HFC Youth Sabre Program
Halberstadt Fencers' Club, 621 South Van Ness Ave., San Francisco, CA 94110
About
The HFC Youth Sabre Program offers youth sabre fencing training classes that include individual lessons, group instruction, drills, and bouting with strip coaching. For children 9 and older, the program includes individual lessons, group instruction, drills, and bouting with strip coaching that incorporates strip coaching. Strip coaching in the program provides immediate feedback in improving fencers’ skills and prepares fencers to receive coaching during competitions.
• Ages: 7–18 years old
• Schedule: Youth Sabre Fencing training classes and individual lessons offered 1–4 times per week
The HFC Youth Sabre Program is part of the Halberstadt Sabre program and is led by Rob and Connie. The program’s mission states that youth sabre fencing helps children learn new skills, set goals, overcome adversity, and exhibit good sportsmanship while having fun and building character. According to the mission, fencing in this program is described as a conduit for young athletes to develop skills and learn life lessons that have a beneficial and positive impact on their lives and those around them. The program focuses on properly preparing fencers so they can work toward achieving their full potential locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally in competitions. Students in the program are encouraged to start every practice with an outcome they want to work toward or achieve by the end of practice. The program materials state that fencing improves perception, concentration, imagination, and quick analytical thinking, and that it develops traits of resilience, self-control, self-confidence, and positive motivation for success. Beginners and elite level competitors are both welcome in this program, and the youth sabre fencing training classes and individual lessons are offered 1–4 times per week to develop young athletes ages 7 and up.
One testimonial describes a former participant who began in the Halberstadt Sabre program as “a small scrawny kid with little discipline” and later became a Stanford student, crediting the physical rigor, mental focus on strategy, and technical precision of fencing, along with Rob and Connie’s leadership, for teaching persistence and grit. Another parent’s testimonial explains that their son tried fencing at another club for a week without much interest, but after joining this program and working with Rob and Connie through games and activities, he began looking forward to the program each week and became more assertive at school and in other parts of his life. A third parent shares that their son Ethan started Rob and Connie’s fencing classes at age 7 and “loved the class from day one,” and notes that Rob and Connie balance being serious coaches with allowing kids to learn at their own pace while having fun, treating each child as an individual and helping build skills. A fourth testimonial states that Rob and Connie have coached the family’s children in fencing while also teaching them how to frame realistic goals and achieve them, and that these lessons have helped the children succeed in academics.
Last updated March 18, 2026.
• Ages: 7–18 years old
• Schedule: Youth Sabre Fencing training classes and individual lessons offered 1–4 times per week
The HFC Youth Sabre Program is part of the Halberstadt Sabre program and is led by Rob and Connie. The program’s mission states that youth sabre fencing helps children learn new skills, set goals, overcome adversity, and exhibit good sportsmanship while having fun and building character. According to the mission, fencing in this program is described as a conduit for young athletes to develop skills and learn life lessons that have a beneficial and positive impact on their lives and those around them. The program focuses on properly preparing fencers so they can work toward achieving their full potential locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally in competitions. Students in the program are encouraged to start every practice with an outcome they want to work toward or achieve by the end of practice. The program materials state that fencing improves perception, concentration, imagination, and quick analytical thinking, and that it develops traits of resilience, self-control, self-confidence, and positive motivation for success. Beginners and elite level competitors are both welcome in this program, and the youth sabre fencing training classes and individual lessons are offered 1–4 times per week to develop young athletes ages 7 and up.
One testimonial describes a former participant who began in the Halberstadt Sabre program as “a small scrawny kid with little discipline” and later became a Stanford student, crediting the physical rigor, mental focus on strategy, and technical precision of fencing, along with Rob and Connie’s leadership, for teaching persistence and grit. Another parent’s testimonial explains that their son tried fencing at another club for a week without much interest, but after joining this program and working with Rob and Connie through games and activities, he began looking forward to the program each week and became more assertive at school and in other parts of his life. A third parent shares that their son Ethan started Rob and Connie’s fencing classes at age 7 and “loved the class from day one,” and notes that Rob and Connie balance being serious coaches with allowing kids to learn at their own pace while having fun, treating each child as an individual and helping build skills. A fourth testimonial states that Rob and Connie have coached the family’s children in fencing while also teaching them how to frame realistic goals and achieve them, and that these lessons have helped the children succeed in academics.
Last updated March 18, 2026.
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