Today, we have a special episode featuring three remarkable high school students who founded Fencing for a Purpose: Nikhil Khanna, Theodore Tikhomirov, and Alex Wolfe. Let's hear their story and learn more about their journey and vision for the future.
This special episode features three remarkable high school students: Nikhil Khanna, Theodore Tikhomirov, and Alex Wolfe.
Nikhil Khanna is a 10th-grade student from Texas who began fencing at the age of 9. He has achieved impressive national results and co-founded Fencing for a Purpose to introduce more people to the sport and provide opportunities for children with disabilities.
Theodore Tikhomirov, from Chicago, started fencing at 8 years old and has also seen considerable success in national and regional competitions. He is passionate about making fencing accessible and helping fencers who lack resources to compete.
Alex Wolfe, originally from Tampa and now residing in Maryland, began fencing epee at 9. With a strong commitment to community service, Alex co-founded Fencing for a Purpose to raise awareness about fencing and make the sport more inclusive.
Let's hear their story and learn more about their journey and vision for the future.
[INTRO]
[0:00:01] BW: Hello, and welcome to First to 15, the official podcast of USA Fencing. I'm your host, Bryan Wendell, and in this show, you're going to hear from some of the most inspiring, interesting, and insanely talented people in the sport we all love. First to 15 is for anyone in the fencing community and even for those just checking out fencing to see what it's all about. So, whether you're an Olympian or a Paralympian, a newcomer, a seasoned veteran, a fencing parent, a fan, or anyone else in this wonderful community, this podcast is for you. With that, let's get to today's episode. Enjoy.
[INTERVIEW]
[0:00:40] BW: Today we have a special episode with three different guests who are all high school students and fencers, Nikhil Khanna, Theodore Tikhomirov, and Alex Wolfe. Nikhil is a 10th-grade student from Texas who began fencing at the age of nine. He's achieved impressive results and also co-founded Fencing for a Purpose to introduce more people to the sport and provide opportunities for more people to try fencing.
Then we have Theodore, who is from Chicago. He started fencing at the age of eight, and has also seen success at regional and national levels. He's passionate about making fencing accessible too. So, it's great to have him as well.
Then, Alex is originally from Tampa, and now resides in Maryland, began fencing at age nine. He has a strong commitment to community service and helped found Fencing for a Purpose, to raise awareness about fencing and make the sport more inclusive. So welcome, guys. Thanks for joining the podcast today.
So, Nikhil, we'll start with you. Can you kind of share how the three of you got connected in the first place? Three fencer from different parts of the country. How did you guys meet and start this conversation?
[0:01:48] NK: I guess the main thing, we've all been fencing from a really young age. I actually met Alex and Theo both when I was about 10. We've been fencing with each other since Y10. We've seen each other on many NATs and different SYCs. As you got older, we kind of started having a conversation. We noticed that fencing wasn't accessible to everyone. It was kind of considered like an elitist sport. A lot of people on my show didn't even really know what it was. So, that's one of the main reasons us three came together to start Fencing for a Purpose. We noticed that not many people knew about fencing, and we could try to make it much more accessible to everyone.
[0:02:24] BW: Yes. I think, it's really impressive and that's something that we're always trying to overcome for sure. So, Theodore, what was your journey into fencing? How did you get involved in the sport, a sport that probably isn't the most popular sport in Chicago, in Illinois, right? How did you get interested and involved in fencing in the first place?
[0:02:44] TT: Yes. Fencing definitely, is not a well-known sport. Very few people do it. I know very few other people who do it like in Chicago, and in my school. The way I found out about it actually was, I think I was like, at a Christmas party at a friend's house and I started talking to this girl who is much older than me. She told me that she does fencing. I was like, “That's really cool.” I kind of wanted to just try it out, see how it goes. As it turns out, she actually ended up being my neighbor.
Our parents talked, and as it turned out, the club that I now go to is a short drive to my house. So, my parents were like, “All right, sure. We can take you. It's not too big of a deal. You can try fencing.” I tried out fencing and I really love the sport. I like how it combines not only the physical aspect of every sport, but also the mental aspect of fencing with it. Because fencing, not only do you have to be like physically strong, but you also have to have the mental strength defense, and also the strategic strength defense as well, because there's a lot of strategy involved in the sport. That's kind of what made the sport really stick with me. Yes, I've been doing it ever since and I've been enjoying it quite a lot.
[0:03:55] BW: That's awesome. So, Alex, you're an épée fencer, started at age nine. You live in Maryland now. You grew up in Florida. Or you’re born in Florida. So, what was your journey into fencing? Because I think it's good to start there, knowing how you three got into fencing before we can talk about how to grow the sport and what you guys are doing with your initiative.
[0:04:15] AW: Of course. Growing up, I tried a lot of different sports. I mean, I did like baseball, swimming, tennis, whatnot. But it was really one day, my mother was kind of like, I think she was talking to a friend and the friend told her about fencing and we just went in and tried it. To be fair, in the beginning, I really didn't enjoy it that much. But as time went on, I started to just completely love this sport, and like everything about it. Growing up in Florida, there's like no fencing in Florida. So, it was kind of tough in the beginning, especially finding like practice in tournaments and whatnot. But I kind of pushed through the year, try to get to as many tournaments as I could, and overall just grew my love and passion for the sport. Here I am.
[0:04:56] BW: Yes. That's awesome. So, Nikhil we'll come back to you now. At some point, you guys started having this conversation about how to increase access. But it's one thing to be like, someone should do something about this, and another to actually do it. How did you turn just that conversation into action? Also, it's probably helpful here to describe at this point, like what fencing for a purpose is, and what I guess, activations you can bring to the community through it?
[0:05:28] NK: Well, I guess the way we kind of put Fencing for a Purpose into action is, the first step is that we had to make it into an official non-profit. There's a lot of legal stuff involved. Then after that, we had to figure out which communities that we wanted to hit. We started with the local communities. We actually held a camp in Dallas, which was really near my old club, where we did camp for kids with autism, and that was really good success. We had about seven people there and they learned really quickly.
[0:06:02] BW: Yes, that's cool. So, Theodore, if you can pick it up from there as well, what did you notice once you actually started bringing fencing to people who hadn't really tried the sport? Did it justify the work that had gone into putting something like that together?
[0:06:18] TT: Yes. It definitely did. So really, a lot of people enjoyed trying out the sport for the first time. It was really, really heartwarming to see the effect that fencing, I guess, had on them. We know that if not, for us, they would have probably never tried the sport. We saw that a lot of them really enjoy fencing, really enjoy all the aspects of the sport. Surprisingly, in our first camp, they were learning quite quickly. At the beginning, a lot of them, they were like pretty wary of it. They weren't like as passionate about it. By the end, a lot of them I'd say, they got pretty decently good and they really enjoyed the sport.
[0:06:54] BW: So, Alex, it's obvious what like the three of you are bringing to the community through this program. But what do you get out of it, personally, when you give back in this way?
[0:07:05] AW: I honestly think of that even though I know that not everyone might enjoy the sport. I feel like it's just having at least one, maybe two kids in a camp who learn from our camp, experienced fencing, and go on to love the sport. I feel like that kind of makes us happy. Makes us kind of smile, seeing someone enjoy the sport that we love so much. At least just be able to, like spread the word about the sport, because honestly, fencing is one of the smallest sports in the US. It's not big at all. So, just spreading the word of the sport honestly, just makes us happy and teaching other people about it.
[0:07:40] BW: Yes. It's not the easiest sport to teach a newcomer, right? I didn't fence like you guys did. So, I've had people try to explain it to me. So, Nikhil, how do you overcome that challenge of being like, explain the sport in 30 seconds to this person who's never picked up a blade ever.
[0:07:59] NK: I guess one of the techniques that we really liked is we love showing them videos of the sport. That really makes them excited. Okay, they may not want to do sabre. But if you show them a really fast video of people fencing sabre, foil, or even épée, kind of like flashy touches, or really cool stuff happening on the strip, that’ll make them more interested into the sport and kind of show them what it's about.
After the video, we normally just tend to explain some of the rules and kind of show them in action in the video. So, those were how we mainly explained the rules. In regards to the technique, we kind of go step by step, like we show each of the movements with the body and made sure that we try to get personalized attention to each person in the camp.
[0:08:43] BW: So, Theodore, do you have something you wanted to add to that?
[0:08:45] TT: Yes. I'll add on to that. So, a lot of what we do is, again, we like to start with the video and like explaining what the sport is and then explaining the rules. But then when we get more into like explaining fencing as a whole, we like to start off with the basics. For example, what an on-guard position is, how you do footwork, like all of that. Then, from then, we build on to like blade work, just extending your arm. Then we build on that. We add in parries and we add in disengages.
So, we'd like to start out with footwork, and then we build on top of that by adding in basic blade work like extending your arm or taking parries or taking disengages. Then, we like to put it all together and like let them fence each other. To summarize, we start off by showing fencing and explaining the rules. Then, we like build out their foundation in fencing by doing footwork, and adding in blade work, and then letting them fence each other. That's really proven to be the best way to teach it.
[0:09:37] BW: Yes. It's obviously effective. Alex, what you’ve got to add on that?
[0:09:39] AW: I just wanted to add that even though we always do try to like make sure they know what they're doing. We also try to make sure they're having fun while they do it. Because obviously, I mean, learning footwork, doing all that kind of stuff. It really isn't fun sometimes. So, we try to let them have some fun, let them fence each other. Let them do that kind of stuff. Provide examples too. Make it look fun. So, try to have some fun while we're doing it too.
[0:10:03] BW: Can we talk about the support, Nikhil, with the Ukraine Fencing Federation, because obviously like fencers from Ukraine are having a tough time and then struggling. I know that's something that you guys worked with. What was that involvement? How did you get hooked up with that group?
[0:10:19] NK: You have to answer this question.
[0:10:20] BW: Theodore, can you answer that?
[0:10:21] TT: Sure. Actually, I'm the one who kind of started the whole Ukraine thing. The way that I got introduced with supporting Ukraine is I was at a sleepaway camp in New York, with NYFA. On the last day of camp, I started thinking, “Well, we're helping fencers in America, who I would say have generally not always, but usually have more resources than those who say, are in Ukraine,” which is a country that is facing war, that is facing shortages. Really, like not a great place to be and not a great place to be a fencer because of how much the war is affecting you. So, there were actually Ukrainian athletes at that camp, and they came with their coach. So, I decided to talk to their coach. I asked her, like, what fencing in Ukraine is like, and what sort of things and difficulties they face. She basically told me, there are so many things that we need that in order to like, give you a list, I would need to like, go back to the Federation and ask them. But what I can tell you is we've had times where we didn't have electricity, and the way they did practice, when that happened is they basically took their phones, they taped them up onto the walls at like an angle, and they turn on the flashlight, so they could illuminate the strips where they're fencing.
She showed me a video of that and I was honestly just surprised, like, very surprised by that. Because usually, in America, we don't have regular power outages. But there, that happens pretty often. Seeing them work around that was pretty – it made me want to do something to help them. So, I asked her like, “How did you solve that problem?” She was like, “We had to buy these very expensive battery packs that we could charge when there was electricity, and then use when the electricity was cut out.”
I took her contact information and I was like, “Okay, well, I'll see what Fencing for a Purpose can do for you guys.” That's kind of how we started working with them. Then they were hosting Ukraine's Cadet National Championships and they reached out to us and they were like, “We would want you guys to sponsor our awards.” So, we did that. We bought the top, I think, either the top eight, or the top four, we bought blades for them and then we also bought I think, English lessons, maybe for the winners. Again, recently, they needed to travel from Ukraine to Wrocław in Poland for a major youth fencing tournament, and they didn't have enough money for transport. So, we also donated that as well.
[0:12:39] BW: So, it seems like the goal is supporting fencing, and look, correct me if I'm wrong, but just supporting fencing, wherever it exists. Just doing what's right for the sport. Maybe it started out with you thinking, “Okay, we're going to help grow fencing in the United States and bring fencing to people that can't afford to participate.” Then, you saw another need and you said, “Okay.” If something's not working perfectly on the strip, you're going to pivot a little bit. You said, “Okay, let's bring this in as well and expand beyond that.” Am I characterizing that right? Saying, “We're not going to be just this one thing, we're going to go where the need is, is the greatest.”
[0:13:16] TT: Yes. You said it perfectly. We want to, not only expand fencing as a sport, but then also make it more accessible for those who are already introduced to the sport, but might not have the right resources, might not have the finances in order to keep pursuing it.
[0:13:30] BW: So, Alex, how are you guys raising money to support this effort? Because everything that Theodore just talked about costs money, right? I assume that you're not just putting up your own cash for this. You're fundraising as well. So, what's the process been like there? Because it's one thing to say it and it's another to actually raise the funds to do it.
[0:13:49] AW: Yes. So, we've mainly been raising funds through our GoFundMe. We've been trying to kind of spread the message that GoFundMe through variety means like social media, or whatnot. We have our own Instagram and all that. But overall, it's kind of tough to raise money sometimes. But the GoFundMe has really been kind of helping us a lot. We've raised I believe, at least a decent amount of money. So, that's kind of helped us kind of sponsor like our camps, and like the Ukrainian fencers and whatnot, and helps us a lot with donations and whatnot.
[0:14:21] BW: Yes. People can search for that, if they're inspired by what you guys are doing as I imagine they will be, and continue that going. Theodore, anything to add on the fundraising and money side?
[0:14:32] TT: Yes. So far, the majority of our money has been raised through fundraising and it's actually pretty impressive to see your friends who you've known for a long time, like helping you create this organization helping you build it up. That's pretty good to see. Pretty heartwarming to see. Then also, another like thing we try to do for fundraising is we have a camp that's in Chicago in one week actually, and this camp it's not a free camp, unlike our other camps have been. It’s a paid camp but all the money we raised, like all the profits we have from the camp, we will donate back to the organization. That's like another way that we're trying to fundraise so we can support our other initiatives. Yes, surprisingly, people have been willing to join that camp and to pay for it. All the money we raise is going to be put back to the organization. We're not going to keep any of it.
[0:15:19] BW: Nikhil, something to add there on the fundraising side?
[0:15:22] NK: Also, for our first camp, another way we were able to get equipment is we talked to Absolute Fencing, and we were able to pay them a little bit of money for some refurbished gear that they had. That's how we were able to get masks, gloves, jackets, and we even have shoes actually, fencing shoes, for them as well, if they fit. Also, we were able to use the money that we got from fundraising to buy plastic blades, as we always choose to start our beginner fencers in the camp with plastic blade so that they don't hurt each other. Absolute Fencing really helped us out. So, shout out to them.
[0:15:59] BW: Yes. They've been really good at supporting the growth of fencing as well for a number of initiatives. It's great to hear that, that they got on board with Fencing for a Purpose as well. How about the reaction that you've heard from the community? Do you have a specific story of someone that you helped or someone who, who said, “You guys really made a difference?” Nikhil?
[0:16:20] NK: Yes. So, in our first camp, there is this one kid, he was really quiet at the beginning. He was kind of hesitant to start trying fencing. He was kind of scared to do it in a group setting. But then as the camp went on, I could slowly start to see his frown turn into a smile. By the end, he didn't even want to leave. He wanted us to stay longer and help him learn more about fencing. That was one of the stories that really kept me inspired to keep this initiative going.
[0:16:46] BW: Yes. It's like you said, Alex, that if you're just helping one or two, it's worth it. So, anything that you noticed throughout this that really inspired you?
[0:16:53] AW: Yes. I feel like it's about the same. I mean, most of the people who originally came in, they were honestly kind of bored. They probably didn't really want to be there. I mean, I'm sure their parents probably made them go, at least for some of them. But I feel like by the end of the camp, they were really enjoying themselves. They were fencing with each other. They were having a lot of fun. They were wanting to come back for more. I mean, some of them were asking us like about fencing clubs nearby, and we gave them information to let them go and try it out. I mean, it really made us happy. Seeing people actually learn, come in, and enjoy the sport.
[0:17:26] BW: Theodore, what's inspired you so far in this process?
[0:17:29] TT: Yes. Building on what Alex and Nikhil have said previously, I think there's something that's just really good about sharing something you're very passionate about. In my case, that's fencing, right? I talk to people on a daily basis, and tell people I’ll be fencing. They’re like, “Oh, yes. It's probably boring. I don't think I would ever try doing that.” But when you're showing it to somebody, and you're seeing them, like, genuinely begin to like it and genuinely begin to appreciate, there's just something very heartwarming about that. Because we know that if not for us, these kids, they would have probably never tried it right. Just showing them the sport and then seeing them become happy about it, that really makes me happy.
[0:18:07] BW: It's obvious that you guys have made an impact. I'm also curious about like the behind the scenes side of it. So, Nikhil, like you're in three different locations a lot of the time, right? Certainly, during the school year. How do you guys like coordinate all that's going on? Are you in a text message thread? Are you hopping on FaceTime every now and then? How do you keep it all straight to know who's going to be doing what?
[0:18:31] NK: Well, we started Fencing for a Purpose, we made sure that we had very three distinct roles. I normally work on more of the technology side, like working on the website and stuff. Theo manages a lot of the finances and especially the GoFundMe. Alex works on the marketing, like making the flyers and stuff like that. We do have a group chat for Fencing for a Purpose and that's normally where we coordinate most of the things. We try to assign each other tasks and get on Zoom, FaceTime, if needed. But most of the things go on asynchronous, because we live in three different locations and we're pretty busy with school.
[0:19:06] BW: Yes. Having defined roles. Theodore, the money guy, anything to add there?
[0:19:11] TT: So yes, really running this organization showed me how multi-dimensional the whole aspect of running a business. Because on one hand, we have to do the camps. We have to raise the money. We have to distribute it to Ukraine. We have to do all that. But then there's also the whole business side. You have to have the corporation somewhere. You have to have the bank accounts. You have to have insurance. It made me realize that if you have a business, you have the business doing the operations of the business, but then behind that, you have a whole another layer of stuff that you need to take care of.
So, that really opened my eyes up to that. So far, we've been able to manage everything really well so that we don't have to sacrifice our ability to serve the community in order to make ends meet behind the scenes. I'd say we've been doing a really solid job with that.
[0:19:58] BW: Alex, how about the marketing side of it? I mean, I know for USA fencing, graphics, for example, I use Canva templates a lot to save to save time, right? All of us are very busy and create graphics that way. Share an amount in the social media channels. How are you marketing the effort and getting people to donate, but also getting them to participate in the camps and clinics?
[0:20:20] AW: Yes. So, we mainly use like Instagram. We have our own Instagram account, Fencing for a Purpose. We use Canva, like you said, to make the flyers and whatnot. We try to add like images. We tried to describe what our role is, like what we do, and trying to market our GoFundMe or whatnot. We did this mainly through the Instagram account, and we think it's helped a decent amount, at least, to try to get people to know about our organization and know what we do.
[0:20:45] BW: Yes. We'll put that Instagram link in the show notes on this episode, so people can check you guys out if they haven't yet. Nikhil?
[0:20:52] NK: Yes. We also have a Facebook as well, where we post all of our Instagram posts as well so that people who don't have Instagram can see it as well.
[0:21:01] BW: Yes. That's great. So, Nikhil, I want to go back to something you said earlier, which is the time management side. Obviously, we're recording this in early June, as school has maybe ended for all of you, or is about to end. Maybe you have a little bit more time. But during the school year, your schedules are super packed. How did you balance it all? How did you manage having time for fencing, school, social life, and Fencing for a Purpose?
[0:21:24] NK: I guess just like, honestly, using a calendar. I would try to put most of my events, what I'd be doing each hour, so all my tasks would get done. Sometimes I did have to sacrifice a few tasks that were less important, than Fencing for a Purpose task. But I got them done eventually. In my opinion, in regards to time management, as long as you set your goals and get them done by a certain time, you'll be okay.
[0:21:48] BW: Yes. That makes sense. So, Theodore, what's next for Fencing for a Purpose? Where would you want to take it next? Goals for the initiative?
[0:21:57] TT: So, our next big thing that we're doing, of course, is, as I've said before, is we're running to camp in Chicago to introduce more kids to this sport. All the money we have, all the profits from the camp, we're going to go back to the organization, probably going to go back to supporting fencing in Ukraine. We want to like expand our initiative of supporting fencing in Ukraine. We want to do more for them. We also want to start fundraising more, right? Because we've been fundraising and that only took us so far. We want to expand that as well.
The camp, Ukraine, and fundraising. Maybe we can start hosting more camps. But again, as you talked about the time management aspect, during the school year, we can't really like afford the time to go and post a camp because of a bunch of other stuff that we're doing. The camps, they're mainly going to be leftover to the break or to the summer. In between those, for example, that's where Ukraine initiative comes in, is that we don't want to just like sit here doing nothing. For example, if supporting Ukraine, it's much more asynchronous than say Russia. So, that's our way of giving back to the community where we like don't have – in the case that we don't have enough time together at the same time to host something like a camp, for example.
[0:23:06] BW: Nikhil, anything to add there on the future of Fencing for a Purpose?
[0:23:06] NK: Another thing we're also trying to do is like Theo said, since we're really busy during the school year, we're also trying to recruit more volunteers to help us so that we can spread this initiative across the US in more places. In fact, I'm starting to recruit more people near my area, and we already have two camps in the works. One in Dallas, one in Houston. The dates aren't finalized. But those two camps are going to happen during the summer for sure. Yes, we're going to try to plan our camps as well.
[0:23:38] BW: So, the idea being just expanding it. If someone does want to get involved in their area, maybe bringing it to a location that one of the three of you doesn't live, is there a preferred way for them to get in touch, Alex?
[0:23:52] AW: Honestly, just message us or email us or whatnot. Just ask us. Honestly, if you have any idea any, like, you want to help us, honestly, just let us know. I mean, it's not that tough to do a camp, honestly. If you have the equipment or whatnot, you can just go in and teach. So, if someone wants to help us, they're more than welcome to.
[0:24:12] BW: I love that. Theodore?
[0:24:14] TT: Yes. Also, they can reach out to us via email. That's another route. The email is info@fencingforapurpose.org. If anybody ever has like any ideas, any recommendations, they can feel free to reach out to us that way as well and we'll try to try our best to get back to them.
[0:24:28] BW: Nikhil?
[0:24:30] AK: Of course, I'm on Instagram. Our DMs are open. You can DM any one of us or the Fencing for a Purpose Instagram handle.
[0:24:36] BW: Cool. So, plenty of ways to reach out. This last question is for all three of you. Actually, I'd love to hear from each of you. What would you say to someone who says, “I'm in high school. How can I make a difference?” That's something to do once I'm in college or once I'm out of college. Obviously, you guys are an answer to that. But how do you fight that maybe self-doubt that somebody might have that says, “How do we, as high school students, actually, have an impact?” Nikhil, let's start with you.
[0:25:03] NK: Honestly, I know we started a non-profit and all, but starting a non-profit isn't necessary to make a difference. You can always first start small and just volunteer. Help out your community that way. Then, as you go on, if you have that reason to start the non-profit, you can go ahead and set it up. I think volunteering is honestly the most important part in trying to make a difference or community service.
[0:25:26] BW: Yes, that's a great point. You can start there. You don't have to say, “Hey, let's start a non-profit.” It doesn't have to be step one, necessarily. Great point. Alex, can I here from you next?
[0:25:35] AW: I would say, honestly, if you're like a teenager in high school, or whatnot, if you see an issue in your community, or the lack of an organization, or some help in your community, like, let's say, you think that there's not enough help for homeless people or whatnot in your community. Just identify that issue and think of a solution for it, or just think of a way you can help and just go out and help. It can be community service with an already existing organization, or it could be starting a new one, if that's what you want.
In our case, we recognize that there just weren't that many fencing non-profits geared towards what we're aiming for. We just decided, let's start our own, and let’s try to make a difference if we can. That's the advice I would give for high schoolers. Just recognize an issue and try to make a difference if you can.
[0:26:20] BW: Theodore? Advice for someone who is maybe wondering whether they're too young to start down this type of path?
[0:26:27] TT: So, I'll use an example from the list of things that we've done, and that is, when we had our first camp, that was our first time doing a camp, and we were high school, recently graduated high school freshmen at the time. We didn't think that it would have the impact that it did. We were going into it and we were like, “Are we going to be good enough? Is the camp going to make sense? Does our teaching style make sense? Are the people that enter the camp, are they going to enjoy it?” Surprisingly, they did. They really got a lot out of the camp. A lot of them, they wanted to continue fencing and that made us realize that despite us being varied individuals at the time, we were able to make that impact. And we were able to show our support, or like solve an issue that we've seen in the community, and that we were able to do it effectively.
That, I guess, that translates to really any issue. As Alex said, if you see an issue in your community, just don't be afraid to act, right? Because you might think that you're such a small, very irrelevant piece. But in reality, that's just not true. Your work and your effort that you put in matters much more than you could imagine and the results you can see from it are truly astounding, sometimes.
[0:27:32] BW: That's really inspiring. Now, will any of you be at Summer Nationals in Columbus? Show of hands. Okay, so all three of you will be there. This episode's coming out right before Summer Nationals. People should also track you down and connect with you there if they want to chat some more about Fencing for a Purpose and I'll be there as well. So, I can say hello there. I just want to say you guys are super inspiring. Someone who like me is probably twice your age. I'm like, “Man, I need to get with it and start giving back a little bit more.” It's super great to see and inspiring. Great job.
Fencing for a Purpose is the initiative. Again, check the show notes for links to their website and social media and get in touch with them if you have a way you can help because it's a great cause. Thanks again, guys.
[0:28:16] AW: Thank you so much for having us.
[0:28:17] NK: Thank you for having us.
[0:28:18] TT: Thank you.
[END OF INTERVIEW]
[0:28:21] BW: Thanks for listening to First to 15, the official podcast of USA Fencing. We'll be back with our next conversation in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, you can stay up to date on all the latest fencing news by following us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. If you liked this podcast, please help us grow and reach more people by leaving us a rating or review. Until next time, I'm Bryan Wendell, and I hope to see you real soon out on the Strip. Bye.
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