OLYMPIANS TO GIVE FREE FENCING DEMONSTRATION AT UNION SQUARE BARNES & NOBLE

2008 Olympic silver medalist Tim Morehouse will be joined by fellow Olympic Team members for free fencing demonstration and book signing

2008 Olympic silver medalist Tim Morehouse and Olympic Fencing Team members will host a book signing and free live fencing demonstration atBarnes & Noble in Union Square (33 East 17^th Street NYC) on Saturday, Jan. 12 from noon to 2 p.m.

Featured will be Morehouse’s fast-paced memoir “American Fencer: Modern Lessons from an Ancient Sport”. Written with best-selling author Garth Sundem, Morehouse describes his life’s inspiring trajectory from a rough New York City neighborhood to the Olympic podium.

The event is free and open to the public. Those purchasing American Fencer at the Union Square store or online at www.barnesandnoble.com will receive priority seating at the event. (please note: you do not need the book to attend)

RSVP to info@fencingintheschools.com

Dear Friends,

It is with great excitement that I share with you the launch of the Fencing-in-the-Schools website!  (www.fencingintheschools.org)  I invite you to look around and learn more about our programs and our plans for the future.    As you can see from our “BIG GOAL,” we plan to get one million children fencing in the USA over the next 10 years!

This is a very exciting and busy time as we prepare to launch our pilot programs in March 2013 with  nearly 2,000 students in 7 schools in East Harlem participating.    I believe this number of students will already make us one of the largest introductory programs  in the country, and we’re just getting started!

Our goal is that by the 2013-2014 school year, we will have 20,000 students fencing in 30-50 schools across the country.   We will accomplish this task by training PE teachers at their schools to teach our great sport.  We will provide them with the tools, such as a clear and concise curriculum aligned to the national fitness standards, video support, and match them up with local clubs.

Beyond the sheer numbers, the importance of introducing kids to fencing is in our ability to empower our youth to achieve excellence in their lives.   We plan to teach the Olympic ideals within the curriculum, get our kids moving and healthy, as well as connect them to members of our U.S. Olympic fencing team, who can serve as real-life inspiration and motivation.

In the upcoming months, we plan to hold a fundraiser kick-off in March 2013 in NYC. It will feature a newly envisioned FENCING MASTERS ROADSHOW that we plan to take across the country to promote the sport of fencing while inspiring and educating our kids.

I will have more information coming soon on how you can help.!   Thanks for all your support, and I hope that together we will help usher in a new era for fencing in the USA.

Yours,

Tim Morehouse
US Olympic Silver Medalist
Founder of Fencing-in-the-Schools

If you’d like to donate to Fencing-in-the-Schools (501c3) you can do so at http://www.fencingintheschools.org/donate/

The USA Fencing stalwart, a member of three U.S. Olympic Teams (Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012) and an Athlete Ambassador for the U.S. Olympic Committee’s Team for Tomorrow program, brought a lighthearted touch to the inspirational message he delivered last week at the Vanderbilt YMCA in New York City, where he shared his personal story of determination with 200 public school students ranging from elementary school through high school.

Morehouse, an Olympic silver medalist with the 2008 U.S. saber team, emphasized he was never the most talented athlete in his chosen sport. In fact, he said, he was kind of a dork.

“In high school, I was no way destined to make the Olympic team,” Morehouse said. “I picked up a sword and I was not a prodigy. I want to talk about the things I did to become an Olympian, because in your life you can use the same lessons to be what you want to be.”

Read the full article here.