Art form and sport merge in a rather obscure discipline called fencing. And it’s on display on Carbondale’s Main Street this First Friday and through the summer.

Greg Domashovetz is the head coach and owner of the Roaring Fork Fencers Club, which got its start in 2017 and has grown to around 20 members, mostly elementary through high school aged students, from Glenwood Springs to Aspen.

Fencing is essentially competitive sword fighting, where two individuals in protective gear use special (non-lethal, of course) swords to score points by hitting designated target areas on their opponent’s body using a special suit that keeps score electronically.

It’s one of just a few sports that has been featured in every modern Olympic Games. 

Domashovetz has been fencing since he was a senior in high school in 2004 and was on his club team in college.

“That’s where I really fell in love with the sport, and then after college I moved to Chicago and worked really hard on training and competing there for a few years,” he said.

He moved to Denver and started refereeing and coaching the sport there in 2014, and his passion continued to grow to the point where he decided to start his own club. 

He considered forming a club in Denver, but had also been coming up to the mountains several days a week and decided to relocate to Glenwood Springs.

“After looking at a bunch of different markets, the Roaring Fork Valley was kind of the clear winner in terms of population and resources, and seemed like the best place to give it a shot,” Domashovetz said.

The club gained traction as an alternative to the many traditional sports that are offered in the Valley through schools or clubs, and became an attractive pastime during the COVID-19 pandemic as a way for youth to stay active with a relatively non-contact, one-on-one sport. 

“I remember one particular day where I drove up and down the Valley, giving lessons in someone’s driveway, or in a parking garage, the basement of an art gallery and even at the wastewater treatment plant in Aspen,” Domashovetz said.

“The challenge was once everyone decided to kind of return to what they were doing before. But now I feel like we’ve kind of re-hit our stride.”

Many of the students involved now have been with the program for multiple years and have stuck with it into high school.

Like Faye Vanmoorsel, 16, of Glenwood Springs, who started fencing in fifth grade as part of an Access After School program at her school.

“I was really bad at other sports, but there was something about fencing that just sort of clicked in my head,” she said. “I kept with it and decided, ‘Hey, this is really fun.’”

Fencing is good for the body and the brain, Vanmoorsel said.

“It has taught me how to use my body in different ways, and how to balance myself,” she said. “Mentally, it’s taught me a lot about patience and how to be strong when I need to be.” 

Vanmoorsel added that diversity within the sport has also taught her about different cultures, and to be a strong leader.

Clubmate Asher Rudow, who is in the 10th grade, would agree. “I’ve definitely learned a lot of leadership, and how to work with other people,” he said. “And to be able to push myself past my boundaries and work harder.”

The small club also makes for a tight-knit community, especially when they travel to tournaments and do other group activities, he said.

The club is currently in the thick of its competition season, having done a big tournament last weekend and taking some students to a regional competition in Denver this coming weekend, which is a qualifier for the national championships.

“Some of our students are already qualified through other paths for the summer championships,” Domashovetz shared.

The Roaring Fork Fencers Club also hosts its own tournament May 17-18 at Sopris Elementary School in Glenwood Springs, bringing in clubs from across the state. 

The club practices two times a week at the Glenwood Arts Center on 6th Street (former Center for the Arts).

Domashovetz agrees there are multiple benefits to the sport of fencing. “I think it builds a lot of physical literacy,” he said. “It’s way more physical than most people realize, so it has a lot of those important skills that transfer to all sports, like hand-eye coordination, balance and agility. It also builds a lot of strength, because it’s very explosive, whether you’re lunging or whether you’re quickly changing directions. And it’s aerobic.”

It also builds problem-solving skills. “That’s how I teach fencing to the kids, that all these skills have context,” he said. “We use all these skills together for this reason, and I think it transfers very well to academics.” 

The Roaring Fork Fencers Club is open to any youth, ages 7 through high school, and adults are welcome to help provide mentorship. Learn more about the club at www.roaringforkfc.com, and look for their demo station at First Friday this week.