South Bay High School Fencers Teach Sport To Bay Area Youth

LOS GATOS, CA — FunWithFencing, a fencing training program founded by local high school students, recently expanded into Silicon Valley.

The group, which originally partnered with the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Cruz County, will also work with the Boys and Girls Club of Silicon Valley, according to a news release last week.

Three local high school students and competitive fencers — Ishani Sood of Harker High and Apoorva Talwalkar and Thea Fernandes of Saratoga High — decided to use free time during the pandemic to teach and mentor kids through fencing. According to their website, FunWithFencing offers an after school program, workshops and a YouTube channel with videos showcasing fencing basics.

They have reached more than 65 children with their after-school programs and workshops, which is available for anyone age 5 and up.

“Fencing has taught me to be resilient, not give up, try my best, and set goals,” said Sood, who is currently ranked second in the country for her age category in women’s foil. “I have been able to use these skills in my everyday life and wanted to give that opportunity to other children as well.”

Fernandes added that the trio wanted to take advantage of their network of fencers and coaches.

“We realized we needed to go further to ensure kids who want to pursue fencing more seriously would have the resources to do so,” Fernandes said.

The three students are all part of USA Fencing, which governs the sport of fencing in the U.S. They said that FunWithFencing aligns with the organization’s mission to improve diversity and inclusion within the sport.

“It’s been great to see the kids really get excited to learn something new, especially since so many other programs have been cancelled,” Talwalkar said.

Visit https://www.funwithfencing.org/ for more information.