The Rideau Swords Fencing Club and the Carleton University Fencing Team are highly interconnected to encourage community involvement with the team and the fencing community in general. The club and varsity team usually practice at the same time and share coaching staff. Our beginners course and fencing club is often a recruitment tool used by the varsity coaches to fill empty places on the varsity roster. In general there is no specific tryout period for the varsity team instead if you are interested in joining the varsity team then tell the coaches of your interest at the beginning of the season and then it is up to you to show the coaches that you want a spot by showing to as many practices as possible and working hard. Spots on the varsity team are earned, not given. Varsity team rosters are usually confirmed by December or Early January just in time for our championship in early February.
Expected Varsity team members have mimimum attendance requirements and are required to attend several tournaments throughout the year.
Required Tournaments:
- Queens Invitational
- Ottawa Shield
- Governor Generals
- RMC
- Ontario Provincials
- Brock Open (Currently optional, might change to a tournament in Montreal)
Some expenses for these tournaments can be covered by the Carleton and/or Club, others are not. Funding levels vary and will be arranged closer to the dates of the tournament.