February 2013
2 posts
Give me a fucking break!
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,...
Louisville NAC
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...
December 2012
1 post
December NAC - Milwaukee
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....
July 2012
1 post
USA Fencing can't get their shit together
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....
April 2012
1 post
Virginia Beach Championships & so much more...
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...
September 2011
1 post
6 tags
Fencing at the University of Houston
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...
April 2011
2 posts
9 tags
NAC - E / National Championships
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...
7 tags
A stint in the Bay (sans USFA) Success!
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...
March 2011
4 posts
7 tags
NAC - D in the city of Detroit
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...
Anonymous asked: One coffee cup opens our eyes. We need a *least* a pot to think clearly. ;-)
Are those copper strips?
Rick M.
Are those copper strips?
Rick M.
5 tags
SYC at SFO! (sort of)
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...
12 tags
ROC in Rochester
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...
February 2011
2 posts
11 tags
JOs in Dallas
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...
6 tags
I just returned from another great event!
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...
January 2011
2 posts
Anonymous asked: I understand why you're upset. I really do. I also understand that the organization doesn't appreciate the sacrifices that we, the referees, make in the name of providing a service for fencing. That being said, let me play devil's advocate and get answers for a question or two:
Firstly, if referees, as I've been told, were informed that payment wouldn't come...
Firstly, if referees, as I've been told, were informed that payment wouldn't come...
7 tags
Why are a select few tournament officials paid in...
The Canadian referees were paid in full on the last day of NAC – C in Dallas!
Why are our neighbors to the North exempt from the injustices forced upon our own officials? Is there a clandestine arrangement? There seems to be. How many of you were aware of this arrangement? Is U.S. Fencing so inefficient at recruiting and training their own officials that they must rely on foreigners to take up...
December 2010
1 post
5 tags
U.S. Fencing has special needs
Do they ride to work on the short bus? Why do they continue to throw money away? I just returned from The NAC in Atlanta (the one that was added late, not publicized, not designated, and not added to the calendar), and was further disappointed in the organization. At the referee meeting on the first day, we were briefed on the protocol for using the video replay. Of course we never had to...
September 2010
1 post
Forgive me for preaching...
Apologies to all of you that have already arrived at the same conclusion, but some of us need help with math and logic. That’s apparently where I come in. Let’s introduce the topic first. It has to do with the “voting” on which version of the original logo to use for U.S. Fencing.
http://usfencing.org/news/2010/09/02/the-old-logo-is-back/38356?ngb_id=19
The organization...
August 2010
4 posts
2 tags
Yes, I'm crazy. That's how I come up with crazy...
So… I just had a thought. Don’t run. It’s okay, I get them often.
What I was thinking is that since U.S. Fencing is so far behind on reimbursements, and we are somehow not entitled to interest on the “loan” that we are making to a non-profit, why can’t we write off the interest on the money that we are loaning them? We are never going to see it anyway. Why...
The Reimbursement Saga Continues...
Checks are going out now in an attempt to get caught up with all the money that the “Organization” owes it’s lenders*. Apparently the order of business is that those owed the most are getting their checks cut first. I’m not sure that I agree with this choice of action. I feel that those owed the longest should get the appropriate reimbursements paid first, regardless of...
Oooooh... crap!
Rumors of very bad things in the works in terms of tournament official’s and pay…This is not yet confirmed of course, and I’ll try to let you know what I find out, but I’m not liking what I’m hearing.
3 tags
Dilworth and Page Appointed
“… Therefore, we have asked Mr. Dilworth to stay on as ED for the next two years and he has agreed to do so.”
Well, now what? Is this good, or bad? Again… time will tell. It seems that everything that happens at U.S. Fencing is temporary.
Do you want to read the whole thing yourself? Here ya go:
...
July 2010
3 posts
4 tags
Another season ends, another soon to begin...
The interim Executive Director intends to settle all existing debts with the tournament officials at the end of October. This will unfortunately be too late for my personal payment deadline as it relates to the beginning of the new season. I have mentioned before that I will not work for U.S. Fencing again until I get paid. The first national event takes place in the middle of October, so you can...
4 tags
“It is better to die on your feet, than to live on your knees”
– Emiliano Zapata
June 2010
3 posts
4 tags
"Reimburse"
reimburse* |ˌrē-imˈbərs| verb [ trans. ] (often be reimbursed) repay (a person who has spent or lost money) : the investors should be reimbursed for their losses. • repay (a sum of money that has been spent or lost) : they spend thousands of dollars that are not reimbursed by their employers.
“spent or lost” = lost
lost |lôst; läst| |lɔst| past and past participle of lose...
2 tags
Math time again kids! Get out your slates...
Summer Nationals are coming up again as most of you are aware. The biggest national tournament of the year. There are over 6,000 fencers expected. They are all required to pay a $50 registration fee in advance. Aside from event fees. Meaning the U.S.F.A. has approximately $300k in regular entry fees (not counting late fees), in the bank earning interest in regular accounts, or higher yield C.D.s....
5 tags
Greed, ignorance, and nepotism takes its toll on...
Why is it that so many of us are easily swayed by an organization’s non-profit status. We regard it as a holy institution simply because they filed certain paperwork, and operate under certain guises that exempt them from taxation. Unfortunately in the case of U.S. Fencing, our blind faith is misguided. Former senior officers of the organization have apparently kept two sets of books. One...
May 2010
1 post
3 tags
Another Great Weekend!
I just returned from Seattle having worked at the Rain City Open. It’s always a fun event. This time it happened to be the 10 year anniversary for the event. Saturday evening they hosted a party at the Rain City Fencing Center following the foil event. It was nice to see so many people that I’ve come to know through my years of attending tournaments in Seattle. The event was well run,...
April 2010
4 posts
“It is better to die on your feet, than to live on your knees.”
– Emiliano Zapata
4 tags
Explain to me how this works locally, but not...
A local division hires me to fly across the country to referee at a local event, and I can expect to be handed a check (if not cash) on Sunday at the end of the event. They have a general idea of how many entries they’ll have. And based on that number, hire the appropriate staff. They collect entry fees in advance for the most part. Can I mention at this point that all fees for national...
We are not alone...
Chris Atwood - “US Fencing is using 2010 nationals to pay my expenses and per diem for 2009 nationals, then presumably using 2010/2011 membership fees to pay honorarium for 2009 nationals. I am not reffing 2010 nationals.”
Robby Carrillo “After this season’s Nationals, I will seriously consider staying home next season. They really need to make some big changes....
It's just not good enough
“…we set a stretch goal to pull within 1 year of honorariums and 90 days of out-of-pocket expenses from the date of their submission” 90 days is long time for reimbursement of something most of us are paying interest on. I’m not in the business of giving credit to anyone, let alone a non-profit organization like U.S. Fencing. Especially not for 90 days interest free....
March 2010
5 posts
U. S. Fencing is actually making an effort!
I had a great chat with Kurt today. He had some good ideas, as well as some sufficient answers to question and concerns. We will be discussing things again in Dallas. He is genuinely concerned with getting tournament officials caught up with reimbursements.
Stay tuned…
Robby
Finally some answers...
They have been slow in coming, and are still a bit unclear, but at least I’m getting some. Obviously they are not all acceptable to me. At some point I hope to sit down and negotiate on behalf of all of the referees. I’m going to have a discussion with the Executive Director very soon. I trust it will go well. I think we’re both on the same team.
Robby
Can it get any worse?
Okay, so far the purpose of this blog is to air my frustration with the United States Fencing Association. The body that attempts to govern fencing in the United States. U. S. Fencing is screwing over its officials at every tournament. How? Well, let me explain. The referees agree to show up at every national fencing tournament and work all day, usually more than eight hours per day, for three to...
“It is better to die on your feet, than to live on your knees”
– Emiliano Zapata
4 tags
Reimbursement B.S.
What set this whole thing in motion was the last check that I received from U.S. Fencing. It was a reimbursement check for an event I worked back in December of 2008(Colorado Springs, CO). For some reason, they decided to deduct $77, that was a “single room” adjustment for the no-roommate request I had made for the first event of this season - 2009/2010, in Des Mones, Iowa. I sent an...
