Veteran guidance

After moving to the new Student Rec Center, Jennifer Grant, president of the Portland State Fencing Club, is excited by the prospect of expanding the club’s practice space and possibly the club itself.

“We’re really excited about the new center because we have our own dedicated space,” Grant said. “In two of the three exercise rooms, they have painted us fencing strips, so it’s something new for us.”

The club, like most at Portland State, fields a gamut of skill levels and competitive abilities—though the fencing club focuses more on practice, relaxation and good times rather than on intense competition. However, the team is not without its stars, most of which choose to coach at this point in their career rather than compete.

Grant, who no longer competes, is one of the primary coaches for the team. Just this year the fencing team was able to hire the coaching prowess of Ethan Brown, a lifelong fencer who has proved to be invaluable to the team.

Perhaps the largest contribution though is Lacey Burt, who as recently as last year was competing in some of the highest levels of fencing in Europe.

“She was very, very close to the Olympic team,” Grant said of her fellow coach. “She was living in Europe for three months just so she could go to a world cup every other weekend.”

For both Grant and Burt, the joy of imparting their knowledge to other fencers has taken precedence over the need to compete. The addition of Burt, who just returned to Portland State this year, has been an obvious boon in the knowledge imparted to both veteran and amateur fencers alike.

“It’s really changed the dynamic of our practices,” Grant said.

For Burt, it’s all about making others better and passing along the knowledge and experience she has accumulated while fencing at the highest level.

“I’m helping out mostly as a coach-type person because I want to help them get better. It’s not the level that I have competed at, so I can show them how to get better,” Burt said.

Though the popularity of fencing is admittedly low on the West Coast, they both attribute the success of the fencing club to the visibility of fencing around Portland. Burt, who learned to fence in Roseburg, participated in her first tournaments in Beaverton.

“I came up to Portland to do some competitions and I didn’t know, but Portland is actually one of the premier places to learn about fencing. We have a national training center right here in Beaverton,” Burt said. The same was true for Grant, who learned to fence in Beaverton.

With a wealth of experience in the coaching department of ex-competitors and a lifelong fencer in Brown, it is no surprise that the club’s coaches encourage participation and fun over competition. When it comes to tournaments, it is up to the individual to decide whether or not they would like to compete.

“It’s up to people on their own,” Grant said. “Starting last year, we started picking up more people who are more dedicated, so we’re able to get them to compete locally. A couple weekends ago we had a really high level tournament in Beaverton that a couple of our people went to.”

For Grant and Burt it’s all about enjoying fencing and spreading that joy through coaching. Grant encourages everyone to join.

“We are looking for everybody, every skill level, every ability,” she said. “It’s the cheapest fencing that anybody will do…$15 a term and we provide equipment and coaching.”