, and how to best make this scenario work efficiently. Great! We were encouraged to email the company representative with our contact info to facilitate the process, and it all seemed to work smoothly. I even received voice-mail messages from the driver upon my arrival confirming that everything was going according to plans.  So… am I crazy to expect the same situation at the biggest domestic tournament of the year -  that’s organized by THE SAME PEOPLE? Apparently I am. The person responsible for making these “travel” arrangements only crossed my path once (as far as I’m aware) in the five days I worked the event, and they couldn’t even be bothered to say hello. Granted, I’m sure they were busy, but considering the fact that all of the tournament officials are consistently overworked, underpaid, and under-appreciated, wouldn’t you think that the salaried employees would make every effort to at least be cordial and gracious? Perhaps I am crazy, and expect too much.

After every event I’ve worked for the past eight years (and I’ve been reffing much longer), I contemplate hanging it up, solely to spite the organization that continues to fuck me (and my colleagues) over. I return every year because it feels like I would be abandoning my friends to do so. I enjoy seeing all of you at events throughout the year. I strive to provide the best refereeing I’m capable of for all of the competitors. All of them, Y-10 through Veteran. I love the kid’s positive and unrelentingly hopeful attitude. I appreciate the Veteran’s complacence when they point out that they’ve been doing this a little longer than I have. And I love it when they call ME “son”. I keep coming back because; as do all of you, I love the sport and most of the people involved in it. It’s a great community, and I wouldn’t trade you/it for the world. All of you are the reason I’m where I am now, and I like where I am.

On closing, I have some advice. If you do something right once, do it again. If you do something right twice, quit while you’re ahead (because now everyone has expectations).

Most sincerely,

Robby

Virginia Beach NAC/ National Championships

 I’ve been to a few tournaments in my career as a fencer, and as a referee. I have witnessed some of the subtle and drastic changes in the way tournaments are run, and in the way competitors are regarded as well as coaches parents and vendors. I have personally made great financial and personal sacrifices as a referee to support the athletes and sport in general. Granted, this is a personal choice that I realize I have made of my own free will, knowing full well that the organization has their own best interest at heart. Clearly they serve to preserve themselves, not the people that support their existence.

I have established some wonderful friendships over the years in this sport. Most of them are long standing, and I value them a great deal. I have constant conversations with everyone in the family of fencing. Everyone. In terms of tournament comments, I hear every color of the spectrum, and every shade in between.

 I understand how difficult it is to organize an event. I understand how difficult it is to run an event. I understand that it is not possible to please everyone, and the “Thank you”s are few and far between.

 I realize that the organization is trying to make things easier for themselves in terms of running events, and their personal liability to them. They are trying to limit the numbers of attendees and qualifying fencers to events. But they are forgetting the balance. They continue to treat the symptoms, not the disease. I agree that the workload is significantly lower on the referees and staff, and that the events are ending at a more reasonable hour. I’m not going to complain about that from a personal perspective. However; in passing conversation with any of the vendors, all I hear is how terrible business is. Now I don’t have a degree in finance (or anything for that matter), but I don’t think I’m going out on a limb here when I assume that lower numbers at tournaments equals fewer dollars spent at vending booths. Is my math crazy?

 Yes, it’s a very difficult balancing act, and I feel I should be paid much better than I am receiving for the service I’m providing, but I understand give and take, “ebb and flow”. I’m clearly at my peak in terms of what the market can support in regard to my services. That’s a concession I’m willing to make to support the sport that I love, and the people associated with it. I wish that the organization shared my sentiments. Without the diversity of vendors, equipment supply would become a monopoly, and the athletes would pay the price, as well as the vendors that would be forced to close because of outrageous fees.

 As competitors, as coaches, as parents, as teammates, as organizers, as sponsors, as officials, it is our duty to be aware of this and make sure that everyone across the board is treated respectfully, and with dignity. The same way that we would expect to be treated, but seldom are.

Sincerely,

Robby

Cougar Call To Arms

Houston, Texas

9/10/11 – 9/11/11

Ok, so I was asked to referee at this event one weekend, then the following weekend I was asked if I would be willing to work as head referee. This all took place within 3 weeks of the event. Being that it was a local event, I was semi-comfortable accepting the challenge. I made plans to drive out with friends (also reffing and competing in the event). These people were more familiar with the event and the organizers than I was, so I sort of leaned on them for support and allowed them to be my liaison with the organizers. When I agreed to be the head referee, I didn’t realize that the person that hired me was expecting me to not only organize and assign the referees, but also oversee the smooth and efficient running of the entire event. Apparently I was to keep the bout committee in check and run the whole event efficiently too. Since when is this the head refs responsibility? Oh yeah … it isn’t.

Anyway, I (the event) was understaffed for the whole weekend. I understand the desire of a “fund-raiser” and respect the organizer’s decision to wave fees for competitors that would also be reffing, but for the love of God, hire enough competent referees to compensate for bodies that go missing for half of the day while they compete in their events! I was demoted (fired) for the second day, and showed up with the rest of the working stiffs as a regular referee. It was a bit of a relief to not have to rob Peter to pay Paul all day with bodies (refs), but I also feel that I wasn’t given a fair shake (nor a fair warning). I was told by the person that was taking my place that my services as head referee would no longer be required. Can you say unprofessional (and very timid of the organizers). I have done this job before, and I’m fully prepared to handle challenges, but I can’t perform magic when I’m not provided with a hat or wand … and no stagehands.

I didn’t find out whom my cadre consisted of until I arrived at the event on Saturday morning. I didn’t even receive any communication regarding a schedule for the weekend. I never even received a confirmation email or voice-mail, or text, prior to the event (even though I had given the person that “kind of” hired me all of my contact info). The last contact I had preceding the event was when I ran into the guy that hired me a week prior, and he said, “Hey, what do you think about being head referee for the tournament?” That was all he said to me before I saw him in Houston Saturday morning. And Saturday morning he never discussed the tournament with me. He was apparently too busy worrying about fencing in his events that day.

The head of the bout committee approached me when I arrived saying, “Oh, by the way, you know you’re the head referee for this tournament, right?” Yes, it had never been confirmed… ever. As far as I was concerned, it was hearsay. I was surprised that we actually had a reservation when we checked in to the hotel Friday night.

Surprisingly, we didn’t have any major complaints (that I’m aware of) in terms of the referee aspect of the event. So in that respect, my job was successful. Sadly, the organizers had a vastly different job description for the head referee.

You may have heard… I was a little upset with the accommodations at the Red Lion motel (don’t you dare call it a hotel). It was convenient to the venue, but that’s about it. The rooms are small. The bathrooms are tiny. The layout of the closet was terrible (it’s practically blocked by one of the beds). The street noise was overwhelming. The view was lousy. The heater was way too loud. I had to turn it off to sleep, and there wasn’t a single other room available to consider as an option, and I checked in at 4:00 in the afternoon on Thursday. What – the – Hell?!

The event went well (sort of). The numbers weren’t very high. I never felt overworked. And the Nike lounge (I dubbed it the Robby Room), made downtime much more relaxing and comfortable. It would be nice if they attended every event. The replay system was not without the usual glitches. It would be really nice if we had a system that was consistently reliable.

Too bad about the catastrophe that was served up as the Gold Medal Sabre bout. I can’t remember the last time I heard “boos” at the conclusion of a final. It was ugly. I was waiting to referee a final bout in foil afterward, but had to delay that for the sabre match that ended three times, before they finally let Tim Morehouse claim the victory, and it’s debatable who actually won.

Portland is one of those towns that I look forward to going to whenever there’s an event there. The light-rail system makes it easy to get around. There are plenty of good restaurants and bars to frequent, and lots of hotels that are far better than that thing called The Red Lion.

With the exception of the accommodations, I had a good time there. Let’s hope things go better in Reno.

San Francisco Bay Cup  4-8-11

I was invited to referee the event two days prior to it (that in itself is another story). Peninsula Fencing Academy was hosting the event, and I didn’t even know that it would be strictly sabre. I found that out the morning of the tournament when I asked what the first event was. I flew into SFO Friday afternoon and was picked up by the event organizers (Jay Choi & Chris Atwwod). We went to the host club and had lunch (which was their treat). After that I was driven via the “scenic route” (winding roads through the hills) to Half Moon Bay, where I stayed at the Harbor View Inn. The Marina was across the street, and there were a few restaurants and bars to choose from, and I tried a couple just so I could report back to the organizers. Otherwise I would have just stayed in the hotel and done homework all night ; ). Jay Choi admitted that I was the “guinea pig” for future events, and I didn’t mind. It was a great location to be “stuck” for the night.

The tournament went well. I wasn’t overworked and there didn’t seem to be any lag-time between events. I was chosen to referee many of the gold medal bouts that day, and I felt privileged to do so. I had a good time at the event, it seems everyone did. We even finished in time to have a late lunch/early dinner at a local eatery. Thanks for picking up the tab Jay! Lately it seems like a few organizers are beginning to appreciate and understand the importance of providing quality refereeing for events. If the fencers and coaches are happy, the likelihood of a return visit increases, which would pretty much make the event a success, right? Lets look at it from a business perspective. Let’s say hypothetically you brake even on an event that the athletes and coaches agree was a good event. The next time you can probably expect at least a third more entries. More entries equals more money. I could be wrong… maybe it’s rocket science. At any rate, I wouldn’t hesitate to return. They took exceptional care of me, and they were genuinely concerned with providing a quality event for the fencers.

Well-done guys! And thank you.

March 10 – 14, 2011

My friend Mary Mahon was hiring the referees, and she petitioned me to join forces with the collection of referees assembling for the event. Mary and I have been good friends for some time now, and I agreed to work the event in hopes that her first hiring experience would be a successful one. I decided to work all four days and was optimistic that the Div. II/III and Vet event wouldn’t be too taxing, and from my perspective, it wasn’t. The bout-committee did a good job of keeping things running well. The days weren’t excessively long (not for me anyway), and when they did end, it was easy to get to dinner and drinks on foot, or via the elevated tram. I ended up in “Greektown” twice, first at a pizza place and then at Fishbone’s, and afterward at the Anchor Bar (a local dive bar with PBR on draught). I had to indulge myself. It’s not a very good beer, but the allure of draught PBR in a dive, with bad music and worn-out pool tables and the local scrowel* in attendance… it’s just too much charming atmosphere to resist.

Despite the constant warnings about “Crime-ridden” Detroit, it does seem to be experiencing a renaissance of sort. There are still some depressed areas, but they are making an effort to improve the city, and it shows. I would actually go back to Detroit if they had another event there. I had a good time in general, the venue was good (almost walking distance from the host hotel), and I had a lot of fun fencing in the team event. The only adjustment that I would make; especially considering the cold weather and snow, is to provide a shuttle from the hotel to the venue. Other than that, I felt it was a successful event.

*scrowel – degenerates. Originating in Los Angeles among my high-school friends to describe the “undesirables” at local parties.

Yes, I believe they were copper. They worked well for the most part. Occasionally the tape would begin tearing and they would slide a bit.

Robby

Golden Gate Fencing Center hosts an SYC in San Francisco -

Rain, hail, a tornado, and lightning mark the beginning of the SYC in the Bay.

I have to begin by saying that IT WAS COLD! Granted, no one can control the weather, but I wore my insulated raincoat both days while reffing, and not one person could argue against it. Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way… let’s talk about the tournament.

The venue was pretty cool. It was a big warehouse on a pier in the bay with a view of “The Rock” out of one side of the building, and a view of the Golden Gate Bridge out of another. There were 27 grounded strips, which were sufficient to accommodate the approximately 600 entries and 18 events that were run throughout the two days. The ref-pool was well stocked (lots of high-level referees), and none of them seemed to be overworked. The fencers seemed to have a good time. I think they were provided with a great competition experience. The parents were happy, and most of the coaches enjoyed themselves too. I have to mention one incident where two coaches ganged up on one of the referees. That was ugly, and the coaches should be embarrassed about their behavior.

“Gastronaut” provided some great health-conscious choices for lunch, including a vegan sausage option, and delicious baked pasta too! The coffee accommodations were lacking though. Not in quality, but in quantity. The refs were allotted only one free cup per day. We could purchase all we wanted. I’m just used to having a pot of the stuff available all day. The hotel for the refs was about a half a mile away, and the walk in the rain wasn’t very pleasant, especially with my luggage in tow on the last day. The evenings were fun. There were plenty of places to hang within walking distance of the hotel. I wouldn’t hesitate to return, provided that the weather was a bit better, and perhaps a shuttle to the venue each day. But that’s mostly because of the rain.

Now the best part of the story as far as I’m concerned is… ALL of the referees were paid in full at the end of the last day! Not just the Canadians! (No hard feelings Manuel)

Fencing in Rochester –

The weather was a bit cold, but tolerable for this California-boy. Fresh snow on the ground Friday evening when I landed at Greater Rochester International Airport, and it snowed again Saturday night. There were about 225 entries and something in the neighborhood of 16 strips at the venue that strangely resembled the very one I visited for a NAC so many years ago, when I was still competing.

I refereed all three weapons at the two-day event, but mostly foil. The competitors seamed pleased with the reffing, save for a few disagreements on calls, but that’s to be expected anywhere. Bout committee did a good job running the event. Breakfast for the officials consisted of coffee, orange juice, tasty doughnuts and bagels. We had a very good salad and penne pasta for lunch on Saturday, and sandwiches on Sunday.

I had a really nice time in Rochester. Many of my friends there I’ve known and loved for years, and I always look forward to seeing them. Everyone seemed to appreciate having me around, and I appreciated being invited out for the opportunity to work for everyone. In general, I feel the event was a success. It moved along efficiently, and from my perspective, everyone had a good fencing experience.

The only apparent (and major) difference between this event; and a national one, is that I received a check for payment in full at the conclusion of the event. It’s almost farcical that I feel the need to clarify this contrast, but it’s a sad truth about the organization that should be regarded as the citadel of fencing in these United States. U.S. Fencing has a major negative reputation to overcome in this regard.

And… I can’t wait to go back to Rochester!

In general, I think things went pretty well this time around. Granted, there was a day when events ran late and some people didn’t get out of the venue until 8 or 9pm. But I feel all in all it could have been much worse, and trust me… I’ve seen the worst of it. The video replay system was working most of the time. It still requires certain tweeks in the way it operates, and and in the way that U.S. Fencing operates it.

Ok, let’s talk fencing now. I understand that JOs is a very important to different people for different reasons. A “proving ground” of sorts. Coaches need to prove themselves via results, recruiters need to assess potential recruits, parents need to prove to their children that they were right to force them into an obscure sport that can earn them a scholarship to a university, and to some of the kids it’s just important to prove that they can simply fence. What kid of pressure does this put on the referees? None really, unless the calls they make threaten any of the aforementioned parties goals, aspirations, desires, or teaching. Please don’t blame the referees for your own shortcomings. They are doing the best they can with what they have at their disposal. There are good and bad ways of approaching a referee with regard to your discontent or disagreement with them. And trust me, raising your voice and allowing yourself to become angry isn’t one of them. Personally, as a referee, when a fencer doesn’t agree with my call, the ones that have the greatest impact on me are the ones that act as if they are simply disappointed in me, as opposed to the ones that look at me with disdain and beg, “WHY, WHY, WHY ISN’T THAT MY ATTACK?!”, and proceed to inform why it should be. As if I’m so inept that I couldn’t possibly know what I’m talking about. I’m a referee because I have proven my proficiency. Some people make good fencers, and others make good coaches. Keep in mind that just because someone is a good, or even great coach, doesn’t mean they can see right of way. And by the same token, just because someone may be an excellent fencer, doesn’t mean they are capable of being completely objective in their own bout. I’ve been on both sides of this circumstance, and I understand it very well.

Ok, now let’s talk accommodations. The hotel was well appointed, and the transportation via DART was adequate. Breakfast for the tournament officials was provided at the hotel and the choices available were decent. The official’s lunch at the venue was pretty good, except for the box-lunch day. That was crap. I’m a sort-of vegetarian, and for some reason they assume that we all love marinated, roasted bell-peppers in a sandwich or wrap. I don’t like it one bit. I would prefer to take a ham and cheese sandwich, and remove the ham. Granted, they’re making an effort, but would it be the end of the world if they took a poll and found out what people that don’t eat meat would actually prefer to eat? There were ample restaurants close by, and many within walking distance of the host hotel.

The venue was big enough, there seemed to be enough strips, and plenty of referees. World cup attendees get younger every year, and I hear that conflicting events had an effect on the number of entries. What ever the case, the balance was pretty good I think. Dallas seem to be a good city to hold an event similar to last weekend’s Junior Olympics. It’s convenient to fly to, and I don’t mind traveling there. I just wish U.S. Fencing would pay the tournament officials that sacrifice so much to attend these events.

Capitol Clash SYC

I just returned from Northern Virginia where I refereed at the Capitol Clash SYC fencing tournament. I arrived Friday afternoon and went straight from the airport to the venue for the evening events that were just starting. There were two rooms with 22 strips. There was also a finals strip set up on stage in the adjacent auditorium. I think it was a great treat for the kids to able to fence there, and for the parents and spectators to watch them up there. The event was run well. Results were posted on line right away. One parent showed me that he could look up pool results and the D.E. tableau on his smart phone. He could even find what strip his kid was fencing on for his upcoming D.E. bout. I thought that was really cool. No excuses for “Failure to report” and no need for crowding around the barely visible sheets of paper that the national organization routinely uses at all of their events. They also had a large monitor set up that displayed pools and direct elimination bouts. One of the organizers set up a live video feed of the gold medal bouts. U.S. Fencing should take some cues from these particular SYC organizers. They managed 478 fencers equaling 655 entries! I felt they did a great job of running the event. They hired competent referees. (Enough of them too!) No one seemed to be overworked. The concession stand had lots of good choices of food and drinks, and was run by the division parents and siblings of the local fencers who were very friendly and helpful the entire time. For me it was a great experience.

As a referee I’ve been to quite a few events over the past 10+ years and I’ve experienced one end of the spectrum to the other in regards to fencing events. I was made to feel welcome and appreciated at the Capitol Clash SYC, and I wouldn’t hesitate to return.

Hats off to Ed Grass, David Sapery, Daraius Unwalla, Rich Weiss, Lynn Jones, and all of the tournament officials and volunteers!

Yes, we were told that we wouldn’t see an honorarium check for a while in order to help U.S. Fencing get back on track financially. This is part of the reason I skipped the first events of this season. The problem I have is that they tell us one thing, and it’s not applied universally. They hid the fact that they were paying certain referees at the end of the event. That’s dishonest, deceitful, and unfair. They also say that they are doing everything they can to get caught up with reimbursements and honorarium. This is also a lie. How does spending $25K on replay equipment help to get caught up and eliminate debt? We were told that by next season, reimbursements and honorarium payments would no longer be delayed, and then I hear that Greg Dilworth plans to push that deadline back even another year. Why? So they can by more unreliable video replay equipment?

As far as separate budgets and accounts at U.S. Fencing are concerned, I feel that for the time being, it’s a bad idea. It allows for continued spending when the debt still exists. I understand the arguments for keeping the organization running, and continued investments. But they are in a negative cash flow situation, and sacrifices need to be made. They are operating under the guise that everything is okay, and it’s definitely not.

We don’t need referee diversity so badly that they can afford to overlook the debt. We don’t need replay equipment so badly that they can afford to overlook the debt. There is a time and place for everything, and this is not the appropriate time.

I feel there needs to be one budget, and one mission. Focus on getting out of the hole. Then worry about getting things back on track. People keep saying that it’s not fair to the athletes to make them pay the price. I agree with that, but these circumstances are far from normal. I feel that everyone has to pay the price. U.S. Fencing screwed up. Far worse things have happened to other organizations, that has effected many more people in ways other than limiting their ability to play a sport. It’s not fair, but it’s reality. The sacrifices need to be universal, not selective. But that’s just my opinion.

Robby Carrillo