Stephen Croskrey was excited to hear there was a campus fencing club when they came to Eastern Washington University last year. After all, Croskrey has been an avid fencer for years.
But they soon discovered that the club had been abandoned since 2018. So, in a bid to reestablish a local community of fencers, Croskrey stepped up and revived the club.
“I essentially just decided, ‘well, I want to keep fencing while I’m [at EWU]. And I want to have more people to fence with and bring fencing to Eastern so that we have that community of fencers.’ So I went ahead and restarted [the club],” they said.
On Oct. 6th, 2023, Croskrey led the first EWU fencing club meeting in five years. The group consisted mostly of newcomers to the sport, so the majority of the hour they had was spent on learning the terminology of the weapons, footwork and other general skills. The meeting concluded with members getting to practice lunging at Croskrey with a weapon.
Aiden Anderson, a student who attended the first meeting, echoed Croskrey’s excitement for the club.
“I have wanted to try fencing for my entire life,” Anderson said. “[The meeting] absolutely exceeded my expectations.”
Another student, Ellie Hancock, said he saw it as a good way to exercise while having fun. The general consensus among members that attended was that Croskrey was a clear instructor, and that they would be likely to return for future practices.
For Croskrey, one of the biggest appeals of fencing is the fact that anybody can learn it.
“To quote my coaches, it’s a sport that really anybody can do… Fencing is something where you don’t have to be the most athletic person, there are a lot of aspects to it,” they said. “The oldest fencer back home at my club is around 90 [years old], so he is proof that you can keep doing it.”
Croskrey hopes that the club will also lower the barrier for entry into the sport for curious individuals.
“It is something that, as with a lot of other sports, you will have to pay money for,” Croskrey said. “But I don’t want people to have to buy a bunch of their own equipment to start. I don’t want people to have to pay a ton for classes or lessons just to start or even to continue.”
Club sports at EWU require members to pay a minimum of $10 a quarter, but Croskrey mentioned this fee may increase in the future if fencers are interested in traveling for competition.
Croskrey has big hopes for the future of the club, including holding tournaments with other colleges such as Washington State University, Western Washington University, and University of Washington. Before that though, their major focus is on gaining new club members and retaining them.
“If nobody shows up, we can’t practice,” they said. “By being there, you’re not only helping yourself, you’re helping your other fellow fencers.”
They encourage anybody who is interested in joining the club to follow their instagram page (here), or to just show up to one of the club meetings held from 6:00pm-7:00pm on Fridays and Saturdays in SRC 270.
