Fall 2026 Registration Now Open: New at CFA for 2026-2027 Season.

Dear fencing friends and families!

Thank you so much for an amazing 2025-2026 season. Watching the fencers grow as athletes and human beings is the reason we exist.

Time to lock in for Fall 2026! Please read the following carefully, there are some exiting changes coming up.

Fall 2026 Pricelist. Please keep in mind we lowered prices last season. 12 Month Contracts are now only available for custom family plans. Overview page has been updated with Core package and class descriptions.

Click here to enter the Core Program scheduling pipeline for a one time registration fee of $45 per family. Deadline is August 5 but the earlier you purchase this, the better. It includes a form, please make sure to follow the directions carefully.

We talk to each family to make your schedule as convenient as possible. This takes a lot of work. Please understand we prioritize based on need and availability, never talent or finances.

The registration fee includes a meeting with the Head Coach, but a lot of it can be done via chat or email. The schedule grid Hephaestus is now locked and it's easiest to access it on a computer or the Google Docs suite on tablets.

Please request access by replying to this email or in our group chat. For families with multiple fencers, we can make you a personal copy of the pricelist in order to build a custom contract.

Everyone is looking for their private lessons to be scheduled as close to the group classes as possible. We are extremely conscious of the logistics it takes to participate in our programs and our schedule grid will go through multiple iterations before we lock in for the start of the season on Tuesday, September 8. It's a little nerveracking to watch the changes but it always works out. Packages will become available for purchase at the end of our Olympic Camp on Friday, August 14.

Membership now includes the following armory services: assembly, diagnostics, small repairs, rewires. We are stocked up on the parts necessary to repair about 30 weapons per month.

Weapon must have the major parts available in order to be submitted: blade, guard, socket, grip, pad, point, tip. We provide springs, screws and wire, all other parts are the responsibility of the fencer/parents.

An online ticketing system to track repair status in real time is in the works. Current turnaround time is 7 days, or overnight for an additional $90.

Work involving parts not in the CFA list of standard items is not covered under the 7 day turnaround time. Overnight work or work involving non-standard parts will depend on the availability of the armorers.

Other membership benefits described on the Overview page.

Make-Ups and Tournament Travel Team fees: we need to revisit our make-up-lesson policy and our policy regarding reimbursement of coaches’ expenses at away tournaments. The policies in effect last year weren’t meeting CFA’s needs and raised a number of concerns among our fencing families.

Rather than unilaterally change those policies, we are having a discussion with those who are interested about how we might revise those policies to better meet everyone’s needs. Please read this letter from Coach Jose that explains why our 2025-2026 policies need changes.

Join the discussion via our group chat. You are also invited to an all-hands meeting on Saturday, August 8 at 1pm in person or online to complete the discussion. Final policies will be released before the start of the 2026-2027 season on September 8. Click here to reserve your spot.

Group C: We are reducing warm-up games in favor of more professional physical preparation and footwork. Coaches Kyle and Iñaki will lead the first hour of Group C practices to boost our athletes’ physicality. The degree in kinesiology and collegiate fencing experience, combined with CFA’s technical expertise, put us on track to close the gap at higher levels.

Groups A and B: Classes will run concurrently. The first half is combined. The second half splits into age-appropriate groups, with optional intermingling if the kids are comfortable. A main coach (Coach Iñaki or Coach Kyle) will be assisted by an additional coach. We piloted this format on Thursdays last season, and it worked very well.

Athlete Prep is now 1.5 hours to accommodate setting up training stations. Fencing is becoming more and more physical at the National and International level. With Coach Kyle joining CFA, we will be adding modern, optimized methods to increase our fencers speed, stamina and coordination far faster than previously seen at CFA.

Thank you for your time and we are looking forward to seeing you at Cardinal Fencing Academy in the Fall of 2026!

Head Coach and Founder

Ilya V. Lobanenkov

CFA Administrative Manager

Sofia Iva