Issue date: 9/22/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: J. Patrick Clayton [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: J. Patrick Clayton A fencing mask in the Texas A&M fencing club armory in G. Rollie White Coliseum. [Click to enlarge]

Sparks flew from the clashing sabers, briefly lighting the dark, night-time surroundings. The fencers, two members of the Texas A&M fencing club, were sparring just outside the walls of Kyle Field as passersby looked on.

Senior Emily Magnotta, a recreation, park and tourism sciences major from Pennsylvania, is the president of the Aggie fencing club. She fenced in high school and joined the A&M team during her sophomore year.

"I fenced for two years in high school and this will be my third year at A&M," she said. "[High school] was more of a club thing. [A&M] is definitely more organized, more competitive and more in your face. It wasn't so much in high school. It was just for fun."

Junior electrical engineering major John Beck met with the group at MSC Open House in August and said he was convinced that he should give the club a try.

"I walked in about three weeks ago," Beck said. "I was just a little curious. I had thought about it. I don't know anything about it but I have a good time. Not really any prior interest before I saw that booth."

Fencing is one of the oldest sports played in the modern world. It dates back to the Renaissance period when it was used for military training.

The sport has evolved from sword fight training to an event played in the Olympics and in tournaments worldwide.

The saber is one of three weapons employed in fencing including the epee and the foil. The saber is a light cutting and thrusting weapon, the epee is a heavy thrusting weapon and the foil is a light thrusting weapon. While each weapon has different characteristics, the rules for events in each weapon varies.

"Everything is different," Magnotta said. "They look different, they have different blades, they have different bell guards, the way you hold them is different, the way you move, your actions - they're three completely different weapons."

The Aggies compete in the Southwest Intercollegiate Fencing Association, or SWIFA. The United States Fencing Association (USFA), the organization that directs team USA Olympic fencing, parents SWIFA.

SWIFA is to fencing what the Big 12 Conference is to football, and the USFA is comparable to the NCAA. A&M fences against eight Texas schools including Baylor, Houston, Texas, Rice, Texas Tech, Texas-San Antonio, North Texas and Texas State.

The Aggies compete in two SWIFA events a semester and must qualify for USFA nationals, which is held once a year. Nationals have been played in California, South Carolina, Florida, New Hampshire, Indiana and Massachusetts.

"We've gone to nationals the last two years," Magnotta said. "The women's foil team placed ninth out of 33 last year and everyone else did very well also because we had a lot of new kids come."

However, the Aggie fencing club is not solely directed toward the competitive side of the sport. It is always after new members to help grow participation and awareness of the sport. The club is accommodating to those who have never touched a saber thanks to coaching instruction and an armory full of equipment.

"It's everything you want it to be," Magnotta said. "If you don't know anything about fencing, you come and we teach you everything. We provide you all the equipment. If you are experienced and you've won five national championships, you come here and you meet new people, you help us fundraise, you teach the new kids and you just have a good time. We're open to all skill levels."

For its beginners the club provides all the equipment and weapons, including the electronic vests that indicate when a strike is made.

Members must pay $75 a semester to take part, which is less than the $125 required by the Texas fencing club. Despite the fees, the club still struggles to meet costs. They do fundraising events including bake sales and car washes throughout the year to help make ends meet. They also receive a yearly allotment from Rec Sports.

"We need all the money we can get," Magnotta said. "A lot of our equipment needs to be phased out. It's still workable and is still perfectly fine but I would love to see us get some new equipment."

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