Anonymous wrote:My kids do not fence but I have also heard bad reviews about FSA. That there is no transparency on pricing, feedback and competitions. Beginner parents are not given any guidance and very bad and rude customer service. The management doesn’t care about anything else except money and supporting older kids who are already ranked fencers. They lost their top coach in fall 2021 to a university and after that they didn’t even hire a proper replacement.

Wow for someone who’s kids don’t fence you know a lot about a fencing academy. My kids don’t play soccer but….

My kids do not fence but I have also heard bad reviews about FSA. That there is no transparency on pricing, feedback and competitions. Beginner parents are not given any guidance and very bad and rude customer service. The management doesn’t care about anything else except money and supporting older kids who are already ranked fencers. They lost their top coach in fall 2021 to a university and after that they didn’t even hire a proper replacement.

Penta is a good club for epee. I suggest researching more on FSA, I heard bad reviews from parents.

What is better epee or foil? Which is more competitive? Which DC metro centers for foil fencing? Which ones for epee?

Agree fencing is horrifically expensive if your kid gets good. It’s real pain.

Try Capital Fencing Academy. They've had very successful girls come out of there. Just watch out for some of the other parents. The top fencer's mom is BSC.

Hi OP here figured since there’s recent activity I’d update. We ended up at FSA in fairfax. We’re doing foil and DD likes it so far. So we shall see. I looked at Penta to but didn’t pick them mostly for convenience and aesthetic reasons that had nothing to do with fencing.

I will say since no one mentioned it fencing is a super expensive sport. Between 2x a week, 3x if we get serious and weekly private lessons to get prepared for tournament (2-3 private if we actually get serious). Travel to tournaments, nationals are in MN. This is sport is pricey. Sigh why couldn’t she just like running.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fencing Sports Academy is great. My kid goes to another place in MD but did one of their winter camps and liked it.

Where does your kid go in MD?

For MoCo - Capital Fencing Academy is also very good.

Sabre only though.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fencing Sports Academy is great. My kid goes to another place in MD but did one of their winter camps and liked it.

Where does your kid go in MD?

For MoCo - Capital Fencing Academy is also very good.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Out of AIC and FSA which one would you recommend for competitive foil fencing for a 9 year old boy?

FSA

Why? Please give some details.

Anonymous wrote:Out of AIC and FSA which one would you recommend for competitive foil fencing for a 9 year old boy?

FSA

Out of AIC and FSA which one would you recommend for competitive foil fencing for a 9 year old boy?

One thing to keep in mind is that different clubs focus on different swords (foil, epee, and/or saber). People have different opinions re whether to start with epee vs foil, so best to start at a club that offers a good program in both/either (rather than a saber-focused club).

AIC Fencing is a very good club for foil and epee fencing — it recently moved to a new location in Sterling, a few mins from Dulles Airport. Many of its fencers ranked very highly at Nationals this summer, and the club always does very well at regional and national tournaments. My son loves it there — the coaches are excellent, the prices reasonable (beware, fencing can be a very expensive sport), and the club offers a very warm and supportive environment. Most fencers there fence foil, but AIC just recently brought on one of the best epee coaches in the DMV to build up their epee program.

FSA is also very good and has a lot of highly ranked/rated fencers. They unfortunately just lost one of their main (excellent) coaches to Notre Dame, so I’d imagine will be seeking to find a new coach to take his spot.

Nova is a great place to start out as a beginner fencer. But if your kid ends up wanting to compete, you might then consider switching to FSA or AIC (for foil or epee) or Penta (for epee).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fencing Sports Academy is great. My kid goes to another place in MD but did one of their winter camps and liked it.

Where does your kid go in MD?

Baltimore Fencing Center in Columbia.