How to become a fencing referee
Competing taught me the sport.
Refereeing is teaching me how it actually works.
I'm working toward my fencing referee rating, and this page follows what I'm learning along the way. I've been reffing bouts at my club since I was a Y12 fencer. At first I was mostly helping out when practice needed someone to make the calls. Eventually I realized I actually liked doing it.
I passed the referee exam this summer. My next step is being observed at a tournament so I can earn my L2 rating.
Since Y12
Reffing club bouts
Seminar
Attended via AskFred
Passed
Referee Exam
L2 Rating
Next goal
The fencing referee rating system
USA Fencing's referee ladder - from first exam to national circuit
Lucas's Note:
"I had to figure this out when I started the certification process, so I put the steps in one place. This is my summary of the USA Fencing referee system. Rules can change, so check the Referees' Commission information for the current requirements."
Source: USA Fencing Referees' Commission. Updated August 2026.
Pass
Earned by passing the online general exam and one weapon-specific exam. Valid for one season. Must be upgraded to L2 by a Certified Referee Observer within that window or the process restarts.
Local 2 — Beginning referee
First official rating. Awarded after a CRO observes you at a sanctioned local tournament. Qualifies you to work local events and receive compensation. Ratings of L2 and L1 do not decay if inactive.
Local 1 — Higher local events
Demonstrated competency at local level. Qualifies for more demanding local tournaments and builds toward regional eligibility.
Regional 2
Eligible to referee RYC and RJCC events. Any referee age 13+ with a P rating can start on this path.
Regional 1
Head referee eligible at regional events. Also eligible for selection to work national tournaments. Ratings at R1 and above decay if not maintained over four seasons.
National 2
Awarded at the annual Referees' Commission meeting. Works NACs, SYCs, championship events. Required as head referee for regional bid packages.
National 1 — Top of the ladder
Highest domestic referee rating. Works the most demanding national events. Awarded by the Referees' Commission.
The P rating expires — plan accordingly
Pass the exam and the clock starts. You have one full season to be formally observed by a CRO and upgraded to L2. If the season ends without an observation, the P expires and you start the seminar and exam process again. The fix: get out and ref a sanctioned local event as soon as possible after passing.
Age 13+ eligibility
USA Fencing requires referees to be at least 13 years old to work a regional tournament with a P rating. There is no minimum age for the seminar or exam itself.
How fencing has helped me learn to referee
I've been fencing much longer than I've been refereeing, and that definitely helps. When I watch an action, I usually understand what each fencer was trying to do because I've probably been in the same situation myself.
But knowing what happened and making the correct call quickly aren't the same thing. That's the part I'm still learning.
Why I started
It started as helping out. Then it became something more.
I started reffing bouts at my club when I was competing in the Y12 age category not because I had any formal training, but because practice needed a referee and I happened to be standing there. I raised the flag, made a call, and both fencers accepted it. That was enough to keep going.
Now, a couple of years later, my clubmates regularly ask me to ref when we're training. I don't think it's because I'm doing anything special. I think it's because I'm consistent and fair, and because I understand what I'm watching. When you've been on the receiving end of every type of phrase in saber, you develop an instinct for what actually happened.
That's the part I want to contribute to. Earning my certification is the next formal step.
Practice at every practice
I still referee bouts at my club practice regularly. It's useful practice for me because club bouts move quickly and I have to make the call immediately. It also means our teammates can fence without always needing a coach to stop and referee.E
My journey log
Where I am - updated as I go
Each step tracked as it happens. This page grows with the journey.
Step 1. Completed. Started at Y12
Began reffing bouts at club practices.
Started calling sabre bouts informally during practice sessions. What began as filling in when nobody else was available has become a regular role — clubmates actively ask me to ref because they trust how I call the phrase.
First real lesson
"The first time I called a simultaneous attack I froze. Both fencers came at each other at exactly the same moment — or at least that's what it looked like. I had to make a call and stand by it while one fencer stared at me waiting for an explanation. That ten seconds taught me more about right of way than any amount of reading had."
Step 2. Completed
Attended a USA Fencing Referee Seminar
Found and registered for an official USA Fencing referee seminar through AskFRED — the same platform used for tournament registration. To find one: go to askfred.net, search clinics, and select "Referee Seminars" from the event type dropdown. The seminar covers rules, right of way application, practical calling exercises, and what the online exam expects.
What the seminar is actually like
"The hardest part wasn't the rules — I already knew most of them from competing. The hardest part was making a call out loud, fast and clear, with both fencers looking at you. The instructor kept drilling us: fast, loud, confident. 'Attack right, touch right.' Every word in a specific order. When you hesitate, everyone starts arguing. When you call it clean, even the person who lost the point usually just nods and resets."
Step 3. Completed
Passed the online exam. Earned P Rating
The USA Fencing online exam at member.usafencing.org covers a general rules section plus a weapon-specific section — I'm sitting the saber exam. You need to pass both to earn the P rating. There's a fee, and if you don't pass you can retake within 48 hours at no extra cost.
Where I am right now
"The exam is taken through the USA Fencing member portal at member.usafencing.org. Pass the general section and one weapon-specific section and you earn a P rating — the entry-level USA Fencing referee credential. P rating is valid for one full season; during that time you need to be observed by a Certified Referee Observer to be upgraded to L2."
Step 4. Completed
Passed practical Observation - Earned L2 Rating
After the exam, a Certified Referee Observer (CRO) needs to watch you call bouts in a sanctioned tournament and formally award an L2 rating. This is what allows you to officiate at local sanctioned events and start earning referee compensation. The P rating is a paper pass — the L2 is when you're officially on the ladder.
Step 5. Future goal
L1 --> R2 --> R1 --> National Circuit
The full USA Fencing referee ladder runs from L2 (local beginner) through L1, R2, R1 (regional), N2, and N1 (national). Each step up requires demonstrated competency observed by a CRO or CRI. This is a years-long journey — I'm at the very beginning of it.
From the strip
Things I've noticed calling bouts I didn't expect
Real observations from two-plus years of reffing at club practice. Not rules from a book — things that happened when the rules met real people on a real strip.
Every fencer thinks they had it
I say this with complete understanding — I've been that fencer. But from outside the phrase, it becomes obvious how much faster the world feels from inside the action. Fencers are reacting in fractions of a second and the brain fills in the gaps. What feels like a clean attack from inside is sometimes barely a preparation from outside. Knowing this has actually changed how I react to calls that go against me when I'm competing.
Where you stand changes everything you see
The angle matters enormously. Too far behind one fencer and I miss distance. Too far to the side and I lose the blade contact moment. I've been figuring out how to track the action as it moves — following the phrase is a separate skill from knowing what to call, and it takes practice independent of any rulebook study.
The hardest call is the counter-attack
Everyone talks about the simultaneous attack as the most difficult call in sabre. I think the harder one is a counter-attack that arrives just before the attack lands — did it get there with enough time to negate the attack? Was there point-in-line? These are the calls I get wrong most often at club level, and the ones I'm focusing on most in the study guide.
How you say it matters as much as what you say
Every word has a specific meaning and a specific order. When I hesitate or mumble, both fencers immediately start arguing their case. When the call comes out clean and immediate — even on a close phrase — most of the time the fencer who lost just nods and resets. The communication style is half the job.
What's coming
AI referees - technology being built right now
Can AI help referees?
While I was studying for the referee exam, I started looking at projects that are using AI and video to analyze fencing actions.
I found this especially interesting because some of the actions that are difficult for AI to recognize are also difficult for me to call when I'm refereeing. Saber happens incredibly fast, and sometimes the important part of an action is over before you have time to think about it.
One project I'm following is Allez Go, which is experimenting with computer vision and other data to identify right of way.
I don't know how well systems like this will eventually work or whether they will ever be used in actual tournaments. I'm mostly interested in seeing whether a computer can learn to recognize the same actions I'm learning to call myself.
I'll keep following the technology and add updates here if I get a chance to actually test one of these systems.
Why I'm watching this
If AI can reliably assist with right of way calls, it changes what a human referee needs to focus on. Instead of trying to call the exact millisecond of priority, a ref could focus on safety, sportsmanship, and the situational complexity that AI still struggles with. That's actually a more interesting job. I want to understand both sides of this as it develops — as a competitor, and as someone studying to be a certified official.