Competing in Europe vs. the USA

Updated October 20

When I lived in Europe I was not nearly good enough to compete outside my clubs, nor was I encouraged to even think about it. In the US, nobody raised an eyebrow when, after barely a month in my new club here in Riverside, I enquired about local competitions.

The competitive world in the USA seems a lot more inviting. Part of the reason for this might be a cultural difference in the attitude towards personal achievement. In Europe, all to often people will be discouraged from sticking out of the crowd, and communities such as competitive fencers will tend to be elitist, closed and exclusionary. In the US, while having a much more competitive mentality in general, it seems to be much more accepted to just go and compete to have fun, or for personal development. Everybody is encouraged and praised for giving their best, even is their best is pathetic. This is just a personal impression, and I haven't been involved with competitions in Europe, but it is a difference that extends to many areas of life, such as education. Also, the US has a different approach to sports that Europe does. More people practice sports, in Europe sports practicioners are quasi-professionals (without the money), and Americans just love to compete.

American fencing is also much more internet-friendly than European fencing, at least in general, and information is more openly and readily available. Maybe I am not looking in the right places, but the European national and international federations don't have quite as much information available online, it is really hard to find the regional federations, and the competitive schedules are not displayed as prominently.
American competitive fencing is regulated by the USFA. The USA is geographically broken down into sections (my section is the Pacific Coast Section), and then divisions (mine is the San Bernardino division) within each section. Each division will organize an average of one competition a month for each category and weapon. Then, the sections have their own competitive cirduits, and sponsor high-profile "invitationals" which are quite fun, and also of high level. There are a few competitions at the national level, too.

In Europe each country has some sort of regional organization, and a national competitive circuit, apart from local competitions. At the supra-national level there is the European Fencing Confederation, which organizes the European Championships. Then, there are a variety of international competitions (here is a very complete calendar).

International competitions fall into two broad categories: official FIE competitions and other (non-FIE) international competitions. Official FIE competitions include the Olympic Games, World Championships (by age category) World Cup (Open and Junior), "Masters" and "Super-Masters". The Olympic Games take the place of the Open World Championships on Olympic years. World Cup competitions include "Grand Prix", "Category A", "Candidate A" and "Satellite A" competitions. Fencers enter official FIE competitions through their national federation or Olympic Committee, and require FIE licences. In the case of World Cup (except Satellite A) competitions, countries must supply up to two referees, one for each 5 fencers they enter. Non-FIE international competitions are usually open competitions, entry is open to individual fencers or though clubs, and FIE licences may not be required.