It's a situation that can be problematic to solve.

Student-athletes who participate for their institutions in sports with NCAA team-individual championships and who also compete on their country's national teams find it challenging to handle the schedule demands of both.

But the NCAA Men's and Women's Fencing Committee has tried to accommodate those athletes. The committee has attempted to maintain the integrity of its championships -- while also recognizing the value of national and international competition for highly ranked fencers, through the use of a petition process.

However, changes in the petition process for the 1999-00 season are more defined and slightly more stringent than in the past.

Previously, institutions were permitted to file a petition on behalf of a student-athlete if the fencer met one or both of the following conditions: the fencer missed more than 50 percent of the team's dual meets or did not compete in the regional championships. The petition had to be filed before the regional advisory committees' final ranking calls, which typically take place on the Monday or Tuesday following the regional championships.

Changes in process

During its annual meeting in June 1999, the fencing committee revised the petition process. The adjustments center on the establishment of two deadlines, the inclusion of specific reasons why a fencer misses the regional championships and situations in which a petition will not be accepted.

"The revisions were made in the hopes of making the committee's work more efficient," said Denis Cochran-Fikes, compliance coordinator at the University of Pennsylvania and chair of the fencing committee.

The new guidelines require institutions to petition the committee by March 1 if a fencer misses more than half of the team's dual meets or if the fencer will miss the regional championships due to competing at another fencing competition. The schedule of events of the Féderation Internationale d'Escrime (FIE), the international governing body of fencing, lists five competitions during the same two days as the 2000 regional championships.

"This deadline will enable the committee to identify fencers who may be worthy of championships selection who may be doing a significant amount of traveling to and from national or international competitions," said Cochran-Fikes. "The March 1 date gives the regional advisory committees two weeks to evaluate those fencers' results."

Former committee chair Bill Shipman, head men's and women's fencing coach at Brandeis University, acknowledges that this revision will affect few fencers. "There will probably be no more than two or three student-athletes per year who will need to have a petition filed on their behalf because of these criteria," said Shipman.

"However, there is the potential for a much larger number should more junior national team members be participating on intercollegiate teams and travelling to international tournaments on the same weekend as our regional championships."

Other petitions

A second deadline of March 14, the Tuesday following the regional championships, was set for submission of petitions on behalf of athletes who did not compete in the regionals due to an acute injury or other emergency.

"We recognize that injuries and other extenuating circumstances can, and sometimes do, arise," said Cochran-Fikes. "Having this option available does not preclude a qualified fencer from participating in the championships."

Specifying injury or emergency as the only acceptable reasons for a petition to be lodged under this deadline is important for another reason. Previously, such a petition only needed to include "documentation to justify the individual's nonparticipation" in the regionals.

Consequently, an institution could have held its top fencers out of the regional championships due to minor injuries, thereby giving teammates an opportunity to earn a berth to the national championships with a strong performance. The institution then could utilize the petition process to secure a berth for its highly ranked fencers.

"Adding the language on acute injury or other emergency should discourage any school from attempting this," said Shipman. "Now there is a real risk and precedent of denial of a berth for a top fencer.

"No one has ever suspected such manipulation of the process, but the committee felt the more clear the criteria were, the better."

The committee added a stipulation that petitions would not be accepted for fencers who do not meet the 50 percent dual-meet requirement and do not attend the regionals. "The collegiate fencing community understands and appreciates the importance of participation on national and international teams," said Cochran-Fikes. "However, it is important to our programs that fencers represent their institutions in the majority of their meets.

"There are ample opportunities for fencers to compete in outside events both before and after our championships season."