Fencing was one of the original nine sports in the inaugural modern Olympic Games played in Athens, Greece in 1896. It is one of only four sports that have been featured at every single Olympic competition since 1896. There are three weapons in fencing: épée, foil, and saber.
And there are three students from Ravenwood High School that will take part in the upcoming Junior Olympics competition in Kansas City this weekend.
Alexis Enderle, Jenny Hall, Â and Bryce Alford are freshman at Ravenwood High School and also members of Music City Fencing Club and coached by Robert Piraino. Seven other students will join these local competitors at the Junior Olympics event.
In December, Alexis and Jenny competed in the Tennessee Division qualifier for the 2017 Jr. Olympics to earn spots to represent Tennessee in the Junior Division (age 20 and under), where Jenny placed 2nd in the Junior Women’s Foil event and Alexis placed 2nd in the Junior Women’s Epee event.
Bryce Alford began fencing competitively in 2016 and also fences through JROTC at Ravenwood, recently joining Music City Fencing Club’s competitive team.
“I am excited to go to the Junior Olympics because if I can rank high enough it can help me get a college scholarship in the future,” said Alford.
Alexis and Jenny began fencing competitively in 2015. Their introduction to the sport came through a class at the Williamson County Recreation Center but the two then joined the competition team at Music City Fencing.
Jenny looks ahead to the weekend’s competition with excitement.
“It is an honor to get to participate in the Junior Olympics. Fencing has been such an important part of my life for years, even more so within the past year, since joining Music City Fencing Club. I’m so excited to see how I compare to other girls from around the country who share the same passion.”
The two also represented Tennessee at the US Fencing National Championships in Dallas this past summer. Alexis told us she never thought in just a short time she would be competing at such a high level.
“Fencing is a great sport if you are okay getting stabbed by your friends. When I started fencing a year and a half ago I never dreamed I would compete at the national level. I am very excited to be going to the Junior Olympics. Eventually, I hope to fence on a college team.”
Nearly 2,000 of the best young fencers in the nation will be making their way to Kansas City to compete in the USA Fencing Junior Olympic Championships this weekend. The athletes, many of whom have their eyes set on someday competing at the 2020 or 2024 Olympic Games, will vie for gold in individual and team events over four days at the Kansas City Convention Center.
The Competition will be held in each of the three fencing disciplines – epee, foil, and saber – for junior (U20) and cadet (U17) fencers. The tournament will be one of the final selection events for the 2017 Junior and Cadet World Championship Team where the top athletes in each weapon will compete against athletes from more than 40 nations from April 1-10 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
Alexis will be competing in Kansas City in the Junior Women’s Epee event, Jenny will be competing in the Junior Women’s Foil event and both will compete in the Cadet Women’s Epee event (age 17 and under). Bryce will compete in the Cadet Men’s Foil event.
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