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STEP IT UP - Antek Ignatowicz, left, the Highland High School fencing club adviser and instructor, works on speed Friday with club member Daniela Palacio, 18, during practice outside the school. MOLLY HAUXWELL/Valley Press

School's athletes take up swords

Highland High fencers: Mind, body involved

By JULIE DRAKE
Valley Press Staff Writer

About 10 students took that initial foray into the sport. Interest has grown since then. At the beginning of the school year, between 60 and 80 students flocked to the club, a number that was whittled down to roughly 20.

"It's something completely different, and because we're a club, we're not affected by all the budget cuts. So while our major teams like football and baseball are getting cut, we're actually growing. Athletes need someplace to go," he said.

One of the first things students learn is that fencing is not all about the swashbuckling, or, if you will, a duel between light sabers.

Rather, fencing is an intricate sport that requires a lot of leg strength.

"One of the things I always say, 'You're playing chess at 300 mph,' " Ignatowicz said.

On the first day of practice, Ignatowicz will show some videos, conduct a demonstration and take the students outside for stretching and running to instill in them that fencing is a sport.

The coach tells his students they will have to work hard at it and fencing will take years and years of dedication to master.

"It's a long, involved process," Ignatowicz said. "I could teach you the basics in 15 minutes, but you can spend the rest of your life just perfecting the skills."

The club is supported by fundraisers and is free to join. However, students who want to compete will need to join the U.S. Fencing Association, which costs about $60, and get a competition uniform.

The economic downturn recently forced Ignatowicz to close his business, Phoenyx Fencing Studio. The coach allows students to use the equipment and uniforms from the studio.

The club, which received official recognition from the district office this year, comprises mostly freshmen who are in training for competition.

Some team members competed last year against other high school teams in Southern California. Several of the older students volunteered to help teach the freshman.

A handful of fencing students have benefited beyond the physical and mental rigors of the sport to earn college scholarships.

"Almost all of the big universities have fencing clubs or teams, so these kids from the Antelope Valley can get a shot at an Ivy League school through fencing," Ignatowicz said.

About two years ago Raychel Poremski, one of the Ignatowicz's former students, won a full-ride fencing scholarship to the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Poremski's younger brother, John Porsemski, a 13-year-old freshman at Highland High, said he was inspired by his sister to take up the sport when he was in the seventh grade.

"It's really fun because it's a sport that doesn't require just overall physical excellence," he said. "It's something that requires mental abilities also. It's like chess - you have to do a certain move to get the reaction you want and you analyze it, so I really like it because you have to use your brain."

The Highland freshman did well enough at enough fencing tournaments last year that he was able to compete in a national tournament, which earned him a national ranking.

"I didn't place that well because there are more experienced kids there and there's about 100 kids there, at every national tournament," he said. "So obviously it's hard, but I'm looking to qualify again for the nationals."

Senior Daniela Palacio, 18, won a fencing scholarship to the University of California, Los Angeles. She joined the team during her sophomore year.

Palacio, who hasn't been to many competitions, said she never thought she could earn a scholarship for her fencing.

"I didn't know if I was going to get in but I got in; fencing did help a lot," said Palacio, who wants to study English literature.

Palacio said she likes the sport for the camaraderie and closeness among the team and because it helps relieve stress.

Sophomore Andrea Winslow, 15, said she joined the club because she always wanted to try fencing.

"It's fun and it keeps me in shape," she said, adding that the sport is more work than she expected.

The students practice for roughly two hours after school on Fridays. At the beginning of last Friday's practice, junior John Gale led the students in their warmups. He had them stretch and run around the basketball courts.

Gale, 17, is the club's vice president.

"I like that it's a one-on-one sport and how competitive it is. I like how much mind power it takes, too," he said. "I've got a couple of friends who think it's more like Zorro, which I really think is inaccurate."

The club will conduct a fundraiser at Barnes & Noble on Saturday and Sunday, May 2 and 3.

"It's going to be a percentage sale, so we get a percentage of whatever is sold those particular days," art teacher Laurie Brown said. "They have to bring in a flier when they're paying so their stuff so then they'll know that it's for us."

Members will do a fencing demonstration from 9 to 11 a.m. on both days outside the front entrance to the store.

The fundraiser will help cover the cost of replacement equipment and new equipment so more students can join. A basic starter kit can cost about $150, while more elaborate ones can cost in the thousands of dollars.

Students will be decked out in costumes as literature-based characters of Ivanhoe, Robin Hood, Prince John, the Three Musketeers, Sacramouche, Zorro, the Count of Monte Cristo and the Treasure Island Pirates. They will be inside the store talking with customers and reading in the children's center.

Brown, who made all the costumes by hand, is a fencing student also.

"I just asked if I could come. They're really welcoming, and they're willing to work with all different levels, because I've never done it before," she said.

Brown, who has played goalie on an ice hockey team, said fencing is a physically demanding sport.

"When you're actually fencing, within less than a minute, you're exhausted." Brown said. "I've been goalie for ice hockey, and this is way more rigorous because it's short but very taxing."

She said fencing is also very mental, much like chess, because a fencer has to think about what his opponent's next move will be along with his own.

"You have to have a lot of stamina," she said.

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