Garwood Fencing Club Trains Olympic Hopefuls, Athletes

GARWOOD, NJ — Clark native Aleks Ochocki, a former Champion fencer, opened Advance Fencing and Fitness Academy(AFFA) in Garwood seven years ago and since then has had tremendous success with his athletes.

Currently, Ochocki has an Olympic hopeful, Jonah Shainberg, who is within striking distance of qualifying for the Tokyo Games. Qualifications will resume in March in Budapest, Hungry.

Ochocki also pointed to Lola Possick who ranked number 1 in the World in the U-17 category and recently was selected for the U.S National Team who will be competing at the World Championships in Cairo, Egypt in April.

Fencing has always been a passion for Ochocki who got into the sport when he was nine-years-old attending a free class a the Polish Cultural Foundation in Clark.

"I somehow fell in love with fencing and stuck with it," said Ochocki.

At the age of 12, Ochocki began traveling to New York City four to five days a week to work with a former five-time Olympic coach.

He went on to make a few national teams and was recruited to play with Penn State. He won four National Collegiate Athletic Association(NCAA) Championships for fencing at Penn State and was also a two-time NCAA Champion Coach at Notre Dame.

In 2016, Ochocki was trying out for the Olympics when he had two knee surgeries. The surgeries closed the door on Ochocki's Olympic dreams but another door opened in terms of teaching.

Clark's Recreation Director Ralph Bernardo reached out to Ochocki asking him to help start a fencing program in town.

While recovering from the surgeries, he really started focusing on the rec program and then opening his own fencing academy, AFFA, at 110 South Ave. in Garwood.

"Growing up in the area I took on the responsibility of helping our youth find their place and helping them succeed, which is why I chose to open the academy in Garwood. I was the only fencer in Clark at the time but I know the doors it has opened for me," said Ochocki.

Ochocki began to share his talents, skills and knowledge with athletes from age six to Olympic hopefuls.

"Being a former U.S national team member and 4x NCAA champion at Penn State, with confidence I can say we have the talents in our community to achieve even bigger successes but most importantly build life skills through sport," said Ochocki. "As you know we have a huge decline in sports participation amongst this generation and am just trying to provide another option for some child to find their passion."

Ochocki has a long list of successful athletes that have been signed to top universities with the top fencing programs in the country. Student-athletes were recruited by top universities such as Harvard, Columbia, UPenn and Notre Dame.

Athletes commute to the Garwood facility from all over New Jersey and from countries all over the world.

AFFA features an elite coaching staff from all over the world with a passion for educating their students in life through fencing. The club welcomes children age six and up, home school students, as well as adults looking for a new challenge or workout.

For more information visit affafencing.com or call 908-290-5055.

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