The NCAA News - News and Features

July 20, 1998

Fencing to support women's sabre as championship event

The NCAA Men's and Women's Fencing Committee has agreed to support the addition of women's sabre as a competitive weapon to be contested in intercollegiate fencing and to recommend the weapon's inclusion as a championship event at future National Collegiate Men's and Women's Fencing Championships.

The committee, meeting June 15-18 in Monterey, California, hopes to add the event by the 2000 or 2001 championships.

Along with adding women's sabre competition, the committee is recommending that the championships field be increased to accommodate 24 women's sabre participants in the championships.

The committee noted that the inclusion of women's sabre in intercollegiate competition would provide equality between the men's and women's weapons.

Women's sabre also would allow additional opportunities for women in intercollegiate athletics. The addition also would reflect the international groundswell of the event.

A women's sabre exhibition will be conducted at the upcoming 1998 World Championships, and several NCAA institutions and conferences are already experimenting with women's sabre as an exhibition weapon.

The committee's recommendations were forwarded to the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet for consideration.

The committee also voted to sponsor a change in NCAA Bylaw 20.8.3.3 regarding minimum contests and participant requirements for sports sponsorship.

With the addition of women's epee as a weapon in 1995, the committee is proposing that the minimum participant requirement for women increase from three to five.

In other actions, the committee recommended to the Championships/Competition Cabinet that a $100 fine be imposed on those institutions that do not submit individual results to their respective regional advisory committee chairs by the deadline designated in the National Collegiate Fencing Championships Handbook.

The committee also recommended to the Championships/Competition Cabinet that Brandeis University host the 1999 National Collegiate Men's and Women's Fencing Championships March 18-21.