Best Boarding School for Fencing?

SevenDad
Mon, 30 Aug 2021 19:55:41 +0000

If you are in the NYC area and happy with your day school experience, that could be your best bet, IMO. Primarily because it gives your daughter access to some of the top saber clubs in the country (including FC and Manhattan Fencing) and the flexibility to travel when needed on weekends (for locals, regionals, and NACs — and if/when she’s at that level, internationals).

Because she’s a sabreuse, maybe consider Dana Hall in Wellesley so she could train at Zeta? Or Oregon Episcopal School so she could train at OFA? Culver has a varsity fencing team and kids can train at Escrime du Lac, a club that’s run by ND’s coaches.

While Lawrenceville has a varsity fencing team and regularly sends fencers to top D1 programs…they don’t seem to make it easy for kids to train at outside clubs year-round. That said, it’s located very close to Princeton, whose head coach (Zoltan Dudas) runs a 3-weapon club called TigerZ (note that during the pandemic, the PU fencing gym was restricted to PU students/athletes…according to info online, club seems to still be closed).

My daughter who fences started her BS career at Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, NY — and then, for a variety of reasons, decided to transfer after two years. She finished her high school experience at George School in Newtown, PA and trained at TigerZ (and Fencers Club)…lots of logistical issues to sort out her Junior and Senior years.

If you haven’t already discovered it, there is a thread in the Athletic Recruiting sub-forum that is dedicated to fencing.

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/t/the-only-college-fencing-recruiting-thread-you-need-to-read

I would definitely read through that thread. FWIW, I think it’s critical to know EXACTLY where you stand relative to others in your recruiting year before targeting any colleges/programs. Being on the national points lists will be important in terms of getting your foot in the door — especially at the top college programs.

Best of luck and feel free to ask any questions here, on that thread I shared a link to, or via PM. I spent a lot of the past decade doing things related to fencing, and have loved our family’s time in the sport.