USA Fencing Event Types, Explained
NAC, ROC, RJCC, RYC, SYC — the alphabet soup of fencing tournaments, decoded from local to national.
New to competitive fencing? The tournament names look like a bowl of acronym soup. The good news: almost every U.S. event fits into one of three levels — local, regional, or national — and once you know the handful of circuit names within each, the whole calendar makes sense.
- Local events (club/division) are where most fencers start — found on AskFred.
- Regional circuits: RYC & SYC (youth), RJCC & SJCC (Cadet/Junior), ROC (open/senior), plus Sectionals.
- National: NACs (North American Cups, monthly Oct–Apr) and the championships — Junior Olympics, Summer Nationals, and the April Division I Nationals.
- Regional and national events are entered through USA Fencing; locals through AskFred.
The three levels
Think of it as a pyramid. Most fencers spend their first season or two at the bottom and climb as they get stronger.
| Level | Run by | Register through |
|---|---|---|
| Local | Clubs and your USA Fencing Division | AskFred |
| Regional | Regions / Divisions, sanctioned by USA Fencing | USA Fencing (some also on AskFred) |
| National | USA Fencing | USA Fencing |
The regional circuits
Regional events are the bridge between your local club scene and the national stage. There are five main circuits, sorted by who they're for:
| Circuit | For | Events | What it qualifies you for |
|---|---|---|---|
| RYC Regional Youth Circuit |
Youth | Y10, Y12, Y14 | Y10/Y12 participation qualifies for the Youth NAC and Summer Nationals. No national points. |
| SYC Super Youth Circuit |
Youth (larger, stronger) | Y10, Y12, Y14 | Same youth qualification, plus national points to the top 40% of finishers. |
| RJCC Regional Junior and Cadet Circuit |
Teens | Cadet (U17), Junior (U20) | A step between local/division events and the Cadet/Junior NACs. |
| SJCC Super Junior & Cadet Circuit |
Cadet & Junior (national) | Cadet (U17), Junior (U20) | The national-level counterpart to the RJCC — contested nationally and feeding the national Cadet/Junior point standings. |
| ROC Regional Open Circuit |
Senior / open | Div I-A, Div II, Div III, Veteran | Serves as a qualifying path for Division I-A at Summer Nationals. |
You'll also see Sectional Championships — larger regional events that group several Divisions together and feed into national qualification.
NAC — the North American Cup
The NAC is USA Fencing's flagship national event. One is held roughly every month from October through April, at a rotating host city, and each NAC bundles a different mix of events for different ages and levels (for example, the Division I NACs are restricted to higher-rated fencers, while a spring NAC features the Youth events). Results at NACs earn national points that drive your ranking.
The national championships
Beyond the monthly NACs, a few marquee championships anchor the season:
- Junior Olympics (JOs) — January (recently moved from February). Cadet and Junior individual and team events; also a Cadet/Junior World Championship selection event. See our JO guide.
- April Division I Nationals — the senior Division I national championship, and a Senior team selection event.
- Summer Nationals & the July Challenge — the giant end-of-season championship covering Youth through Veteran, plus Divisions I-A, II and III. See our qualification guide.
- Veteran NACs — dedicated national events for fencers 40 and up.
Where to find and register for each
Local tournaments live on AskFred; regional and national events are registered through USA Fencing (member.usafencing.org). The catch is that no single official site shows you everything at once — which is exactly why this site exists.
FencingEvents.org pulls tournaments and camps from both AskFred and USA Fencing into one searchable list. Filter by event type, weapon, age and distance →