JEDDAH, 8 January 2007 — Though fencing in the Kingdom has a history that spans more than 40 years, the sport is not getting the proper attention it deserves, lamented fencing aficionados and Saudi fencers themselves.
“We have a lot of good athletes who are good and need nothing but support and chances to rise and compete,” said Saudi national team fencer Foaad Al-Nasri, 26, in a phone interview from Dammam.
Al-Nasri has taken up fencing since he was 12 on the encouragement of Coach Omar Abu Romia who introduced the game to him while he was in school.
Now, after years of practicing and training, Al-Nasri is proud of his sport especially that he was able to represent his country and brought home the epee gold medal for teams in 2001 at the Arab Fencing Championship in Tunisia.
According to Al-Nasri, the fencing team just came back from the Asian Fencing Championship in Taipei where they placed fifth. Along with his teammate Al-Nasri was looking forward to participate at the Asian Games in Qatar but did not make it for some reasons.
“We approached the Saudi Fencing Federation and asked them, but no useful answer was given,” he said.
The fencing team, however, are now preparing for the Arab Championship in Egypt and will undergo several training camps with each lasting a month; first in the Eastern Province and then in Hungary.
Fencing unfortunately is not getting the support it needs, he added, especially after Captain Abu Romia had left the club here many stopped showing up. For the meantime it is only eight or nine who continue to practice with me, he said. Offering scholarships and financial rewards for the athletes, he added, would do the game a huge favor.
“The majority are now either studying or working, thus a financial reward would be a great incentive and each will look forward to meet the expectations to get the rewards,” said Al-Nasri.
The Saudi Federation is for sure doing its best and offering us training camps with the best Saudi and foreign trainers, he added, “but we sure need more trainers throughout the year in all clubs and more support from the media.”
In 1979 Prince Homoud ibn Saud ibn Abdulaziz became the first active Saudi fencer. He later became president of the Saudi Fencing Federation and had been supporting the game since then.
Abu Romia introduced the game in 1989 in Al-Huda club in Tarout Island in the Eastern Province. Al-Huda built a reputation as one of the toughest fencing clubs reigning supreme at the club level for six straight seasons. They also won national titles from 1989 to 1992.
The other Eastern Province fencers to bring honor for the country in addition to Al-Nasri were Zakariya Al-Dawoud, 17, who clinched the bronze medal in under-20 and Mohanna Al-Hamoud, who won the silver in the under–17 at the Asian Fencing Championship in Kuwait.
In 2004, Akeel Al-Dawoud, making his national team debut, was awarded 1st place in Qatar at the 1st Gulf Championship for Juveniles at the epee event. Al-Dawoud, despite his age, also secured a silver medal at the Arab Championship and two other bronze medals.
Though Eastern Province is the bedrock of fencing with 11 clubs, other areas are making their presence felt including Jeddah where the Masters Academy for Fencing was opened in 2005 under the supervision of Captain Abu Romia who trains the fencers.
While training the players in the academy, Arab News spoke to Captain Abu Romia, who was addressing them with phrases in French and phrases in Arabic like, “man move forward,” and “men straighten up,” to boost their confidence.
In the interview, Abu Romia said he came to Jeddah because of his belief that this game was not well reppresented here and is not getting its fair share of attention.
“Thus I try my best to work with these young talents and support them to be confident and perform very well,” said Abu Romia. It is just what the owners of this academy and the captain try to achieve as the owners encourage and plan to enable the players to participate in competitions in the near future with foreign clubs to enhance their skill and enrich their experience.
In 1986 a Saudi fencer, Abdullah Dahgistani, got himself into fencing world when he started training under coach Mohammed Al-Sayed to play foil in school and then at Al-Ittihad club with the same coach.
“When he first saw me he told me jokingly I looked like a cockroach because of my short height back then. I was 90 cm and the foil was 115 cm.”
That did not discourage him and instead took it as a challenge until he successfully became champion. At the age of 17 he finished 1st at the Kingdom’s championship for fencing for — 17 and one year later he repeated the victory at the — 20 event in the same competition. After moving to the States to finish his studies he managed to place 3rd at Seattle, USA open tournaments for fencing in 1999. When he moved to Virginia afterwards he trained with few foreigners and participated at the (USFA Capitol Division Cherry Blossom Open) placing 8th.
For him it appeared like a promising future but he said, when I came back I was discouraged to learn that Al-Ittihad club closed their fencing club. “Yet that did not stop me either and as soon as I heard about the academy I joined it and won first place at the Masters Academy Open Tournament in 2006.”
For Hilal Al-Harith,25, the fencing bug bit him while abroad studying at Georgetown University in Washington D.C., where he took up fencing classes.
Al-Harith grew fond of it and won in one event against the fencing club president there. He said that he joined it because of, “the idea of fighting against someone else who shares the same feeling with a sword which makes it quite exciting just like what we have been seeing in movies” and he added, “the best part of it of course is winning,” he said.
He joined the academy around seven months ago and admired the captain’s way of training and though he works as a media designer freelancer he said he enjoy fencing and will not stop practicing.
A 21-year old old fencer Hisham Basrawi explained how important fencing is to him. It did not only helped him stay fit but also developed him mentally. “I have been practicing for around a year now and it reflects immediately on our lives positively as we became to think more clear and answers fast yet with more assertiveness and logic.”
Another fencer Mohammed Ashram, 15, who joined the academy here said that, “even though I can divide my time, my education will come first especially that when a person grows older the responsibilities grows with him,” he said.
Also lured the sport are the younger players like Ahmed Khogheir, 14, Ammar Fedah, 11, Batterji brothers Ammar, 8, and Yassir, 10, and Sani Madani, 9.
“We play brotherly matches and we help each other when one forgets a move, said Madani. Batterji brothers then added, “we wish we can all represent the country one day and we hope to be internationals very soon.”
Will these wishes come into fruition? Or will they remain where they are along with the rest who keep on joining clubs in the Kingdom without much success and without the encouragement needed for them to continue playing the game?
“We will always be moving forward hopefully, with belief in God first and foremost and in ourselves” Abu Romia thus concluded the interview.
