University of Wyoming Fencing Club will host a home tournament on March 26 to attract more student participation.
“As of right now, it’s about making sure anyone who comes in now gets the chance to see the full breadth of what we have to offer,” Rachael Pinkham, a three-year member, said.
The unsanctioned tournament is said to feature at least 10 of the 16 roster members of the club.
“Fencing is a novelty, especially in Wyoming,” Pinkham said. “It’s a fantastic place to go if you want to try something completely new and unfamiliar while still having a very supportive community behind you for it.”
Pinkham said the tournament provides a unique opportunity for her team and her as she returns to the sport post-injury.
“I am delighted that my jump back into it is going to be so dramatic,” Pinkham said. “Fencing has given me a sense of confidence I wouldn’t have otherwise, so it’s great to get back into it.”
UW Fencing Club is also the only sanctioned organization for fencing in the state, which means it’s the only place students get the opportunity to watch or participate in the sport.
“Who doesn’t like the idea of learning how to use a sword?” Pinkham said. “Fencing itself is an incredible sport, it’s way more intricate than people realize, but it is also a sport centered around respect.”
For Nate Rasmussen, a four-year member, student participation is not limited to becoming a club member.
“I think a lot of people don’t know that there’s even an option to watch fencing, and that is a barrier we want to overcome,” Rasmussen said. “It kind of died down for a year and a half, but this senior year we’ve got a lot of new members, and it’s back.”
Nevertheless, the club is welcoming to new members at all times.
“It is genuinely a super fun and creative group of people we have here, and it would be amazing to expand that,” Chandler Nanneman, a first-year member, said.
The club is hoping to expand by adjusting waivers so that first-time attendees to practice can interact with the team and equipment on the strip.
“It is a contact sport, so without that paperwork, we can’t even let them touch equipment at practice,” Nanneman said.
Another idea is to draw in both new audience members and student participants in setting up demonstrations or creating a new tournament overall.
“A big goal is some simple outreach through our campus, but a fun goal is to try to set up a University of Wyoming yearly tournament in the fall,” Rasmussen said.
“If we could get people to come up from Colorado, we could make this into a decent-sized event.”
