Conn Students Take a Stab at Fencing

A Summer Olympic sport and one of only three sports that have been in every Olympiad of the modern era, fencing is garnering attention on campus from both beginners and those with a background in it.
Fencing has been traditionally dominated by European countries with the Italians, French and Hungarians winning a majority of the medals since 1896.
It is a combat sport that uses swords and other similar weapons to strike opponents in an attempt to win.
Fencing is divided into three weapons categories known as the foil, epee and sabre. The differences between the three are based on target area and attack.
Foil participants can only score by striking the opponent in the torso while epee partakers can hit their opponents anywhere on their body, therefore making the target much bigger.
Sabre contestants target everything from the waist up and can be awarded points by using either a stabbing or cutting motion.
Both foil and epee require swords to use only a stabbing motion.
One point is awarded for each hit and participants also wear protective clothing to avoid injury from the weapons.
When teams compete in meets, they use three fencers per weapon making a total of nine entrees. Each person squares off against a member of the opposing side until one person reaches five points. The team that wins the most bouts wins the competition.
Connecticut College’s fencing team, Conn Garde, currently has many people interested including both newcomers and students who have participated in fencing on either high school teams or fencing clubs. Connecticut College used to have a fencing team but it had since been discontinued.
Conn Garde Public Relations Chair Alexandra Leith ’11 had a big hand in bringing back the team and describes the whole process as “really awesome and exciting.”
When Leith arrived on campus her freshman year, she expressed interest in restarting the team because of her background in the sport but was never able to garner enough interest from students.
This past summer while scouring the “Connecticut College Class of 2013” Facebook group, she noticed many incoming freshmen expressing in fencing and many background experience.
With so many beginners on the team, it will likely be a semester or so before any formal intercollegiate competitions take place. The team is still in the developmental stages but the enthusiasm is strong.
Currently the team has no official coaches but Leith confirms that the more experienced fencers will help the beginners at practice.
Practices are still being organized but will likely be twice a week, although where and when the practices are is still yet to be determined. In addition, the team is looking into buying equipment off the internet or from wholesalers, hopefully at a discount because fencing equipment (particularly the electrical equipment that detects whether or not an attack has been made on an opponent) can be quite expensive.
Although Conn Garde is still in the early stages of growth, there seems to be tremendous enthusiasm and excitement about the establishment of a fencing team at Connecticut College. Leith is “very glad this has gotten going” and probably like many other fencers on the team, is excited about the promising future of Conn Garde.