Shows
SabreCoachKate podcastEpisode 26: Nikki FrankeNikki Franke began her illustrious fencing career her last year in high school; she really enjoyed the combative mental aspect of it and threw herself in wholeheartedly. She attended Brooklyn College and trained with Denise O’Connor. Eventually the two became Olympic teammates. Desirous of a graduate degree, she went to Temple University to serve as the TA of fencing thanks to prodding from another great American fencer: Sharon Everson; eventually she became the Head Coach there. She holds many titles and honors; perhaps the greatest one being Fencing Legend with a capital “F” and “L”. Listen as Dr. Fra...
2019-07-0258 min
SabreCoachKate podcastEpisode 25: Stacey JohnsonBack in September of 2018, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Stacey Johnson. Then life got in the way (mostly moving to our new club space) and I haven’t had a chance to edit it until now. I had forgotten just how much insight Ms. Johnson shared, not just about fencing but about perseverance and teamwork, skills that she used to great effect in both her professional and athletic endeavors. Ms. Johnson started her athletic career on the back of a horse, then got involved in fencing at the age of 13 when the Pentathletes at...
2019-06-2256 min
SabreCoachKate podcastEpisode 24: Terrence LaskerTerrence Lasker was one of your run-of-the-mill teenagers who wanted a job working with computers someday. When a Magnet high school opened in Kansas City, he jumped at the chance to study in their state-of-the-art computer science program. What he didn’t expect was turning that passion into a lifelong love of fencing. After being wooed by the promise of travel to international competitions and thanks to their focus on Olympic sports, Terrence learned from one of the greatest Sabre coaches of all time: Vladimir Nazlymov. Under Nazlymov’s guidance and with the help of teamm...
2018-10-191h 05
SabreCoachKate podcastEpisode 23: Cody MatternCody Mattern started fencing at age 15 after, believe it or not, an argument with his brother. After only training for two years he became the Junior National Epee Champion, a feat he repeated the following year. He competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics, placing 22nd in Individual and 6th in Team. Next, Cody took part in the US Army’s World Class Athlete Program from 2005 to 2012; that final year he was part of the Men’s Epee Team that won the World Championships. After all these competitive successes, Cody retired to coach epee full time at the Northwest Fencing Center in B...
2018-10-041h 05
SabreCoachKate podcastEpisode 22: Lisa Campi-SaperyLisa Campi Sapery is a woman who has filled pretty much every possible role in our sport: elite college athlete, coach, international referee, referee trainer, club owner, and published author. She is known as the Fencing Referee in various places online, including her YouTube channel, Fencing.net, and Facebook. She started fencing when her sister Barb thought the guy at the recruiting table was cute...and the rest is history. Tune in today to hear more about this history, a life story you will find both inspirational and uplifting. As a side note, if you’re...
2018-09-201h 03
SabreCoachKate podcastEpisode 21: David SachToday’s episode is the story of David Sach, a man who has represented fencing on two continents, and who you probably know best as the Head Assigner of Sabre at most NACs. You know: the guy with the accent at the big table in the middle of the venue. You just had no idea who he really is! David holds elite status in the fencing trifecta of competitor, coach, and referee. As a fencer, he won a number of cadet, junior, and senior National titles including a run of 5 back to back Junior National Cha...
2018-03-221h 02
SabreCoachKate podcastEpisode 20: David SierraDavid Sierra started fencing at Texas A&M when he needed a PE credit and didn’t want to sign up for Advanced Weightlifting or Aerobic Power-walking. Since then, he has worked his way up the referee ranks and is currently the co-owner of Cutting Edge Fencing Center, a Sabre-only club, near Fort Worth, Texas. Listen as he describes what the fencing world was like back when he started in the 90s and the changes he has helped bring to our sport as both a tournament organizer and a member of the US Fencing Board of Directors. He’ll also...
2018-03-081h 00
SabreCoachKate podcastEpisode 19: Maureen GriffinMaureen Griffin decided to start fencing foil at age 14 when she quit the swim team and her dad told her she had 24 hours to find a new sport. Four years later she came to the US on a fencing scholarship at the University of Wisconsin. After her retirement from fencing in 1988, she came back two years later as an epée fencer, eventually earning a spot on the Canadian National Team. Maureen moved to the west coast in 1995 because it was an epée hotspot and seriously focused on her training in San Francisco. That led to a Bronze me...
2018-02-221h 03
SabreCoachKate podcastEpisode 18: Damien LehfeldtDamien Lehfeldt currently coaches epée at the Richmond Fencing Club. His fencing career began when he was a kid, continued through his years at Brandeis, led him to the Maccabi Games and a berth on the DC Fencers Club epee squad that took gold at the 2012 North American Cup, until one fateful day it occurred to him that he loved coaching more than competing. His website, www.TheFencingCoach.com, earned an award as one of the Top 50 Fencing Blogs at the beginning of 2018. He and his writing team post articles on a variety of topics, ranging fr...
2018-02-081h 00
SabreCoachKate podcastEpisode 17: Peet SasakiIf you say the name “Peet Sasaki” to a group of fencers, they might look at you with a baffled expression on their face... although admittedly for some that’s just their natural look. If, however, you ask them who “FRED“ is, nearly every single one will be able to give you an answer. The name FRED is as ubiquitous a name to a fencer as HAL is to a sci-fi fan. FRED is the Fencing Results and Events Database and Peet Sasaki is its creator. It’s what *everyone* uses to sign up for local and regional tou...
2018-01-251h 16
SabreCoachKate podcastEpisode 16: Delia TurnerDelia Turner is a vivacious, energetic woman who has accomplished much in life simply by, as she says, “showing up”. She has held a wide variety of jobs, including legal secretary, science teacher, English Department Chair, published author, calligrapher, and Adjunct Faculty at Temple University. She started fencing at 40 years of age and has become one of the top Veteran Women’s Sabre fencers in the US—and in the world. Listen as she talks about her fencing career, how her role as an educator helped her fencing skills, and about the two protagonists she created for her fantasy books. S...
2018-01-111h 00
SabreCoachKate podcastEpisode 15: Dan KellnerDan Kellner started fencing in the 7th grade. He had a video game called Summer Games and had trouble figuring out the fencing part. He asked his mom about the sport so much that eventually she took him to his first coach, Ted Li. Ted was the Olympic Armourer at the time and would expose Dan to his first taste of attaining a shot at Olympic Gold. Later, Dan became Simon Gershon’s student. Where Coach Li was instrumental in teaching and perfecting Dan’s foil technique, Coach Gershon led him through the tactics of the game. The work of b...
2017-09-1448 min
SabreCoachKate podcastEpisode 14: Andrew FischlAndrew Fischl didn’t start fencing until his junior year of high school but achieved a lot very quickly: he was 5th in the country in 2013. Before fencing, Andrew had tried many sports: soccer, tennis, baseball, lacrosse, etc but none of these sports really engaged him the way fencing did. The reason most people know him is because of the videos he creates. Going by the name Cyrus of Chaos (his handle in Super Smash Brothers) his YouTube channel currently houses over 2500 videos of international-level competitions. He started recording bouts at his first Div 1 NAC in Columbus in...
2017-08-311h 01
SabreCoachKate podcastEpisode 13: Keeth SmartKeeth Smart is a saber fencer who achieved a lot of success on the fencing strip. He qualified for three Olympics, placing 30th in 2000, 15th in individual and 4th in the team event in 2004, 6th in individual in 2008. He also won the silver medal in the team event that year, after serving as the anchor. In 2002 and 2004, Keeth won the US National Sabre Championship. Perhaps greatest of all, in 2003, he became the first American to be named the top-ranked fencer internationally. He was elected to the US Fencing Hall of Fame in 2014. You can still find Keeth...
2017-08-2454 min
SabreCoachKate podcastEpisode 12: Coaches' AcademyBack in the day, coaches received training at was then called Coaches' College. Begun in the late 80s by the United States Fencing Association, its purpose was to create an opportunity for professional development for fencing coaches. When the cold war ended, the USFA brought Soviet bloc coaches over in 1990 to lead the program with Jack Keene serving as the main organizer. Alex Beguinet and Vinnie Bradford took up the reins in 1993. Vinnie helped organize it for 10 years, Alex for 20. The USFA decided to cancel the Coaches' College in 2003. The United States Fencing Coaches Association...
2017-08-171h 22
SabreCoachKate podcastEpisode 11: Michael MergensMichael "Mergs" Mergens, is a USFA certified Armorer, Coach and Referee with over 35 years of experience in the sport of Fencing. He regularly works as the Head Armorer and Team Armorer for many of the USA Fencing National and International events. He is the owner of the online Armorer’s Store (http://www.thearmorersstore.com) and is the author of the well-known book called The Care and Feeding of all Things Fencing. Mergs graduated from Texas A&M in 1977 with an engineering degree and belonged to the Corps of Cadets and Parson’s Mounted Calvary. He went on t...
2017-08-1053 min
SabreCoachKate podcastEpisode 10: Lynn BotelhoLike all of my guests, Lynn Botelho is a multi-faceted individual. She is a professor of history at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and serves as the Director of Women’s and Gender Studies. She teaches courses on the Renaissance and Reformation, early modern Europe, the history of the body, and English history. She has written numerous books on the history of old age and the aging body. You can check out her blog https://lynnbotelho.com/home/ for more information about them. On a comical note, I checked out Lynn’s profile on the popular “Rate my Professo...
2017-08-0351 min
SabreCoachKate podcastEpisode 9: Carla-Mae RichardsCarla-Mae Richards allowed me to interview her the first day of Summer Nationals this year. It was really intimidating because she is a legend in our sport. Not only was she a fencer back when girls weren’t really allowed to participate in sports, but she became the first Executive Director of what would become the United States Fencing Association. She has had a direct influence on many aspects of fencing, including the structure of the North American Cup, or NAC, tournament series. If you want to read the speech she gave as she was being inducted in...
2017-07-2758 min
SabreCoachKate podcastEpisode 8: Kamali ThompsonMy guest today is Kamali Thompson. Kamali is a very dynamic and determined individual who not only trains as an elite athlete but is also in medical school. She very candidly talks about her training regimen and turning disappointment into success. A mere three weeks after learning she didn't make the Olympic team she rallied and won the Division 1 Women's Sabre championship. You'll learn about the village it takes to create an elite athlete and the journey that Kamali took--and is still taking--to reach the pinnacle of our sport. I had so much fun doing this interview...
2017-07-2056 min
SabreCoachKate podcastEpisode 7: Summer NationalsThis year’s Summer Nationals and July Challenge broke records for attendance, even though the qualifying paths were more challenging. Many participants and coaches commented on how much more difficult every event was than in past years, which means the overall quality of fencing in our country is increasing! Over 4200 athletes total competed in this tournament—most of whom did multiple events. Day 6 had the highest number of participants in a single day: nearly 1500! Every day, I did a series of one-minute interviews to capture the stories of the people who make up this incredible envir...
2017-07-1358 min
SabreCoachKate podcastEpisode 6: Jerry BensonMy guest today, Jerry Benson, has worn a huge number of hats over the years: fencing club owner, referee, business consultant, fencing Master, HEMA enthusiast, philosopher, a member of the US Fencing Board of Directors, husband, Paralympic coach, and, most importantly: mentor. Jerry has a passion for helping each individual reach his or her personal best whether that be on the fencing strip, serving as a referee, or navigating life's muddy waters. Jerry has special insight due to multiple degrees in business, religion, psychology, and fencing in addition to many years of personal, hard earned experience. Many referees, fencers...
2017-07-061h 00
SabreCoachKate podcastEpisode 5: Dan BerkeIf you have ever hosted a fencing tournament or competed in one, you have today's guest to thank for its smooth operation. Back before Dan Berke created Fencing Time, seeding was done by hand with the help of index cards; one gust of wind could ruin a whole event. Dan, a Microsoft engineer who started fencing later in life, put his impressive technological skills to work and created software that made that system obsolete. From its simple roots in the Pacific Northwest, it is now used to seamlessly run tournaments in a wide variety of countries. Listen now for...
2017-06-291h 08
SabreCoachKate podcastEpisode 4: Vinnie BradfordIn today's episode you will hear Vincent Bradford talk about her long struggle to reach the Olympics, what it was like for a young woman in fencing "back in the day", and the people who inspired her to greatness. Her athletic career started in horseback riding, but she changed sports after meeting a friend of her riding instructor who was a fencer. She started fencing at age 11, placed second at the junior national championship at age 16, was an All-American for four consecutive years at San Jose State, and earned a place on the 1984 Olympic team at age 29...
2017-06-2246 min
SabreCoachKate podcastEpisode 3: Iris Zimmerman NowackThank you for joining me for episode three of the SabreCoachKate podcast. In this interview, you'll hear about the experiences of Olympian Iris Zimmerman Nowack and her exciting evolution from cute four year old in patent leather shoes to fencing Olympian to club owner and coach. I originally interviewed Iris a month ago. In light of her disappointment about losing the opportunity to fence the Women's Foil Team event at her Olympics because of the introduction of Women's Sabre, I followed up with her yesterday to get her perspective about last week's announcement that all fencing team...
2017-06-1557 min
Fencing Podcast - The Fencing PodcastEpisode 14: Grand Prix round up, Sean chats with Cecila BerderQuite a lengthy episode this time around. There's tons to get through as the season winds down in preparation for the World Championships.Finance has been an issue for Fencing for a very long time but it seems Fencing's main backer, Alisher Usmanov has solved that.One day, while on Twitter, Gav stumbed across a link to coaching advice from Italian coach Cipressa. He clicked it thinking it would be a simple piece about the man and his methods... But he'd actually wandered into the Athlete Hub. It contains tons of valuable information. Sean had already...
2017-06-1400 min
SabreCoachKate podcastEpisode 2: Ro SobalvarroThank you for joining me today for Episode Two of the SabreCoachKate podcast. Today you'll hear a conversation I had with Roberto Sobalvarro. He is full of surprises. He came to fencing in an unusual way, playing tennis during his young life then taking up fencing on a dare. After graduating from college, he decided to take a job as a high school fencing coach instead of the law school path he had originally planned for himself. Perhaps the biggest surprise of all was his climb to the pinnacle of coaching in our sport: He was the...
2017-06-0857 min
SabreCoachKate podcastEpisode 1: Ariana KlinkovI chose to begin this podcast with an incredible woman: Ariana Klinkov. She was one of the first women to fence sabre in the U.S., she was the first female sabre referee the U.S. ever sent to an international competition, and she has coached many fencers who have had varying levels of success, including National Team members. She still gets out on the fencing strip once a year to be a part of my team at the April NAC. During the recording, Ariana shares her thoughts on what it took for her to be a g...
2017-06-0156 min