It is barely a year old but you can already hear glowing testimonies about the impact of the Budapest FIE Coaching Academy. The academy became the FIE’s second educational centre when it opened in January 2016, following the lead of the International School for Fencing Masters in Dakar, Senegal. In its first six months, it welcomed 46 coaches from Asia and Europe along with 10 former high-performance fencers from around the world interested in becoming professional fencing coaches, as part of the Athletes Career Program.

It is a place of learning which offers fencing expertise – including renowned coaches in Ioan Pop (sabre), Bela Kopetka (epee) and Zoltan Bernat (foil) – as well as the support of the Hungarian University of Physical Education, which teaches course modules in psychology, pedagogy, training-methodology, physiology and strategic management. For an insight into how the academy has already helped change lives, we spoke to three participants from the first year’s intake.

Joseph Raciborski from Australia:

“The theory part was fantastic. One of the lecturers urged us to continue studying sports science and I decided to go back to university to begin another degree in sports education. I’ve been accepted into Western Sydney University to study health/sport science and physical education next year.

In Australia you usually don’t find out until January but I got an early offer and the admissions officer was very interested in the diploma I’d completed at the FIE academy. I cannot stress enough how good my experience was. Bela [Kopetka] was an amazing teacher. I'll be highly recommending that the Australian Fencing Federation send another candidate if the courses continue.”

Daniel Sanabria from Costa Rica:

“The programme was very useful for my career. We learned fencing coaching from experienced coaches and also we got knowledge of Sport Science from the University of Physical Education. Sharing the experience with retired fencers and coaches from different parts of the world definitely adds value too.”

While Daniel was in Budapest, he learned through the FIE of an opportunity to study at the iSR Academy, for retired athletes, in South Korea:

“Right now I’m in South Korea and my stay in Busan is a direct product of the fencing coaching education program. I am part of an international group of athletes, studying Sport Management at Dong-a University, sponsored by the International Sport Relations foundation [iSR Academy], and I use my free time to help at the Lourus Fencing Club here in Busan. After the first semester we are going to Pyeongchang to have work experience in the test events team at the Winter Olympic Games and later there’ll be an internship in different sport institutions. I’m studying pharmacy in my country and I would like to intern at the academy for the anti-doping agency here.”

Thato Mpoloka from Botswana:

“It was not easy coming from Botswana, a country which had only one male coach, who recently attended the International School for Fencing Masters in Dakar in 2015. We did not have much experience in fencing – we basically learnt from the FIE website and YouTube videos and perfected our skills through the little knowledge that we had.

“I remember all my lessons vividly. We had a very powerful, strict coach who pushed us to become really professional coaches, by working with people who are highly recognised and respected in the fencing world. My sabre classmates helped me throughout as well. I enjoyed most the theory part, especially sport management and pedagogy.

“It improved my fencing skills massively and I now know how to teach a beginner, and also how to handle children, by giving them exercises suited to the fact they are still developing. I currently have a sabre team aged between seven and 13 and in our first competition, they did very well and won some medals, which was after less than two months’ training together!”