Across the middle of the Morgan gymnasium, new fencing students gathered December 6 to find out what weapon they would be fencing for their high school career. By learning their weapon, they become part of a tradition that is four years old here at Morgan, as the fencing team takes on their next winter season.
Throughout conditioning and the first week of practice, coach Jim Barnett, who is entering his 15th year coaching at Morgan, evaluates to see what weapon each new fencer will fit best in. With a mix of activities, he looks at what each individual can do.
Barnett shared that he looks for, quickness, agility, speed, stamina, reaction time, body type, if they play another sport what position they play, and also what openings he has to fill for each squad. “I think it comes down to the years of experience coaching fencing and getting to know all the new people for the first couple weeks. Sometimes it’s just a feeling I can’t explain, but it seems to work,” he shared.
The new group of 15 are not only excited to bring their talents to the team but believe they can add to the atmosphere of the team.
After deciding to focus on school freshman year, sophomore Lexi Newman decided to give fencing a try after watching many tournaments and matches over the summer. She shared, “I think I am able to talk to people who may feel left out.”
Newman is not the only one who thinks they can bring something to the team. Freshman Sophia Rae and Sophomore Josh Nager think they can bring even more kindness to the team than it already has. They both believe that they can bring another level of teamwork and support to the sport.
Going into the season, these novices are very excited to continue to learn and get better. Rae shared that she is looking forward to making her coaches proud as well as her squad. She is excited to have her family come to her matches and get to watch her. Nager is excited about the experience of being on a team. “I am looking forward to getting to know everyone.” Just like Nager, Newman can not wait to meet new people and get close with the team.
With the season starting, Newman said, “I have seen that the team is very close and very nice, even if they aren’t necessarily friends with them outside the team.” Nager noticed that everyone had each other’s back and that everyone is very hardworking.
On February 1, 2025, the novices will fence in the State Novice Tournament. This is an opportunity for them to see the competition side of fencing and get them used to the environment they will be in for the rest of high school. Sophomore Taylor Breen, a second year fencer, shared that her Novice Tournament helped her see what the sport truly is, and she is excited to see this new group find the same passion she did.
On December 7, the team got together to have a team bonding experience playing laser tag. Breen shared, “laser tag was a great opportunity for me to get to know the novice, and I think it helped all of them feel more comfortable with the team.”
Morgan JV fencing will face off against Daniel Hand on December 20. This match is the first of the year and will be the new fencers first experience of the sport.
Breen said, “this new group looks determined, they have already put in a lot of hard work and I can already start to see it pay off. I think they are all going to have an amazing season.”
