From cheerleading to Friday night football, sports are inarguably a part of the classic American high school experience. However, there are a number of lesser known sports as well. Sports that don’t garner as many spectators or as much recognition, but are important nonetheless. Fencing is one such sport, a more niche athletic pursuit that happens to be offered at PTHS.
“While it can be somewhat discouraging that there’s never usually a crowd of my peers at a competition, I remember that I fence for myself and because it makes me happy, not to impress or show off to others,” said senior fencer Elle “Arty” Gensler.
Fencing is essentially a year round sport at the high school, with foil competitions taking place in the winter, and an épeé season in the spring. So far, this foil season is shaping up to be a successful one. The PTFC, or the Peters Township Fencing Club, girls team defeated the Mt. Lebanon team and two teams from Seneca Valley, with Gensler winning eight out of nine of her bouts at their January 23 match. The girls team is currently ranked highest in the league foil tournament, with the goal of making it to the championship.
“We did not make it to the foil championships last year, but we are first seed this season so it’s looking up, and we hope to carry this into the épée season too,” shared Gensler.
The team is led by two seniors, Gensler and Emily King, who have both been fencing since their freshman year. They, along with five members of the two boys teams, will be recognized for their contributions to the team at the upcoming senior rec night this May. This year’s senior night stands out against others, with the sheer number of seniors graduating compared to the size of the fencing club being immense. With only ten players across three teams, seventy percent of the club is graduating.
“For the past few years we haven’t had many seniors in a single class so they’ve been pretty empty, but this year we have seven graduating fencers so I’m hopeful that we get some more people to show up and support,” Gensler stated.
