Club History
Introduction | The Early Years | Swords and the Silver Screen | The 50's, 60's, and 70's | The Fencing Team Today
Introduction
Since 1926, the USC Fencing Team has proven to be a dominant force, winning numerous championships and representing the bold Trojan spirit. Although it has changed over the last three-quarters of a century, as athletes and coaches have come and gone, one aspect of the team has remained the same throughout its history: the dedication to the sport of fencing and to teaching its skills to all who seek to learn.
The Early Years
The beginnings of the USC Fencing Team date back before its creation in 1926 to the initiation of Rufus B. von KleinSmid as the fifth President of the University of Southern California in 1921. Von KleinSmid was, among his many talents, a skilled fencer and an enthusiastic promoter of the sport. He received instruction on a regular basis at the Los Angeles Athletic Club (L.A.A.C.), an institution which is still in existence in its original location downtown. The fencing instructor at the Athletic Club was a Belgian fencing master by the name of Henry J. Uyttenhove. Shortly after von KleinSmid took office, fencing was first offered as a "Sophomore Sport," essentially a recreational sport separate from the varsity athletics of the university. None other than Henry Uyttenhove became the first fencing instructor at USC.
In 1926, a few years into the fencing program, the team grew out of its sophomore sports standing as "the department was reorganized by Coach Uyttenhove, and with the material at hand he put out an honest to goodness fencing team." After only being in existence for one year, the USC Fencing Team placed second in the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate matches of the American Fencers League of America (the precursor to the USFA), held in San Francisco.
With a flood of interest in fencing by the students of USC, women's fencing was first offered as an intramural sport in 1927 under the tutelage of Uyttenhove, and already in 1928, several of the women were placing in the finals of the Pacific Coast Championship Tournament.
The USC Fencing Team would go on to become a powerhouse in Pacific Coast Intercollegiate tournaments, winning countless titles in several weapons as Uyttenhove continued to instruct his students. For example, by 1940, after fifteen years of fencing at USC, the fencing team had collected 14 Pacific Coast Intercollegiate titles.
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