Shanghai American School’s fencing league is making waves in China’s fencing world, bringing home the gold in the country’s very first school league tournament. The competition took place on November 21, 2015 at Shanghai’s SECA Academy, a training center in Pudong for fencing, squash, and muay thai, and was covered on the Shanghai Sports Channel. SAS’s fencing club represented SAS and won the team championship for epee, coming as a surprise to those unaware that SAS even has a fencing club.
The high school team that fought in last November’s school league tournament included senior Rachel Wu, junior Emma Li, and sophomore Kevin Tu of SAS Puxi, as well as freshman Hannah Power of SAS Pudong. Students from elementary and middle school of both Puxi and Pudong also attended.
School pride soared when we pushed our limits and worked together as a team to defeat Concordia, SUIS, YK Pao, etc. The tiny elementary schoolers showed off their skills in their adorable masks and swords, and the high school group proved their athletic spirit by sporting letterman jackets printed with the hashtag “#SASsquad.”
Fencing may not be well known at SAS, but this tournament is only the first step in the path for this sport. SECA Academy is currently communicating with athletic directors of international schools in an effort to develop fencing programs. Schools such as Wellington, an international boarding school in Shanghai, have begun establishing their own fencing programs. As more and more schools become involved, fencing may grow to become an official school sport in the future.
