Does anyone know what’s going on with the Yale team? Haibin Wang is “no longer serving as the head coach of the Yale University men’s and women’s fencing teams.”
Anyone knows when the national and international competition schedules will be released?
The news was abrupt and shocking. Not sure what exactly happened. But after looking at the Yale fencing roster, there is a disproportionately number of fencers from Canada, and some of them may not have reached the minimum recruitment standards. Fencers from Canada constantly compete in the NACs. I have never heard of their names and can’t find their names in the national points list, or having a decent FIE ranking.
IMHO, representation of Canadian fencers on Yale’s fencing roster is pretty reasonable. First, less than 20% of the roster is made up of Canadian fencers. This is not uncommon because of the general lack of a language barrier and the comparable quality of the Canadian education system. There are other programs with far more Canadian representation. Second, less competitive fencing programs, even at Ivies, do not generally get their pick from top recruits. They are more often selecting from outside of the classic top junior points list fencers. The circumstance that the current crop of Canadian fencers on the Yale team are not all well known or highly rated, is kind of irrelevant. They were all pretty successful in Canada. Several of them made actual World Teams, and had strong showings at Pan-Am Games, Junior World Cups, and elsewhere. Personally, I will wait for official word (assuming it is ever made public) as to the reasons for Coach Wang’s dismissal. It may indeed involve recruitment, but something tells me it is not related to an overabundance of Canadian fencers.
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Hail the actual @fencingguru! Great username. Self-proclaimed? jkjk
@BrooklynRye made some great points.
Generally, Canadian recruits, like other foreign athletes, compete more in their own national competitions. Foreign fencers are also not eligible to participate in USA Fencing National Championship events.This could explain why they aren’t highly ranked on the USFA national points list as they have less opportunities to compete in the US. Even the more competitive Div 1 fencing teams like PSU, OSU, ND and even Columbia just to name a few tend to recruit international fencers, not just the top nationally ranked American fencers.
What we do know is what Yale publicly announced:
“This decision was the result of a University process, initiated outside the Department of Athletics.”
This just in:
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Did Coach Wang recently sell his house?
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The firing of Coach Wang is the result of an university investigation independent of the athletics department. Indeed, the Yale announcement is reminiscent of the firing of the Harvard fencing coach. Most likely money involved. Regarding the Harvard case, Mr. Zhao, who is the CEO of a telecommunication company, bribed his younger son into Harvard. And Mr. Zhao’s son is only a mediocre fencer. Similar situations may apply to the firing of Coach Wang, some rich family’s kids who are just mediocre fencers may have been recruited into Yale at the expense of more qualified kids who have made achievements through years’ dedicated efforts (from fencers and parents as well) and really want to get recruited, but unfortunately, they cannot because they are from a normal family who do not have the financial means or “connections”.
Yale has been extremely circumspect in commenting on this matter. The only comment of which I am aware is that Coach Wang’s dismissal “was the result of a University process, initiated outside the Department of Athletics.” It does not cite an “investigation” and does not state that this is “independent” of the Department of Athletics. The point is, that we don’t know. You don’t know. Speculation is inappropriate in a broad public forum and unfair to Coach Wang. To date, the Coach Brand matter is totally different and of a much more serious nature. In any case, charges against Coach Brand are allegations of wrongdoing, not proof. Stating unequivocally that Mr. Zhao “bribed” Coach Brand is equally inappropriate and factually inaccurate.
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Cannot charge anyone without proof, search Harvard post “Former Harvard Fencing Coach, Parent Indicted on Bribery Charges by Federal Grand Jury”
I am not going to wander into the weeds with you regarding our justice system. Whatever the basis for the indictment (and the prosecution’s case could be circumstantial), the point is that such charges remain an allegation. This is the hallmark of our judicial system. To state unequivocally that someone is guilty of a crime with respect to which they have not been convicted, is factually inaccurate and wholly inappropriate.
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Speculation helps nobody in this sort of unfortunate situation.
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Can’t fire someone without investigation and probable cause. You are right, everything is speculation at the moment. I trust our justice system. If the university made a wrong decision, parties involved can certainly appeal. We will wait and see how things unfold.
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More likely there was nothing wrong with Coach Wang. Probably just another victim of the “new cold war” between China and the US.
Very interesting theory though
Every state outside of Montana you are considered an employee at will, meaning at anytime your employer can terminate you without warning and with no cause (the only thing you can’t do is terminate an employee for reasons covered under any protected class).
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Hi! Need some advice since recruitment is very hard and my son feels discouraged coz he feels like no coaches is interested. He is currently in the top 40 in the Junior’s points list. He just started his senior year in high school. He told us he wants to see how far he can go until his senior year in fencing. His goal since he started fencing was to fence for a college team. We told him to just do a walk on. Is there a chance he can fence as a walk on??
@SaraS81 hello and welcome aboard!! Is there any specific schools your son is interested in? If you have a few hours to kill I would suggest your read through this entire thread because there is some great information.
A few highlights for you to consider:
- Not all schools with fencing teams are active in recruiting (especially for boys) and D3 schools
- COVD may make this year a little unusual as athletes were given an extra year of availability
- Outside of D1-D3 there are 100 active club teams where your son could continue his fencing career (the Club championships is one of the largest fencing tournaments in the world)
Outside of fencing, how are your son’s grades and test scores? What is he interested in studying? Does he have a geographic preference?
Thank you,Novacat9191! I will continue reading this thread from page 1. He hasn’t told us which school exactly he’s really wanting to go to. Interested in medical field or psychology. He asked if he can see some schools like Penn State, Boston College, Brandeis and we’re planning to take him to NYU. 3.97GPA/1340 SAT & he has a pending SAT result to see if he can superscore. He is a member in his class cabinet, national honor society, participate in couple of volunteer programs like hospital volunteer research/teaching.
Walking on is definitely possible, but it may not be too late for some sort of coach support. I recommend carefully reading through this thread right away, as it contains valuable info for your child and you regarding options for fencing in college. Top 40 on the junior national rank list, especially after such an unusual past 18 months may draw coach interest even at this late date from some schools.
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@SaraS81 - What state are you in? Some schools to consider - Rutgers one of the top Psych programs in the country and a very active Club fencing team (they were D1 on the past but had dropped down to club). They compete in the Mid-Atlantic Fencing Conference.
I don’t believe NYU really recruits but they may give a coaches recommendation to Admissions. Would likely have to get the SAT score closer to 1450. Lafayette really doesn’t recruit heavily but your S would be a fit from a fencing and academic profile.
Some other really active club teams that might be an academic fit: William and Mary, Michigan, UCONN, TCNJ, UMD, PITT, RIT