What 50 Years in Fencing Taught Me About Developing Young Athletes by Eric Rosenberg 

A History Lesson

Let me begin with a history lesson. My fencing career began in New York City during the early 1970s. On a whim, I joined my HS fencing Club at the end of my sophomore year, qualifying for the varsity team as a senior. Considering today’s status quo, I find it ironic that my parents’ attitude regarding this endeavor ranged from apathy to irritation. In sum, they were uninvolved, having never providing any financial support, or attending any competitions.

The Post-War American Model

The only weapon the PSAL (Public School Athletic League) sanctioned was foil. NY and NJ were one of the few states to offer fencing as a high school sport; consequently, it was the exclusive entry point for nearly all aspiring younger competitors. Teams were supervised by PE or other teachers with little to no pedagogical training in the sport. The smattering of private clubs in the NY metropolitan area had no organized youth development programs, and only a handful of kids under the age of 16 took private lessons. A fortunate few were members of the Fencers Club (FC), NYAC or Salle Santelli, and received lessons from certified Masters; otherwise, instruction was relegated to underqualified former fencers or “self-proclaimed” Fencing Masters. During the post-war era through the mid-1980’s, US fencers’ training was based on this antiquated paradigm: one or two short private lessons per week, followed by an hour or two of unsupervised bouting. Divisions of the AFLA (Amateur Fencers League of America, the forerunner of our current NGB), sponsored local competitions, but none were geared towards youth or under 17 fencers. Women were only permitted to train and compete in foil. Even the top fencers rarely attended World Cup competitions, other than those who qualified for the World Championships and Olympic Games. The next step for aspiring US fencers was via the NCAA, which included most Ivy League Universities, Military Academies, and a smattering of Colleges across the country with traditions of fielding teams. Here at least, there was more consistent training under the aegis of better qualified coaches. While these NCAA programs produced some highly talented athletes, many ended their competitive careers upon graduation, unwilling or unable to commit the time and financial resources towards continuing.

Europe Pulls Ahead

The dominant fencing countries during the post-war era — France, Italy and Hungary — had vastly greater numbers of competitive fencers developed through well-established training programs. However, the major paradigm shift occurred when the Soviet Union and other eastern European countries recognized the propaganda value of sports and began committing considerable resources to producing elite competitive athletes. In effect, fencing became professionalized, while the US remained a nation of dilettantes.

A Revelation Abroad

By the 1980’s a growing number of baby boomers, myself included, decided to continue post-collegiately, by attending National Circuit Events and even dabbling in World Cup competition. My experience at these international events was revelatory; it begged the question – why were the eastern and western European fencers so much better than we were?

A New Generation of Masters Arrives

The 1980’s heralded a new generation of professionally trained Fencing Masters emigrating to the US. Some assumed coveted university coaching positions, while others worked at established or formed their own private clubs. Unfortunately, those were forced to abandon the structured training paradigms used so effectively in their home countries and adopt the outdated US model of exclusively giving individual lessons. Since the late 1970’s, I volunteered to run the free Saturday morning youth development program at the FC, which was geared towards High School students, using limited knowledge gleaned from club coaches, observations while visiting European clubs, and outmoded instructional tomes. Fortuitously, I was able to forge strategic partnerships with several of the FCs new generation of professionally trained Fencing Masters, including Dr Aladar Kogler, Yury Gelman and Simon Gershon. I began adopting elements of these international training systems which focused on gearing instruction towards pre-adolescents. Bucky Leach, the groundbreaking US coach who ran the Rochester Fencing Center, provided greater impetus, especially when his student Iris Zimmerman became the first American to win a Cadet World Championship.

Revamping the Development Program

By the 1990s, I committed to revamp the FCs development program, shifting towards students aged seven to thirteen, and increasing the frequency of training to four times weekly. Working with Dr Kogler in particular, I was responsible for leading physical conditioning, group footwork and technical drills, tactical bouting exercises and free fencing, in addition to accompanying students to competitions and strip coaching.

Expanding the Talent Pool

Recognizing the need for more affordable competitive opportunities, I spearheaded a regional youth circuit program (RYCs) by working with clubs in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and Boston to organize and run a series of competitions for fencers in the youth age categories. Eventually, this concept gained traction and is now a mainstay across the US. By the mid-90’s, Dr Kogler and I began bringing fencers to an international summer training camp in Hungary run by Hungarian national women’s foil coach Tony Solte. By then, I had been approached by Peter Westbrook, who wanted to start a development program geared towards inner city youth, and recognizing the opportunity to expand our prospective talent pool, I welcomed his involvement. When parents began seeing the remarkable results we were achieving at national and international competitions, other FC coaches were now empowered to adopt their proven training methodologies and our club became the epicenter of American fencing.

The College Placement Program

Another innovation involved establishing relationships with college coaches across the country. I knew that pre-adolescent athletes that began training with us, even if they were not destined to qualify for National Teams, would be highly desirable recruits. Consequently, I instituted a college placement program, which informed parents of opportunities and established reasonable benchmarks to help facilitate the admissions process. Every year, I would prominently post a list of our graduating High School seniors’ college admissions, which became a major selling point for parents committing to long term memberships.

Mentoring and Managing Expectations

Mentoring athletes was a critical role. Some, with exceptional talent and motivation, were destined for international teams. However, the majority were not. It was critical to manage the expectations of both parents and athletes, and set realistic and satisfying goals. Some parents, guilty of living vicariously, could be especially difficult by obtruding in training, becoming a distraction at competition, putting undo pressure on coaches and most deleteriously, their children. This was always problematic for professional coaches. However, I held a unique advantage. As an unpaid volunteer, both parents and fencers were forced to acknowledge that my mentorship was asymmetrical: I did not work for them; they were beholden to me.

The Art of Composure

Still, I could empathize with the emotional reactions of parents, especially during competitions. When I began strip coaching, I learned an important lesson from Yves Auriol, a highly respected Fencing Master and head coach at Notre Dame University. After watching me have a meltdown in response to an egregious call against one of my younger fencers, he quietly offered invaluable advice: when your student sees you lose control and get angry, they lose control and focus; if you react calmly and with reassurance, they will mirror your response. As much as this is true for the student/coach relationship, especially with youth fencers, it carries even greater consequence with parents and children. If a parent had difficulty maintaining this level of stoicism, I offered two options: read a book while your child competes, or do something constructive, specifically video tape (this was the pre-apple cell phone camera era) bouts for future analysis, or film your child’s primary competitors. By then, I was using a fencing version of sabermetrics to evaluate performance by analyzing tapes and compiling statistics.

The Fencers Club Era

By the 2000’s, the FC had achieved hegemonic status in Foil and Saber. At 2004 Olympics, the entire Men’s foil and saber teams and the sole Woman’s foil and epeeist were members. By 2008, the US Olympic Men’s Saber team, under the aegis of Yury Gelman, were silver medalists, as was the Women’s Foil team, two thirds of whom were FC members. Throughout that and the previous decade, the number of Junior and Cadet World Championship medalists, World Championship Team members and World Cup medalists are too numerous to mention. More importantly were the scores of graduating seniors we helped gain admission and athletic scholarships to the colleges of their choice.

The True Value of Fencing

Through my own competitive experiences and involvement in youth development, I recognized the true value of fencing. It developed character, instilled self-discipline, compelled a powerful work ethic, emotional control, sangfroid, tactical abilities, critical thinking and the value of teamwork. I can’t imagine a better set of criteria for participating in any elective activity.

Constants That Never Change

While training methodologies continue to evolve, there are still some constants that are immutable, especially with youth fencers.

1. The Coach-Student-Parent relationship: in researching the optimal training program, parents should review the CV of the coaches, starting with their formal pedagogical training, experience and results. The best coaches I have known had degrees in PE, advanced training in Masters Programs and served apprenticeships at successful clubs. The foundation of the parent-coach relationship must be based on trust and confidence. equally important, the student must enjoy working with the coach, and forge a bond based on trust and eagerness to work.
2. The Club Organizational Structure: fencers can never develop in isolation. Relatively homogeneous training groups are critical to a coherent training program. The group aspects of training — physical conditioning, footwork, technical/tactical drills, controlled bouting and free fencing — are equally, if not more essential, than individual lessons to the process. Young fencers bond with their contemporaries and form friendships that cement their commitment to training. In the good old days, we called this esprit de corps.
3. How much is too much: Since I began more extensive group work, I consulted with several physical therapists who specialized in competitive athletes to determine how to best structure the training program. I suffered chronic orthopedic issues resulting from fencing, and did not want to inflict the same problems on my group. The PTs immediately red-flagged certain exercises as highly detrimental, modified others, insisted on the need for regularly interspersed periods of rest and regeneration, suggested cross training to compensate for the unilateral and asymmetrical imbalances inherent in fencing, but more than anything, stressed that if an athlete was injured, they needed appropriate therapy and a sufficient recovery period. When working with FC coaches, I began compiling informal statistics on how many of their youth athletes developed chronic injuries. One coach in particular had a disproportionate number, and I immediately recognized why. He insisted on a more intensive training regimen than every other coach. Even worse, when I questioned his judgement as to why he allowed a youth fencer recovering from a serious knee injury to return to training before her PT’s recommendation, he responded “she says she feels fine.” Her parents accepted this decision. I do not believe that the judgement of a 12-year-old should supersede that of a trained professional. This extends to parents as well; if a responsible coach sets the parameters of training, they must be respected. Parents whose attempts, no matter how well intentioned, to supersede the training paradigm with outside lessons risk confusing their child with conflicting technical models or worse, chronic injury resulting from overtraining. The choice is simple: either you commit to the coach’s program, or find another coach.
4. Variable rates of maturation and over-selection: two of the most successful athletes I worked with were brother and sister Keeth and Erinn Smart. Erinn, who was a year younger, began fencing at twelve and was a prodigy. Within two years, she was dominating her age category and qualified for cadet and Junior world championship teams. Keeth had a more arduous path to success. Psychometric tests reveal he had superior plyometric ability, essentially, legs like spring loaded cannons. However, his basic coordination was poor, which severely impacted his competitive performance as a Junior and Cadet. His contemporary saber fencing teammates, Ivan lee and Akhi Spencer-el, quickly surpassed him, achieving superior results domestically and internationally. Even Peter Westbrook, the doyen of FC saber fencing, dismissed Keeth as a second-tier prospect. I disagreed. Beyond from his incomparable explosiveness, Keeth had an indominable work ethic, and I knew that once he passed through an awkward adolescence, his coordination would rapidly improve, especially since he worked tirelessly on his technical skills and dynamic footwork. At age 19, it happened. Keeth not only became the top ranked US senior saber fencer, he was also the first American to be ranked number one in the world. I can provide numerous examples of young fencers who excelled in the youth and cadet categories, only to be surpassed by others whose delayed physical maturation precluded early success. Past results do not guarantee future performance. What lessons can parents of youth fencers learn from this? Never focus on competitive results; always reward effort and consistent hard work. Those elements will ultimately lead to optimal performance, whatever the result.

A Final Word to Parents

To every parent reading this, let me conclude by focusing one key element: your child’s enjoyment and personal growth are the paramount reasons to fence. Everything else should be subordinate. Once they fall in love with the sport as I did, it can have a truly transformative impact on their character and future endeavors