Westfield High School Fencing Club In Its 2nd Year

by Christina Whang

Anyone interested in joining the fencing team can attend the information meeting tomorrow, Oct 16. after school in Westfield High School room 252 . Practices will begin Wednesday, October 22, 3:30-5:00pm.

Here are some facts about NJ high school and collegiate fencing:

• . There are over 50 high schools that compete in the NJISAA Fencing Championships.
• · Every year NJ sends over 160 student athletes to the Fencing Junior Olympics.
• · NJ has a Division II team: Stevens Institute of Technology that has recruited over 30 athletes for its team.
• · NJ has 2 NCAA Division I teams: NJIT and Princeton.
• · NJIT currently has 17 fencers on its roster.
• · Princeton won the 2013 NCAA Fencing Championships.
• · Of the 23 students on Princeton’s team, 6 students are from NJ.

Some facts about collegiate fencing:

• · There are 23 Division I teams: United States Air Force Academy; Boston College; Brown University; Cleveland State University; Columbia University (with Barnard College; Cornell University (women only); University of Detroit Mercy; Duke University; Fairleigh Dickinson University (women only); Harvard University; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Northwestern University (women only); New Jersey Institute of Technology; University of Notre Dame; Ohio State University; University of Pennsylvania; Pennsylvania State University; Princeton University; Sacred Heart University; Stanford University; St. John’s University, New York; Temple University (women only); Yale University
• · There are 3 Division II teams: Queens College, New York (women only); University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego); Wayne State University
• · There are 15 Division III teams: Brandeis University; California Institute of Technology; City College of New York (women only); Drew University; Haverford College; Hunter College; Johns Hopkins University; Lawrence University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; New York University; Stevens Institute of Technology; Tufts University (women only); Vassar College; Wellesley College (women only); Yeshiva University
• · All these colleges and universities actively recruit, all of them (except the Ivy League) offer scholarships.

Westfield students have now been given an opportunity to participate in fencing at their high school. With the support of students and parents, the high school fencing club is pursuing VARSITY status for this sport. Join the club and join in creating a new varsity sport for WHS!

If you have any questions, please contact Christina Whang at whsfencing@gmail.com