<p>Hello all,
I was wondering if anyone could tell me if the Brown fencing squads would be even remotely open to novice fencers? Would a motivated athlete, having done varsity sports in high school, but with little to no experience in fencing, have even the slightest chance to make the team? Or am I being pretentious to even be asking the question ? </p>
<p>PS: does anyone know how the whole tryout process works at Brown? </p>
<p>Thanks :)</p>
<p>I can’t think of a single US fencing squad that would not welcome interested newcomers. Not much HS level fencing going on, ya know.</p>
<p>You’ll be fine</p>
<p>Thanks for the info!</p>
<p>Former brown walk on</p>
<p>If you are a girl (I’m guessing you’re not, bob) then you will definitely be able to walk on there is no limit to the number of female fencers. As a man, you might not be able to because the team is capped at 15. Ivy League fencing is very competitive and even though brown is one of the worst schools, I do not believe there are any novice males on the team. The last full blown novice walk on was my year (I graduated in 09. I walked on with a few years of high school fencing). The class of 11 had one guy with only a few months of non competitive fencing.</p>
<p>You can certainly try. The team holds open try outs in the beginning of the fall (if I recall practices started mid September and the final roster decided in October). Recruits have no repercussions for quitting since there are no athletic scholarships so if youre lucky there might be a spot.</p>
<p>The fencing coach in the past was known as a fencing snob, and made novice participation difficult if impossible. I don’t know why there hasn’t been a fencing club started to accommodate the many people who do not want to compete at the team level etc. Maybe this will be your contribution to life at Brown?</p>
<p>I assume you’re talking about whoever coached before atilio Tass because that description sure doesn’t fit him.</p>
<p>The coach prior to Tass was Peter Brand, now at Harvard. That said, after surviving the threat of a cut in 2011, he is now well funded and Tass is trying to build a program. He has recently been much more active in seeking recruits, so my guess given the current roster and what I know as to high level fencers expressing interest, that the OP’s desires do not coincide at all with the (appropriate) goal of the program.</p>
<p>This validates what I had heard recently. See note above. So far as I know, unlike a lot of other activities, there is currently no support/ structure to encourage novice fencers: either true novice (beginners) , or students who have fenced in HS or a local club at home, but just want to do it on the level of equivalent of local club participation. Two local small colleges in my town offer fencing either as supporting a local club (who in turn offers fencing lessons to meet that colleges “PE” requirement), or just for fun/ low level state competition. Brown has lots of other intramural and regional club teams in other areas (soccer, squash?, dance, Taikwondo, ultimate frisbee) who do both the competition level and community level. The ballroom dance team /club is a good model of a team participating (mostly un/underfunded by Brown) at a regional and national level, and at the same time offering participation at all levels to interested students. It’s a pity that fencing in this variety does not exist, to my knowledge, at Brown. Again, if the OP attends, maybe they can start a fencing club!</p>
<p>The other post about starting a club team is a great idea. Also, I was informed that there is a new fencing club opening within a very short walk of the Brown campus, “Extreme Fencing Studio”, run by Ervin Szucs, a highly regarded coach who will also serve in some capacity as an assistant coach for the Brown NCAA program. There is also weekend opportunities to fence in Boston. So, while it isn’t close access to NYAC or Manhattan FC, and what dynamic this has with the Brown student body has yet to be seen, it is a good start in the right direction for this program and for all fencing in the Providence area, including novices.</p>
<p>The closest club (other than this new one) is RIFAC (Rhode Island Fencing Academy) in Warren. 20min drive - which I did once to buy equipment, or 45mins on RIPTA according to google.</p>
<p>If you want to occasionally fence on weekends if you don’t make the team talk to some of the fencers and you can try to arrange something.</p>
<p>Actually RIFAC is now in East Providence, about a 10 minute ride from Brown. Some of the Brown fencers are RIFAC members (from youth) and I believe would be happy to talk to you about the club.</p>