Fencing, Anyone? Club At Stamford Chelsea Piers Has Programs & Classes For All

STAMFORD, CT — Fencing is often overlooked, but one man is hoping to introduce others to the sport and grow the fencing community.

Tim Morehouse, an Olympic silver medalist (2008, Beijing), soft-opened Connecticut's first fencing club at Chelsea Piers in Stamford last fall. The club is now gearing up for summer camps which are slated to begin next month.

The Tim Morehouse Fencing Club was founded first in New York City in 2015, and then Westchester in 2017 before the new location in Stamford opened last year.

There are a variety of fencing programs, classes and camps available to meet the needs of beginners to experienced fencers of all ages.

The club, which was ranked the number one club in the country for High School All Americans in 2020-2021 and ranked as the top youth fencing club in the country for the past two years based on the total number of medals won, also helps students play at the next level in college.

Special summer camp options for youth and experienced fencers are available from June 20 through Sept. 2. New members can receive 50 percent off one week of camp if they sign up by June 1. Equipment is provided.

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Morehouse began fencing at the age of 13 to get out of gym class in high school.

"After going, I kind of fell in love with it and I've been fencing ever since. Thirty years later I'm still going," said Morehouse, who has made it his mission to grow the sport.

"Being a part of Chelsea Piers and a community of children and adults, it's fantastic for us and it's going to be a really good partnership to grow the sport and introduce a lot of new people to fencing and build another great community of fencers in Connecticut," he said.

The mental and physical aspects of fencing appealed to Morehouse, who described a fencing match as a dance where both players are trying to lead. He pointed to a study that showed fencing increases mental acuity in older people who had played.

"People call fencing kind of a mix between boxing and chess, because there's an athletic aspect to it, and also you have to have really good strategy and tactics and really think about your movement and how one move builds to the next," Morehouse said. "You want to get your opponent to kind of dance your dance."

There are also valuable life lessons within fencing that Morehouse hopes to impart on those who come to his club. Morehouse said fencing helps teach how to deal with both failure and success, and how not to get too high or too low.

"Even in a loss, there's something valuable to take from it. Some of the biggest lessons I learned that helped me make the Olympics were tournaments where I didn't do well in regards to my finishing place, but I learned something at that tournament that helped me in the long run," he said.

Ahmed Abdallah, a Stamford resident,who brings years of experience in fencing, is the Lead Epee Coach for the club at Chelsea Piers. He's a former Egyptian National Team member.

Abdallah said he's excited to be at Chelsea Piers teaching the sport he loves. He said he enjoys seeing kids improve, and seeing them apply something in a match that he was able to teach them.

He hopes all those who attend the fencing club learn valuable lessons.

"Like any sport, fencing gives you a sense of respect and you learn how to take responsibility and depend on yourself," he said. "It teaches you mental toughness, especially in difficult situations when you have to overcome yourself and think fast."

For more information on the club at Chelsea Piers, visit the Tim Morehouse Fencing Club website.