Amateur Fencers League of America


The Amateur Fencers League of America was founded on April 22, 1891, in New York City by a group of fencers seeking independence from the Amateur Athletic Union. As early as 1940, the AFLA was recognized by the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime and the United States Olympic Committee as the national governing body for fencing in the United States.

History

1891-1956

Less than a year after the AFLA's founding, friendly relations were restored with the AAU. The AFLA grew slowly, with New York City initially dominating American fencing. The first competitions were visually judged using a jury of three people. Early rules included provisions to award points based on good form. During the AFLA's early years, it—and the prominent New York City fencing clubs—limited membership to people from prominent aristocratic families, and did not allow Jews and Blacks to become members.
During the AFLA's first year, divisional organizations formed in New England and Nebraska, while the New York fencers remained in the "non-divisional group". The first section, the Pacific Coast section, was formed in 1925, followed in 1934 by the Mid-West section. In 1939, the national championships were held in San Francisco, the first time they had ever been held outside New York City. The All-Eastern section was recognized in 1939 as well.
By 1940, the rules had been revised several times, with some standardization finally occurring with the adoption of the FIE rules in the 1920s. Points for good form were no longer awarded, the jury had been expanded to four judges and a director, and rules for electrically judged épée bouts were adopted. Foil and sabre bouts remained visually judged, and electrical épée bouts were the exception rather than the rule.
The AFLA remained a small organization for the first fifty years of its existence, with approximately 1,250 members in 1940. It had grown from three divisions to 25, with about 300 scheduled competitions each year. Despite its small size, the AFLA fielded teams to represent the United States in fencing events at all of the Summer Olympic Games from 1904 onward.
In 1949, the AFLA made American Fencing the official publication of the league. Continued growth resulted in the formation of the Southwest section in 1950 and the North Atlantic section in 1955.
The league maintained a strict amateur code. Until 1953, professionals were excluded from membership in the AFLA. Competition for professionals was limited.

1957-1983

By 1957, the AFLA was scheduling more than 400 competitions every year. The Cold War was affecting many sports, including fencing; the Soviet Bloc nations began systematically reinventing fencing to take advantage of the new electrical foil. In order to remain competitive internationally, AFLA fencers had to adapt to the emerging style.
Steady growth of the league continued, and in 1964, the AFLA incorporated as a nonprofit in Pennsylvania. By this time, more foil and épée competitions were being judged electrically than visually. In addition to the non-divisional group, the AFLA boasted 49 active divisions.
The AFLA changed its name to the United States Fencing Association in June 1981. In 1982, the organization moved its headquarters to Colorado Springs, Colorado. The following year, it hired full-time employees for the first time. The organization's bylaws were rewritten to reflect a much stronger support for international and Olympic competitors, and the role of divisional and sectional level competition was substantially diminished. Except for beginners' competitions and small local events, essentially all competition in foil and épée was electrically judged.
These events in the early 1980s solidified the evolutionary branching between fencing and standard fencing. The intervening two decades also brought on the classical fencing and historical fencing movements, neither of which have much connection to USFA/AFLA fencing.

Rules

The AFLA's rules of fencing went through many revisions. The following is a summary of the revisions:

1891 edition

Most of the activity in the AFLA occurred at the divisional level. As a democratic organization, divisions enjoyed almost complete autonomy.

1892 divisions

1956 divisions

1964 divisions

Officers