Local woman takes up fencing,
qualifies for nationals

All American Fencing Academy

	Contributed photo Ines Page, a Cumberland County librarian and spouse of an Army civilian, fences at the All-American Fencing Academy in Fayetteville. She recently began fencing and has competed in the North Carolina Championships and has qualified for the United States Championships.

It sounds like it should be a movie. It has the makings of a summer blockbuster — a mild mannered librarian reading stories to kids during the day, wielding a sword and having duels in the evening.

This is the life of Fayetteville’s Ines Page. Page has been with the Cumberland County Public Library system for more than 10 years. She is originally from El Salvador before she moved to Fayetteville with her husband, John Page.

“I was in the United States for only a short time and I didn’t speak English very well. I thought no one would hire me for a full time position so I started out as a volunteer.”
At the time, she worked in the circulation department and was later hired full time, but she always wanted to work with children. When an opportunity opened to work in the children’s department at the Cliffdale Branch, Page took it and later transferred back to headquarters library.

	Page

Over a decade ago, Page spoke little English, now she enjoys answering questions for children and parents about any particular interest like hobbies, homework and special interests.

“Kids have very eclectic interests, they’ve asked about dinosaurs, snakes, princesses, unicorns, Pokemon, fairy tales, Captain Underpants, zombies ... and of course, fencing.”

Meanwhile, John Page had taken up running after a long hiatus from fencing with New York
University. At a 10k race, he met someone who told him about her daughter taking a fencing class.

Ines began accompanying John to the All-American Fencing Academy weekly. At first she just observed the practices and thought it was fun and very good exercise. Then John participated in the North American Cup in Atlanta.

Page started fencing two to three times a week; joining the weekly classes with the teens and adults as well as taking private lessons with Page. One year later, she competed in the North Carolina Championships and qualified for the United States Championships in Atlanta, in July.
The North Carolina Championships was her first major tournament. Page admitted there was quite a bit of nervousness.

“I dreamed myself being in a big tournament. I was just happy to be there, but I know now that I want to do it again!”

It’s such a dichotomy for people who know Ines at the headquarters library. For the person often known as the library lady, the story - telling lady, or the person behind the puppet stage pretending to be one of the three little pigs, the children now say, “You fence, too?”

Fencing seems like such a lightning-fast sport dominated by teens and young adults. However, the opposite is there. Many fencers at the All-American Fencing Academy, including Page, agree that people at almost any age can learn to fence.

“We get a number of youths in the program, but we have just as many adults, even above the age of 50, taking classes, starting fencing for the first time and fencing recreationally,” said Gerhard Guevarra, head coach.

“I think most people, at almost any age could be able to fence. I started by first observing fencing, and after watching, I thought that I could do it and turned out to be very enjoyable.” Page said. “What made it easy was all the people involved in it were very nice. There was no pressure and you could progress at your own rate.”

“Although I started at a later age, I truly recommend any child to get started in fencing. I wish I had an opportunity to practice an individual sport in El Salvador. A sport like fencing that requires the athlete to think strategically and be athletic is a great foundation for other things in life,” Page said.

The All-American Fencing Academy is located in downtown Fayetteville at 207 B Donaldson St.
It instructs and trains recreational and competitive fencers from ages 7 to adult. Its fencers compete regionally and nationally. The coaches include former World Cup and NCAA fencers.
The All-American Fencing Academy offers programs in downtown Fayetteville, as well as after school programs at Fayetteville Academy, Village Christian Academy and Flaming Sword Academy and through Fort Bragg’s SKIESUnlimited program.

The All-American Fencing Academy is hosting a number of summer camps for youths and teens (ages 7 to 18) who would be interested in learning fencing.

For more information about the All-American Fencing Academy and summer camps provided, call 644-0137 or visit www.allamericanfencing.com.

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