By Gabby Sahm

staff writer

@gabbysahm

Football, basketball, baseball/softball, volleyball, tennis and wrestling are the sports that are most common throughout the halls of Coppell High School. What most students probably do not know is that there is one student roaming the halls of CHS who carries a talent for a different sport; fencing.

Sophomore Amruta Deole, started fencing four months ago when her and a friend decided to take up a sport. They did not want to do just any sport like volleyball or softball, they wanted to be more unique, and fencing was the perfect fit.

“I used to watch it in the Olympics and always thought it looked cool and interesting,” Deole said. “Plus not a lot of girls do it.”

She now spends three hours a day, three days a week, practicing her fencing skills. They work on anything from footwork to actually sparing with a partner. Some of her favorite things she gets to do when practicing is improvise during matches.

“You can trick someone into thinking you’re going to do one move, but then totally do another one,” Deole said.

Her coach, Hossam Mahmoud, has been fencing since the age of 13 in Eygpt and moved to the United States in the 1990’s. He has now been teaching for over 25 years and has been coaching Deole for six months.

“Amruta is a very smart person, and applies herself to learning new skills as well as improving the old skills,” Mahmoud said. “She comes prepared for each class and is quite determined to becoming a better fencer.”

His ultimate goal for Deole is help her get universities and colleges interested in her, along with just teaching her the power of the sport.

“I look forward to Amruta competing in her first tournament and testing herself against people outside of our club,” Mahmoud said. “If she continues to improve and apply herself, she has an opportunity for universities with fencing programs to recruit her.”

All this fun and determination can not come without pain. Deole spends hours working on the basics before she can start facing off.

“You have to spend about an hour doing footwork, so it can get repetitive and your legs will start hurting,” Deole said. “But when you start fencing, it always ends up being worth it.”

In the end, all this hard work will pay off when Deole goes to her first competition in two months. Also, she hopes that her practice now will help pave the way for college in the future.

“I really hope to gain knowledge about this sport and get to know new people that do fencing,” Deole said. “I also hope to continue the sport into college.”