College fencing in RI/CT

[riptide]

Hi all,

I'm currently workng on my college hunt, and was wondering if any of you know of any schools with good fencing clubs in the RI or CT area. I ask only because there are reletively few colleges with varsity fencing teams, and I definately want to keep on lunging well into acedemia!

'preciate it.

[KD5MDK]

Even if you aren't attending a varsity school, there are plenty of other level fencing clubs on college campuses in the area.

[riptide]

Exactly. That's why I'm curious as to whether or not there are any good clubs in these locations. It's easy to look up varsity teams online, but sometime the clubs don't advertise themselves. I usually don't find out about them until I actually visit the campus (and sometimes even the tour guides don't know!).

[prototoast]

Only schools with teams I know of are Yale, Brown and Sacred Heart.

[telkanuru]

Go up to MA or down to NY and you get more, though. UMass, BC, BU, MIT, Smith, Tufts, Brandeis, St. John's, NYU, Columbia, etc.

[MyrddinsPrecint]

other than Brown, the only college team in Rhode Island is URI (to the best of my knowledge-- but i'm from RI) ......

and they're not exactly fully set up yet.

as in, they don't really have electric equipment yet.


although, from reports, they (kind of) have a coach.




if you extend your search to mass, everyone and their mother has a club.

[Duellist USA]

There is Candlewood Fencing Center in CT.....seeing as they are handling the JO's I would assume they are pretty decent and Tom C seems to be a real upfront guy...

Never been there...just heard/delt with them.


Rick

[larkmaj]

There is Candlewood Fencing Center in CT.....seeing as they are handling the JO's I would assume they are pretty decent and Tom C seems to be a real upfront guy...

Never been there...just heard/delt with them.


Rick

I've delt with them too and my experience with Tom C is not, umm, reassuring. However Candlewood is pretty much the big club in CT so if you end up in Western CT that's where you would want to go. Not a big fan of Tom though. But for some reason the candlewood people seem to love him.

In my opinion fencing in Connecticut is growing. I think a lot of the older, richer towns on the sound have fencing at least at the high school level. UConn does have a fencing program now in it's third year, I think they're still on just foil but I'm not sure. I know the person who started the club as he graduated a year ahead of me at my school.

[mrbiggs]

There is Candlewood Fencing Center in CT.....seeing as they are handling the JO's I would assume they are pretty decent and Tom C seems to be a real upfront guy...

That's the main connecticut fencing club. Western connecticut state university is about 100 feet from the place, so I suppose that may count...

Other than that, Yale and Sacred Heart are the only CT fencing colleges I know of. (Sada Jacobson went (or goes) to Yale, I think)

Keep in mind something that I've found, being in just about the same boat as you...colleges vary a whole ton in terms of quality of fencing. Meeting the coach and even seeing the team practice or compete might be a good idea.

[oiuyt]

In my opinion fencing in Connecticut is growing. I think a lot of the older, richer towns on the sound have fencing at least at the high school level. UConn does have a fencing program now in it's third year, I think they're still on just foil but I'm not sure. I know the person who started the club as he graduated a year ahead of me at my school.

UConn has had a club considerably longer than that... it just occasionally hibernates (more or less, depending on the occurance).

-B

[larkmaj]

UConn has had a club considerably longer than that... it just occasionally hibernates (more or less, depending on the occurance).

-B

That's a nice way of putting it. I'm not sure the last time it died but it was only revived a few years ago.

[radtad82]

That's the main connecticut fencing club. Western connecticut state university is about 100 feet from the place, so I suppose that may count...

Other than that, Yale and Sacred Heart are the only CT fencing colleges I know of. (Sada Jacobson went (or goes) to Yale, I think)

Keep in mind something that I've found, being in just about the same boat as you...colleges vary a whole ton in terms of quality of fencing. Meeting the coach and even seeing the team practice or compete might be a good idea.

Yes, Sada still goes to Yale, and I saw her fence this past weekend at Brandeis--instead of all the other sabrists I see, she goes forward SLOWLY, so seeing her fence it's impossible (at least in my eyes) to get her in preparation (I wish I could fence like that!)
As for teams in CT, the fencing is much less widespread than in NY or MA. Even at the high schoool level, it's mostly just private schools (Hopkins for example, and I think Choate used to have it). Uconn does have a club, but it's just foil and this really bizarre 2-sworded fencing where you "lose" a limb if you're hit there. No sabre, and as far as I know, no epee either.
Massachusetts just seems to dominate compared to the rest of New England, not just at the high school, but also college level. RI only has Brown U. CT has Yale & Sacred Heart. Even NY has only 4 schools--Columbia, NYU, St. Johns and Cornell. MA on the other hand--MIT, Harvard, Brandeis, Vassar, Smith, Boston U & Boston C., Wellesley, Tufts...maybe more.
So if you're from CT and want to fence...go to Boston or somewhere thereabouts.

[MyrddinsPrecint]

RI only has Brown U.

...... only if you want good fencing.

otherwise, URI is a perfectly acceptable option.

[Go? Fencing?]

As for teams in CT, the fencing is much less widespread than in NY or MA. Even at the high schoool level, it's mostly just private schools (Hopkins for example, and I think Choate used to have it).

I don't know about the whole state, but if you look down in the southeastern corner where I am, there are a lot of public schools with fencing teams/clubs- Waterford, East Lyme, NFA, Lyme/Old Lyme, Griswold, Ledyard....

[oiuyt]

That's a nice way of putting it. I'm not sure the last time it died but it was only revived a few years ago.

I know the person who was coaching there 6-7 years ago, so it's not like it was gone for several decades and is now being brought back. Many marginally competitive clubs experience a 1-2 year hiatus periodically.

Massachusetts just seems to dominate compared to the rest of New England, not just at the high school, but also college level. RI only has Brown U. CT has Yale & Sacred Heart. Even NY has only 4 schools--Columbia, NYU, St. Johns and Cornell. MA on the other hand--MIT, Harvard, Brandeis, Vassar, Smith, Boston U & Boston C., Wellesley, Tufts...maybe more.

If you only count varsity schools from one state and varsity plus club schools from another your totals are unlikely to be meaningful. Especially when you miss some varsity programs in the varsity-only state and miss some club teams in the varsity-plus-club state. Or when you move a varsity team from the varsity-only state into the varsity-plus-club state.

Varsity teams by state:
RI: Brown (1)
CT: SHU, Yale (2)
MA: BC, Brandeis, Harvard, MIT, Tuft's, Wellesley (6)
NY: CCNY, Columbia, Cornell, Hunter, NYU, St Johns, Vassar, Yeshiva (8)

-B

[MyrddinsPrecint]

i think radtad82 was trying to list the more competitive clubs rather than the varsity or whatever clubs.


because i think we can all agree that there is a difference between the competitiveness between Columbia and Yeshiva...........

[oiuyt]

i think radtad82 was trying to list the more competitive clubs rather than the varsity or whatever clubs.

because i think we can all agree that there is a difference between the competitiveness between Columbia and Yeshiva...........

But not a huge difference between BU and Yeshiva most years. Not to mention Vassar moving across the border into MA, missing UMass, not listing ANY NY clubs, etc., etc.

And I don't think there's ANY justification for a claim that MA dominates NY in collegiate fencing.

NCAA final standings from 2004-2005:
3. SJU
5. Columbia
6. Harvard
9. NYU
17. Yale
20T. MIT
23T. Vassar
25. Wellesley
26T. Brandeis
31T. Cornell
31T. SHU

-B
*Who's amused that the college fencing in CT/RI thread has drifted into a comparative discussion of MA vs NY*

[MyrddinsPrecint]

*Who's amused that the college fencing in CT/RI thread has drifted into a comparative discussion of MA vs NY*

that's because there are maybe 3ish people here who post who fence for schools in CT and RI, and theres a large group of people who fence or used to fence for schools in MA, and a smattering from NY

WE CONTROL THREAD DRIFT

muhahahahhahaha

[larkmaj]

that's because there are maybe 3ish people here who post who fence for schools in CT and RI, and theres a large group of people who fence or used to fence for schools in MA, and a smattering from NY

WE CONTROL THREAD DRIFT

muhahahahhahaha

That and there's just more to talk/debate about in NY/MA over RI/CT