College Recruiment

[Josedariom]

I am just starting my junior year in high school and am very interested in pursuing a collegiate fencing career in the United States. I live in Puerto Ric and might not earn a USFA rating by the time I graduate, but have had modest results in Puerto Rico. I was wondering if any college fencers could talk about their experience in recruiting and about their experience fencing in college (amount of training, how it affects your academics, etc.) And what I can do to get on the college fencing map other than filling out recruitment forms on univrsity fencing websites.

[AndrewH]

My personal experience:

I went to college with a C rating and no national points. I wasn't recruited by any colleges in high school, although I had spoken with some coaches about joining their teams. I settled on Rutgers at the last minutes (literally) and hadn't spoken to the coach at all before the first week of school. I was a walk-on for sabre tryouts, made the team and (really more by luck) secured a starting spot.

College fencing will take up a lot of time. Practice runs 5 days a week, 3 hours a day (for me; other schools may use a different schedule, i.e. designated weapon days or double sessions). I also go to an outside club one night a week, which takes up another 6 hours including travel time. During the season we travel to dual meets and tournaments (on weekends), which take up anywhere from 1 to 3 days. I haven't had to miss class for fencing yet, but I haven't had any Friday classes so it hasn't been an issue.

It's a busy schedule but you'll still find time to get your classwork done, you have lots of free time in college that you can utilize. Or just reading on the bus, during downtime at tournaments, etc.

To get on the map? Talk to coaches. They might not always be able to help you get into the college, but I think pretty much every coach will be willing to let you try out for the team.

[tafencer]

I am just starting my junior year in high school and am very interested in pursuing a collegiate fencing career in the United States. I live in Puerto Ric and might not earn a USFA rating by the time I graduate, but have had modest results in Puerto Rico. I was wondering if any college fencers could talk about their experience in recruiting and about their experience fencing in college (amount of training, how it affects your academics, etc.) And what I can do to get on the college fencing map other than filling out recruitment forms on univrsity fencing websites.

Do you train at the federation. There is a guy that fences there who fences in college athe Unvi. of Penn I think he could give you some info too.

[AndrewH]

Do you train at the federation. There is a guy that fences there who fences in college athe Unvi. of Penn I think he could give you some info too.

I believe you're thinking of a foilist from Penn State from Puerto Rico...

[academe]

I believe you're thinking of a foilist from Penn State from Puerto Rico...

From Penn State Web site:

Sergio Hey-Colon Junior - Foil

Hometown: Caguas, Puerto Rico

Junior Sergio Hey-Colon will be in his third season with Penn State...

High School/Personal: Colon was a National Honor Society student at Colegio Ntra. Sra. de la Merced in San Juan.

[Josedariom]

Yes I know Sergio. We have trained together when he comes back from vacation and I have talked to him about this and was just looking for some different perspectives. I have already filled out many recruitment forms from colleges at hope to get personal contact with these coaches.

[tafencer]

From Penn State Web site:

Sergio Hey-Colon Junior - Foil

Hometown: Caguas, Puerto Rico

Junior Sergio Hey-Colon will be in his third season with Penn State...

High School/Personal: Colon was a National Honor Society student at Colegio Ntra. Sra. de la Merced in San Juan.

That's him thanks! I forgot which University.

[Sabresque]

I think your best bet is to look up Universities with Div. I programs on the web, and then e-mail the coaches or try to call them. It is usually true that they would be very happy to get someone but wouldn't have known you were interested otherwise.

[academe]

I think your best bet is to look up Universities with Div. I programs on the web, and then e-mail the coaches or try to call them. It is usually true that they would be very happy to get someone but wouldn't have known you were interested otherwise.

To get you started, you can visit this page:

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/portal/legac...ing/index.html

They are all listed there.

Good luck.

[Josedariom]

Thanks so much you guys have already started emailing coaches