LONDON, Ont. - The Western Fencing Team and their off-campus training group, the Mustang Sword Club, combined forces this weekend to host a gym-full of top coaches and competitive fencers from across Ontario.

This high performance training camp is part of a larger initiative to support the development of fencing throughout Ontario communities. Coaches Carol Christie and Brad Winder have recently been selected by the Ontario Fencing Association (OFA) to be one five Ontario Regional Community Development Centres (RCDC).  

Through their Mustang Sword Club and the Western fencing team, they will be offering workshops in London for Long-Term Athlete Development, Coaching, and Refereeing, as well as beginner, intermediate and competitive training for fencing. 

“This camp is a terrific opportunity for competitive fencers in London to work with these outstanding professional coaches to prepare for the upcoming Provincial Championships and OUA qualifiers and finals,” said Christie.

Over 50 competitive fencers from teams and clubs across Ontario participated in three days of tactical and technical skill development interspersed with intense conditioning and skill-developing games, and plenty of time during the weekend to get acquainted and talk with the coaches.

The coaches who were in town included:

Alex Frapsauce, Canada's newest Fencing Master, who received his training and got his degree in Paris, France;

Alice  Lu, head coach at Ryerson University and former member of the Chinese national team;

Kyle Foster, former UWO champion fencer and coach, president of the Canadian Fencing Academy in Oakville;

Jonathan Holtz, Head Coach at the Excelsior fencing club in Waterloo and certified fencing referee;

Nick Lavorato, Head Coach at Bladeworks fencing club in Toronto former provincial champion;

Horia Puscas, sabre coach at Ryerson University;

Brigitte Gagne, former UWO champion fencer and technical foil coach at UWO, and current WAA President. 

Josh McGuire and Iulia Capatina are the coordinators of the RCDC program and will be in London to assist with training.  Josh McGuire, competed for Canada at the Beijing Olympics and Iulia Capatina is an international referee for Canada and former member of Canada's junior national team.  

The OFA website has information about the RCDC and fencing club www.fencingontario.ca