Eligibility
The tournaments of the Southern California Scholastic Fencing League are "open" to fencers who are in the appropriate age group as defined by their year in school.  High School fencers are in grades 9 through 12; Middle School fencers are in grades 6 through 8.  A fencer in Middle School CANNOT fence in a High School competition until they are in 9th grade.

Required Equipment
Please wear shoes with "non-marking" or white soles to all competitions.

Uniforms
At all USFA tournaments the following equipment is required: a full jacket (FIE not required), a plastron, a glove and fencing knickers. Jeans, corduroys, sweatpants or baseball trousers are not permitted. Socks must cover all the leg not covered by the knickers. Women's equipment must include breast protectors made of metal or rigid material inside the jacket. The appropriate glove, lame and mask for the weapon being fenced are required.

Fencers must wear a mask with a sewn-in bib that passes the 12K punch test.

Names on the uniform are not required for the Southern California Scholastic Fencing League. If the fencer has his/her name on the jacket or knickers, it should follow the USFA rules: the fencer's last name must be legibly printed on the uniform in dark blue capital letters not more than 10 cm high. The name must be located either (1) on the back of the uniform between the shoulders; (2) on the front or side of the "rear" thigh; or (3) on a piece of fabric or lame material that is firmly sewn to the uniform so that it will not catch the opponent's point. Fabric attached to the uniform must be the same color as that part of the uniform. Attached lame material cannot alter the conductivity of the metallic vest or jacket. Names printed on tape are NOT acceptable. The country's colors are not required; if the fencer chooses to use them, FIE rules for country's colors should be followed.

Inspections
Masks will be inspected by the armorer. Weapons will be tested on the strip. You will not be allowed to fence with weapons that do not conform to USFA standards. For weapons that fail inspection on the strip, no card will be issued but you must get another conforming weapon.

Format
There will be one round of pools with 100% advancing to direct elimination in all individual competitions.

The direct elimination bouts for the High School competitions will be fifteen-touch bouts, with the appropriate breaks determined by which weapon is being fenced. The direct elimination bouts for the Middle School competitions will be best two out of three five-touch bouts.

A team consists of 3 fencers and a possible alternate. Team competitions are a round robin if there are four or fewer teams. If there are more than four teams in the competition, the team tableau is used, with each place fenced off. Team competitions use the NCAA team match format of a five-touch bout between each member of both teams, for 9 bouts. All 9 five-touch bouts are fenced. The winning team is the team with five or more bouts won in the match. If a team consists of only 2 fencers, it forfeits 3 bouts.

More Information
Most of this information is found in the Athlete's Handbook, available from the US Fencing Association. It is revised annually, with a new edition appearing in the early fall.

The Pacific Coast Section has a Parent's Page with additional information that can guide parents in preparing their fencers for competition. This page also provides a link to the USFA's Parent Handbook.