Students may be intrigued by the group of strangely-dressed figures they see sword-fighting in the gym or the basement of Building 8, and might not realize fencing is a class available to all students at Sinclair.
William DeVan, fencing coach, first approached the Physical Education Department about starting a fencing class at Sinclair three years ago. The department let him “give it a try,” and “immediately [they] had waiting lists for all the people registered,” says DeVan. “A huge percentage of our students just keep re-taking the class since they enjoy it so much.”
The one credit class quickly exceeded the 30-student limit. After it was clear that Sinclair students were enthusiastic about the class, Sinclair purchased equipment for the fencers.
DeVan’s fencing class is offered on Fridays at noon and will likely be in the same time-slot next quarter. For two Summer Quarters now, the class has been offered after students petitioned for a summer class. A shorter class offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays this quarter was canceled due to lack of enrollment.
“The two hours on Friday is better because you have two hours of fencing,” says DeVan. “When you only have 50 minutes, you’re just getting warmed up, you’re just getting going and then class is done.”
DeVan says he’s still thinking about offering the class at another time, but the main challenge is reserving a large space for the fencers.
“Generally we need the gym… you need to spread everyone out so nobody’s smacking each other with the foils,” he says.
The fencing club also exists mainly to plan competitions and eventually to help with fund-raising to defray the costs of competition trips. Although club members can participate in competitions, they can’t practice fencing at Sinclair due to liability issues.
Several weeks ago, the team made a trip to Fort Wayne to participate in a competition. They found themselves against fencers from well-established programs, including teams from Purdue, Ball State and Eastern Kentucky University. Still, one of the Sinclair fencers came in third place, “against people who have scholarships for this,” says DeVan. “So we’re really proud of them.”
The fencers have traveled as far as Kent State in Cleveland to compete. DeVan says at least one member of their team will place in the top five.
Fencing has a rating system ranging from E to A, with A being the level of Olympic fencers. A rating is earned by placing in a competition and depends upon the type of competition and the ratings of the other fencers present. About 80 percent of all fencers are unrated, according to DeVan.
“I don’t get experienced fencers,” says DeVan. “I don’t get to go out and recruit people, I get beginners. And for them to get rated before they’ve finished with a two-year degree, that’s something else.”
DeVan started fencing in 1997 after he saw a hand-written sign stapled to a stop sign inviting people to try out fencing at the Virginia Academy of Fencing, which he says is now the biggest fencing school in the world.
“I just walked in,” says DeVan. “Honestly it surprised me – I thought it would be fun, I never realized it would change everything about me.”
DeVan said the sport increased his self-confidence and led to substantial weight loss.
“Every waking minute of the day when I wasn’t working, I was over at the fencing school,” says DeVan. “For about three years, It was just every aspect of my life.”
Now DeVan is sharing the sport with his Sinclair students.
“Honestly, it’s a wonderful sport,” he says. “It’s non-traditional in the sense that when people think about sports these days they think a ball of some kind. But it’s very safe, it requires 100 percent physical, and 100 percent mental, and it’s wonderful exercise.”
“It’s a great work out, a competitive non-team sport that encourages strategy, along with physical activity,” says Charles Drewry, one of DeVan’s students. “I really hope there’s a bright future for it here at Sinclair.”
DeVan says that changes in financial aid rules have threatened a number of physical education classes, which will no longer be covered under some forms of financial aid. In addition, it may not be possible for students to use their financial aid to take the class.
“My students do a really good job of recruiting,” says DeVan.
He says that he expects enrollment in the class to be bolstered by changes brought on by the switch to semesters; while the class used to be listed on computer as “special topics in physical education,” it will soon have its own course number and will appear specifically as a fencing class.
DeVan welcomes all new students: “Any age, any physi be all that good at it, it’s just fun and it’s as much social as it is a class.”