The Bay Area Fencing Club in Los Gatos has two goals: to bring the sport to the masses and provide a platform for those wishing to advance to the highest level.
In Andy Peng, John Wang, Lisa Posthumus and Bogdan Gurinenko, the new fencing center—located at 15445 Los Gatos Blvd.—seemingly has the right people in place to make their vision become a lasting reality.
Posthumus and Gurinenko are renowned coaches who are serving in that capacity at the club, Posthumus as the executive coach and Gurinenko as the head coach. Posthumus has been the Stanford men’s and women’s fencing coach since 1999, and her pedigree is rather rich, as her late mom, Sherry, is a legendary figure in the sport.
“I grew up in this area and for the last 20 years helped promote fencing in the Palo Alto area, so it’s nice we can bring fencing to the South Bay,” Posthumus said. “The (San Jose) Almaden, Los Gatos, Saratoga area haven’t really ever had a center for fencing, and this is an opportunity to grow it down here now.”
The Bay Area Fencing Club hosted the Fence for Peace Tournament April 2-3, which had a powerful purpose: to raise funds and show support for the country and people of Ukraine whose lives have been turned upside down after Russia invaded the country on Feb. 24.
Since then, more than 4.3 million Ukrainians have left the country, or roughly a quarter of its population displaced. Proceeds from the Fence of Peace Tournament went through UNICEF USA to help children in Ukraine, and some of the club members’ cash donations went straight to Ukrainian families directly affected by the invasion.
“We used Fence for Peace to show our support for Ukraine and for Bogdan, who is from Ukraine,” Peng said. “His family was directly impacted.”
Gurinenko was a former fencer on the Ukrainian national team and won the prestigious national junior foil championship six years in a row. Posthumus has enjoyed tremendous success at Stanford, guiding the Cardinal to 17 top-10 NCAA finishes along with a handful of athletes who have won titles at the collegiate and world level and made Olympic teams.
Posthumus was an accomplished fencer herself, helping Penn State to the 1990 NCAA championship. Her mom, Sherry, was the assistant athletic director at Stanford and a pioneer in establishing fencing at the grassroots level in the U.S.
Peng and Wang are the co-owners of the club and successful financial investors. The two owners and two coaches have a nice synergy between them, Posthumus said, and they all have the same vision for the club which keeps everyone on point and motivated to share their love for fencing.
“Our decisions are made by the whole group,” she said. “We’re all moving forward with the same vision and goals to grow this club. It’s nice to have their (investing) experience behind us. Coaches aren’t out there starting businesses left and right. We coach, we know how to coach kids and know how to spot talent and develop that talent. But having Andy and John’s business (acumen) is a fantastic plus to the club.”
The four leaders of the Bay Area Fencing Club also, uncannily, live in the same area. Posthumus and Wang live within walking distance of each other in San Jose’s Almaden area, while Gurinenko and Peng live down the street from each other in Monte Sereno.
“I grew up playing Almaden soccer and all my friends went to Los Gatos High School, so it’s wonderful now to have fencing as part of our community,” Posthumus said.
The impetus to start Bay Area Fencing came after the former club Gurinenko coached at—and where Peng and Wang’s 13-year-old daughters trained—within a week eliminated its foil program, one of three fencing events (epee and saber are the other two).
Peng said Gurinenko lost his job, which left him and several families scrambling to find another club. However, the options were limited.
“Most foil programs are on the Peninsula (San Mateo County) and all are in very small facilities,” Peng said. “And it’s hard for any club to take in dozens of kids. We looked around and realized there was a need for a fencing club in this area. We had great coaches, a core group of fencers and dedicated families, so all that was needed was a club. So we thought, ‘Why not start our own?’”
The group started looking around for a suitable space in the beginning of September before finding its current location in December. By January, they were up and running. The club offers classes for all age groups, though most of its core members are teenagers who have a couple of years of experience in the sport.
“We had a few of the kids’ parents sign up for beginning classes, and once they tried it, they stopped yelling at their kids,” Peng said. “They realized how hard it is and have a better appreciation for the sport.”
Peng said the club’s membership is growing rapidly and several of the fencers—mostly in the 11- to 14-year-old range—have advanced from unrated to the E category since the club opened. Ratings go from A (best) to E.
“The kids are getting their ratings, we’re proud of their performances and so happy to see them excel in fencing,” Peng said.
Wang and Peng’s 13-year-old daughters both started fencing at different clubs in Shanghai, but the families never met each other until after they moved to the area several years ago, at which point the two girls started training at the same fencing club in Campbell.
The two developed a friendship which led them to eventually team up and start this new business venture together. They let Posthumus and Gurinenko run the show—while Peng and Wang pay the bills, do the club’s sales and marketing and support the coaches in whatever they need, including the cleaning.
“We’re the janitors, we clean the hallways and the like,” Peng said.
Ideally, Bay Area Fencing will in time develop several high-level fencers who go on to compete in college and in the best-case scenario, the World Championships and Olympics. For now, increasing the visibility and participation of the sport remains paramount.
“Quite honestly, fencing is an Olympic sport but a minor sport in the area,” Posthumus said. “There’s always kids playing soccer or baseball on the weekends, but not many people have an opportunity to go to a place for fencing. Now they do.”
Sports editor Emanuel Lee can be reached at [email protected]
