All eyes are watching as two opponents dressed in bright white jackets and lames stare each other down from underneath their hoods. Peter Fortin-Roth, a junior at Morgan, is about to begin his match with his opponent from North Branford. He knows that their school is known for having skilled fencers and have won more matches this season, but his mind doesn’t focus on these thoughts, that’s not what matters anyway. He locks in and stays positive – keeping a good mindset is what will get him through this. This isn’t just a match, it’s another test of whether or not he’ll break under the pressure or fence his best.
The Morgan fencing team has always been the schools largest winter sport, with over 40 members, and is one of the few single person sports at the school. While players work as a team during practice, it is up to them to win their matches in a one-on-one with their opponent.
This raises the question, how do they prepare without the teamwork dynamic that so many other sports are driven by. It’s well known that players of any sport achieve success through hard practice and determination, however Peter Fortin-Roth said that fencers like to prioritize mindset to stay in the zone.
“So the biggest thing I would definitely say is mindset,” said Peter Fortin-Roth, a junior at Morgan and a varsity fencer for men’s foil.
Over the fencing season the team had to compete against their rival schools to carve a path to the state championships. The team is split into squads but senior fencer Anthony Strujo described, not all squads always make it to the championships, and men’s epee didn’t make the cut after a defeat in the qualifying round against North Branford high school. However, all of Morgan’s other teams persevered and made it to states.
With most sports you play with a team, and as an observer you focus on the whole team rather than one player; however, fencing is a single sport so your team can’t come with you to help when it’s time for the actual game, one can only imagine the stress when all eyes are on you. Once it’s them against their opponent, they are on their own trying to win for their team.
“Since it is a full varsity sport…you have all that pressure to do well… Because the way it breaks down you’re trying to win through a squad, but then your squad is also trying to win for your team,” said Anthony Strujo, a senior at Morgan and the captain of the men’s epee squad.
The state championships are a tough and stressful time for the players, and there is loads of pressure on their shoulders as fencing captain Anothony Strunjo described; they are facing off against some of the best teams in the state.
“So, our coaches have been doing a lot of talking about mindset. I think our best bet is to focus on the mental stuff, like the strategy and just being like locked in,” said Alexander Vece, a varsity fencer on the men’s epee squad.
Practicing is important, and so is teamwork, even in a single sport you need to keep morale high; however, it’s the mindset of the player that really matters when it comes to fencing. They face some tough opponents and they know they’re gonna lose to some but it’s keeping your head high and staying positive that stops them from breaking under the pressure and keeps them determined through the season.
Despite the odds however Peter was able to pull through and beat his opponent and move onto states.
“I managed to win one of my bouts, which was pretty cool since their foil squad was much better than ours.” said Peter Fortin-Roth who helped lead his squad to the championships.
