Intercollegiate Fencing Association
Encyclopedia
The Intercollegiate Fencing Association (IFA) is the oldest collegiate fencing
conference in the United States
. It is affiliated with the Eastern College Athletic Conference
(ECAC).
only competes in women's fencing
; the remaining 11 teams participate with men's and women's teams.
Seven of the members of the IFA are also members of the Ivy League
, and all of the Ivy universities with Division I fencing programs are also members of the IFA. Dartmouth College
does not have a varsity fencing program.
on Saturday March 3, 2007. Because no suitable venue at Princeton
was available, the tournament was held nearby at the Lawrenceville School
.
There are 9 trophies given to teams at the annual IFA Championships in the following categories:
Among these awards, the most prestigious is the trophy given to the Men's Foil
team champion, currently Yale University. This trophy is known as the Little Iron Man and is the oldest trophy still awarded for any collegiate sport in the United States. It was cast in 1893 and has been awarded to the IFA Men's Foil
team champion since 1896.
The 2008 IFA Championship Tournament will take place on Sunday, 24 February at Columbia University
.
The 2009 IFA Championship Tournament will take place on Saturday, 28 February at Brandeis University
.
2010 will mark the first time in its history that the event will not take place.
The Little Iron Man is the oldest trophy in collegiate sports, still awarded today.
It is awarded each year to the team that wins the Men's Foil competition at the Intercollegiate Fencing Association championships.
The trophy was cast in 1893 and has been awarded to the IFA Men's Foil team champion since 1896.
Collegiate fencing
Collegiate fencing has existed for a long time. Some of the earliest programs in the US came from the Ivy League schools, but now there are over 100 fencing programs in the US. Both clubs and varsity teams participate in the sport, however only the varsity teams may participate in the NCAA...
conference in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is affiliated with the Eastern College Athletic Conference
Eastern College Athletic Conference
The Eastern College Athletic Conference is a college athletic conference comprising schools that compete in 21 sports . It has 317 member institutions in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, ranging in location from Maine to North Carolina and west to Illinois...
(ECAC).
Membership
The IFA has 12 members. CornellCornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
only competes in women's fencing
Fencing
Fencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...
; the remaining 11 teams participate with men's and women's teams.
- Boston CollegeBoston CollegeBoston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...
- Brandeis UniversityBrandeis UniversityBrandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
- Brown UniversityBrown UniversityBrown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
- Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
- Cornell UniversityCornell UniversityCornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
- Harvard UniversityHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
- M.I.T.Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyThe Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
- New York UniversityNew York UniversityNew York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
- Princeton UniversityPrinceton UniversityPrinceton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
- University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of PennsylvaniaThe University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
- Vassar CollegeVassar CollegeVassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
- Yale UniversityYale UniversityYale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
Seven of the members of the IFA are also members of the Ivy League
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...
, and all of the Ivy universities with Division I fencing programs are also members of the IFA. Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
does not have a varsity fencing program.
IFA Championship Tournament
The 2007 IFA Championship tournament was hosted by Princeton UniversityPrinceton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
on Saturday March 3, 2007. Because no suitable venue at Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
was available, the tournament was held nearby at the Lawrenceville School
Lawrenceville School
The Lawrenceville School is a coeducational, independent preparatory boarding school for grades 9–12 located on in the historic community of Lawrenceville, in Lawrence Township, New Jersey, U.S., five miles southwest of Princeton....
.
There are 9 trophies given to teams at the annual IFA Championships in the following categories:
- Men's FoilFoil (fencing)A foil is a type of weapon used in fencing. It is the most common weapon in terms of usage in competition, and is usually the choice for elementary classes for fencing in general.- Components:...
- Men's ÉpéeÉpée (fencing)The épée is the modern derivative of the dueling sword, the smallsword . Épée is French for "sword"....
- Men's SaberSabre (fencing)The sabre is one of the three weapons of modern sport fencing, and is alternatively spelled saber in American English. The sabre differs from the other modern fencing weapons, the épée and foil, in that it is possible to score with the edge of the blade; for this reason, sabreur movements and...
- Women's FoilFoil (fencing)A foil is a type of weapon used in fencing. It is the most common weapon in terms of usage in competition, and is usually the choice for elementary classes for fencing in general.- Components:...
- Women's ÉpéeÉpée (fencing)The épée is the modern derivative of the dueling sword, the smallsword . Épée is French for "sword"....
- Women's SaberSabre (fencing)The sabre is one of the three weapons of modern sport fencing, and is alternatively spelled saber in American English. The sabre differs from the other modern fencing weapons, the épée and foil, in that it is possible to score with the edge of the blade; for this reason, sabreur movements and...
- Men's 3-Weapon Team
- Women's 3-Weapon Team
- Men's and Women's 6-Weapon Team
Among these awards, the most prestigious is the trophy given to the Men's Foil
Foil (fencing)
A foil is a type of weapon used in fencing. It is the most common weapon in terms of usage in competition, and is usually the choice for elementary classes for fencing in general.- Components:...
team champion, currently Yale University. This trophy is known as the Little Iron Man and is the oldest trophy still awarded for any collegiate sport in the United States. It was cast in 1893 and has been awarded to the IFA Men's Foil
Foil (fencing)
A foil is a type of weapon used in fencing. It is the most common weapon in terms of usage in competition, and is usually the choice for elementary classes for fencing in general.- Components:...
team champion since 1896.
The 2008 IFA Championship Tournament will take place on Sunday, 24 February at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
.
The 2009 IFA Championship Tournament will take place on Saturday, 28 February at Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
.
2010 will mark the first time in its history that the event will not take place.
Little Iron Man
It is awarded each year to the team that wins the Men's Foil competition at the Intercollegiate Fencing Association championships.
The trophy was cast in 1893 and has been awarded to the IFA Men's Foil team champion since 1896.
See also
- United States Association of Collegiate Fencing Clubs (USACFC)USACFCThe United States Association of Collegiate Fencing Clubs is a non-profit corporation that, among other things, puts on the largest annual collegiate fencing event in the world.- Sites of USACFC National Championships :...
- National Intercollegiate Women's Fencing AssociationNational Intercollegiate Women's Fencing AssociationThe National Intercollegiate Women's Fencing Association is a women's collegiate fencing organization in the United States. The organization was founded as the IWFA in 1929 by two New York University students, Julia Jones and Dorothy Hafner and Betsy Ross, a student at Cornell University who based...
(NIWFA)
External links
- Intercollegiate Fencing Association home page
- ECAC home page