Just last week, the Oratory Prep Fencing Team kicked off their first practice of the season, with a lot more to hopefully follow. Although the late start means fewer practices and meets, with only 3 actual games currently scheduled, the team is making the best of what they have, although obvious changes have had to be made. Practices are no longer held in the gym, but rather the cafeteria, and while it is not the most ideal place for new fencers because of the limited space and utilities, it gets the job done. Many training exercises, like controlling the point of your blade, has been modified in ways to fit the room size, so while in the past they would once put tape on the gym’s protective wall surface so that fencers could aim at the specific target, improvisations have been made, and they now use returning fencers as target practice to get new fencers trained properly. Rest assured, this is not dangerous at all to the actual fencers, if anything, it’s quite amusing.

Warm-ups and conditioning now take place outside rather than in the gym as more space is needed now more than ever between each fencer, which works out rather well on most days. However, even with the limited space, we are still able to run everything that needs to be done pretty seamlessly, as each fencing category has its select area to practice its skillset. Unfortunately, as of the time of writing, fencing practices have come to a halt because of a potential COVID infection, but hopefully, all remains well and they will be able to start the season back up. Other than the current hiccup, the group seems to be having a strong start, as the team has begun at full force and is ready for the current games scheduled for the season. Only time will tell, but for the time being the OP Fencing Team should be on their way to one of their best seasons yet as the team continues to grow and learn off of one another to become better at the sport as well as greater teammates.