A letter from Head Coach Smolenski
To DCFC fencers, families, and friends,
Congratulations to our many fencers who performed courageously at the Summer Nationals, and welcome to our many first-time fencers participating in DCFC’s summer camps.
Exciting news! Please join me in welcoming Jérôme Guth to the DCFC Coaching Team as a consulting coach from CPFA (Central Pennsylvania Fencing Association) .
A French national sabre champion and international referee, Coach Guth comes to DCFC from Penn State University, where he is assistant coach of the most awarded NCAA fencing program in the US. Since he arrived at Penn State, he helped lead sabrists Aleks Ochocki and Monika Aksamit to their respective 1st and 2nd place titles at the NCAA Nationals. A native of Strasbourg, France, Jérôme previously spent 19 years at Strasbourg Université Club, which has produced some of the world’s most competitive fencers, including Athens and Beijing Olympic gold medalists, French national team members, and the #1 seeds in France and the world. In addition to serving as coach and referee during his tenure at Strasbourg, Jerome competed on France’s cadets and juniors national traveling team. When he received his international refereeing license in 2010, he was the youngest practicing FIE referee in sabre. He has directed Junior and Senior World Cups, Olympic Qualifiers, Pan-American Games, as well as European and World Championships. Fluent in French, English, German and Italian, he holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in chemistry and biology from the Université de Strasbourg.
We also want to wish the best of luck to a special member of the DCFC family, Coach Dariusz Gilman, as he launches Capitol Fencing Academy. We are proud that the Capitol Division has grown to the point where it can support such a strong fencing community, and we expect to see great results from his crop of young saber fencers and look forward to future special joint programming between our clubs.
DCFC’s sabre camps scheduled for August will continue, taught by Dariusz to help prepare DCFC sabre fencers for the 2013-14 season. As Head Coach and Fencing Master, I will personally oversee our award-winning sabre program, which I launched at DCFC in 1990. A competitive sabre fencer myself, I look forward to continuing to grow the program with Coach Guth, helping our youth fencers thrive athletically, academically and personally. I will continue to give private sabre lessons and group sabre classes, and Coach Guth will bring his expertise to the strip for private lessons, special clinics, classes and competitions. Visit www.dcfencing.com for the fall class schedule.
Important dates:
Sept. 3 first day of the season
Sept. 9 first day of elite class (elite class plus Tuesday and Friday class from last season)
Sept. 9 first footwork class
Sept. 10 first day of invitational épée classes
Sept. 14 first day of Saturday sabre class (intermediate and advanced beginners)
Clinics
Sept. 15 Sabre clinic with Coach Jérôme Guth who will be assisted by 2013 Division I National Champion and 2013 Pan-American Game Silver Medalist Alexander Ochocki. (Register on askfred.net; DCFC fencers receive $10.00 discount via refund.)
Oct. 6 Epée clinic with Coach Janusz Smolenski (Register on askfred.net.)
North American Cups
Oct. 11-14 NAC Milwaukee WI, youth 14, cadet, Div 2 (Entry deadline Sept. 9)
Nov. 8-11 NAC Cleveland OH, Junior, Div 1, Senior team (Entry deadline Oct. 7)
Local Competitions
Sept. 22 Champagne Challenge at DCFC (Register on askfred.net.)
Sept. 28-29 Kickoff Open ROC, Fredricksburg VA. (Entry deadline Sept. 18. Register on askfred.net.)
Rest up this month and enjoy the remainder of your summer….we have a busy and exciting fall schedule ahead. I look forward to working with all DCFC fencers in the coming season. Please do not hesitate to email me at if you have any questions. See you after Labor Day!
Sincerely,
Janusz Smolenski
DCFC Head Coach