The NY Gifted Education Examiner has written in the past about the intellectual benefits of fencing, its status as "physical chess" and the many public and private schools for the gifted that include it in their curriculum for precisely those reasons.
If you have a budding swordsman on your hands, you will be happy to know that the United States Fencing Association has just announced the creation of a Future Stars program for up-and-coming fencing athletes ages 14 and younger.
The centerpiece of the program will be an eight-day camp that will be held for the top 15 male and top 15 female athletes in each weapon (epee, foil and saber) from July 29 – August 5 on the campus of the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne.
Athletes will be selected from the Y14 National Points Standings as of May 7, 2012.
The camp will include two days of training and instruction followed by a day trip to Disney World (child does not live by weapons alone, after all) and then two more days of training. The camp will include technical, tactical and physical assessment and will be overseen by Michael Marx, a five-time Olympian who fenced both epee and foil, and who is currently the USA Fencing Coaching Development Coordinator.
The camp will conclude with a tournament in which the top three finishers in each event will receive funding to compete in a Y15 event in Europe early in the 2012-2013 season. (The NY Gifted Education Examiner is a big proponent of monotizing your gifted child whenever possible!)
“We have an amazing staff of coaches lined up to work with our Future Stars who were once future stars themselves and will have an excellent perspective on the challenges and benefits of dedicating oneself to achieve their goals,” Marx said. “The staff includes coaches who had a high level of success at cadet, junior and senior levels and will be able to serve as role models and top-notch technicians for the next generation of fencers.”
Interested in getting your child involved in fencing?
Check out the following local academies:
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