College Opportunities

The sport of fencing has a long tradition with colleges and universities across the country. The first college trophy ever given was a fencing trophy we call the "Iron Man", which is given to top Mens Fencing team at the Intercollegiate Fencing Association's Championships. Fencing was on of the first sports that women performed at an intercollegiate basis.

Given this longstanding tradition, nearly all colleges and universities have either a NCAA program or a competitive club program. If you take the U.S. News and World Report top 20 Universities, 14 have NCAA programs and the other six have club programs. The University of Arkansas has had a fencing club for over 20 years.

If a college applicant has fencing experience, this would certainly be a plus on their college admissions. Colleges and universities need people who can fence to participate in their NCAA teams or in their club sports activities. Many fencers believe that fencing has made the difference between them going to a good college or university and a great college or university. Fencing could provide that edge that kids and parents seek in the world of ever more competitive college admissions.

Here are some quick facts about the NCAA:

1. Did you know that if you compete in these sports: Men’s basketball, Women’s basketball, Football, Baseball, or Men’s Soccer in high school, you have less than a 6% chance of competing in these sports at the NCAA level? Did you know if you compete in fencing in high school, you have a 50% chance competing at an NCAA level! [1]

2. Did you know that 2,095 student-athletes compete in fencing at a NCAA level? [2] Did you know that only 1,418 student-athletes compete in fencing in High school programs? [3] In Arkansas, there are no competitive high school programs; the students from Arkansas who want to go on to NCAA level fencing are trained at clubs like the Northwest Arkansas Fencing Center.

3.  There are over 100 NCAA members programs and over 200 intramural or club teams. Twelve of the top fifteen schools in the country have either an NCAA men’s or women’s fencing program? [4]

4. Did you know that the oldest trophy given in all of collegiate sports is the ‘Iron Man’ trophy given to top Men’s Fencing Team at the Intercollegiate Fencing Association's Championships?

Let the Northwest Arkansas Fencing Center work with your son or daughter to train them to get to this level of fencing. When the time comes to apply for college and college recruiting, let the Northwest Arkansas Fencing Center work with your family on identifying the right college for your child.

Northwest Arkansas Fencing Center’s Maitre d’Armes, Adrian Colcisca, coached Rebecca Moss to win her first Gold Medal in a World Cup Competition held in Montreal, Canada. Through his coaching efforts, Rebecca Moss became a National Ranked Epee fencer in both Cadet and Junior and earned a full scholarship to Yale University.

Colleges with Fencing Programs:

The NCAA has set rules for athletes who wish to compete in college in any sport, fencing included. Here are the NCAA rules for High School Athletes from their web site:
http://www.ncaa.org/library/general/cbsa/2003-04/index.html

The NCAA also lists out schools that have NCAA division I, II, or III programs. As with any information, especially about colleges, you should check the accuracy with the college’s individual web site. The NCAA’s web site may not be up to date.
All NCAA fencing programs (Men’s):
http://web1.ncaa.org/ssLists/sportByInst.do?sport=MFE&division=ALL

All NCAA fencing programs (Women’s)
http://web1.ncaa.org/ssLists/sportByInst.do?sport=WFE&division=ALL

 [1] NCAA report on 'Estimated Probability of Competing in Athletics Beyond the High School Interscholastic Level
[2] NCAA report on 'Sports Sponsorship and Participation Rates'
[3] National Federation of State High School Associations Participation Study from 1971-00, data covers years from 1999-2000. From the NCAA.org website.
[4] U.S. News and World Report, America's Best Colleges 2004 Edition