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1. Lifetime sport- All Sports are fantastic! But really there are a small number that you can really be competitive at for a lifetime. That number gets even smaller if you are looking for sports that provide legit world championships for athletes over 80. But fencing fits that bill. No matter how old you are, how fast or strong you are, there is a high level opportunity for competition. Fencers compete in wheelchairs and one of them has four prosthetic limbs! Fencing is truly a sport for EVERYONE.
Fencer with no arms or legs wins at World Level
83 year old fencer at US National Championships
2. Collegiate Opportunities - Fencers are among the top 2 kinds of athletes recruited for the highest ranking colleges in America. And of all the sports that young athletes compete in, fencing has the highest percentage of participants that continue following high school.
College Acceptance Statistics for Fencing.
List of NCAA college fencing programs
3. Individual and Team Opportunities - You can fence with or without team mates! This is one reason that many people really love fencing. Its all about you! You get 100% return on your personal effort. You really only have to rely on yourself. For kids that become easily frustrated with team sports, this is the something different they have been looking for! But team opportunities are still a part of fencing for those that want to have that experience as well.
4. Fencing is a lot like a live action video game! Fencers are connected to a digital scoring system. The swords are not sharp but are fitted with pressure sensors that record hits. When an athlete hits, a light and an alarm are activated. Whoever gets to a predetermined number of hits first wins!
5. Fencing appeals to and helps develop individuals with atypical cognition, including ADHD and functional autism. Coach Julie Seal wrote her Master Coach Thesis on Autism and Fencing. Check it out here!
