The Origin of the Junior Olympics

Every February, the top Junior and Cadet fencers in the United States gather to compete in what is essentially the National Championships for Under-20 fencers: The Junior Olympics. But this important and prestigious tournament would have never existed if it wasn’t for the vision and determination of one man.

The Junior Olympic Fencing Championships were the brainchild of Rev. Lawrence Calhoun, a name many in the Southern California fencing community will recognize, as he was the fencing coach at Chaminade High School in West Hills from 1987 to 2006 and the founder of the Masque De Fer fencing club. But in 1966, Father Calhoun was just starting his teaching career at Notre Dame High School in Niles, Illinois, when the school’s athletic director asked the staff for suggestions for club activities for the students. Father Calhoun suggested fencing.

Father Calhoun had never been a coach nor a competitive fencer, but he had become acquainted with the sport while serving as chaplain of the fencing team at the University of Notre Dame during his time as a graduate student, there. Much to his surprise, the high school AD instructed him to form a club immediately. So he sent out a call and six students signed up.

Father Calhoun and his fledgling team began frequenting the local YMCA, where his students learned the fundamentals of fencing and he learned to coach. His team lost all of their tournaments that first year, but the next year they went 5-8. By the 4th year the varsity team finished the season with a 15-0 record and were Conference Champions. Before long, Father Calhoun became the head of high school fencing in Illinois, as well as Chairman of the Illinois Division of the Amateur Fencers League of America (now called USA Fencing).

The FIE had been conducting a Junior World Championships every year since 1950. Junior fencers in the US who wished to compete had to go through a very restrictive process that required them to first qualify through their Sectional Championships, then finish in the top three at the US Nationals in June. But the Junior Worlds didn’t take place until April of the next year—ten months later! During this long lag time, it was not uncommon for the young fencers to lose their competitive edge. In addition, fencers who were otherwise qualified, often were over 20 by the time the Junior Worlds came around, so they couldn’t compete. In 1966 the AFLA took the unusual step of changing the Under-20 event at the US Nationals to Under-19. No other country in the world had such an age category.

Father Calhoun could see that the US was not going to get its best representation in international Junior competition unless the system was improved. He came to strongly believe that there was a need for a second National Championships, just for Under-20 fencers, that would take place a few weeks before the Junior Worlds.

Father Calhoun began attending the meetings of the AFLA in New York to present his big new idea, but no one paid much attention to him. The meetings were dominated by mundane budgetary matters. Just as the business portions of the meetings were wrapping up, he would have to catch his plane back to Chicago. This pattern continued for two years without success.

Then, an act of Congress gave Father Calhoun the opportunity he had been waiting for. In 1971, The Uniform Monday Holiday Act went into effect, establishing, among other things, a permanent holiday on the 3rd Monday of every February (which eventually became known as “Presidents’ Day”). That meant there would be a 3-day weekend every year, just two months before the Junior World Championships—perfect timing for a qualification tournament.

Armed with this new angle, he presented his idea once again and this time got the response he had been hoping for. He was named ‘National Junior Olympic Development Chairman,’ and published his proposal in the Nov. 1971 and Jan. 1972 issues of American Fencing. It was too late in the year to take advantage of the Presidents’ Day holiday, so the first Junior Olympic competition was set for April.

On Friday, April 7, 1972, at 9:00 AM, two saber fencers took to the piste and fenced the first bout of the first-ever Junior Olympic Championships. The strips were set up in the gym and cafeteria of the high school where Father Calhoun taught. The NCAA Championships had just taken place at nearby University of Illinois Circle Campus a few weeks earlier, so all of the necessary equipment was readily available. The electric scoring machines were powered by 48 car batteries provided by Sears. The competition, which lasted 3 days, consisted of four Under-20 events: Men’s Foil, Men’s Epee, Men’s Saber, and Women’s Foil. There were a total of 98 entries from 25 divisions. Most of the competitors were housed and fed by local parents.

Los Angeles was the host for the second Junior Olympics in 1973, which were expanded to include Under-16 and Under-14 events. A gifted young fencer from the Los Angeles Athletic Club named Bradley Thomas won the Under-14 gold medals in all three weapons! He was coached by Delmar Calvert. (You can see a recent interview with both of them, here.)

But an incident took place at this competition that put an end to any Under-14 fencing at the Junior Olympics for many years to come. As Father Calhoun recounted, “In a saber bout in which [AFLA president] Steve Sobel was directing, one of the fencers—a really obnoxious little kid—just cussed out Steve, he cussed out his coach and he cussed out his parents! So for several years, this age group was considered too immature.”

In the following years the format settled in on Under-20 and Under-16 events (changed to Under-17 in the late 80’s), although Under-15, Under-13, and Under-11 events were included for a few years in the early 90’s. Since the addition of team events for Junior fencers in 2010, the program has remained consistent.

The Junior Olympics have earned their place as an essential element in the development of world-class fencers in the United States. USFA Vice President Dr. Ralph Zimmermann called the Junior Olympics “the single most important achievement in the entire history of our organization.” In the summer of 2010, Father Calhoun was inducted into the US Fencing Hall of Fame.

The next Junior Olympic Championships will be held in Memphis, Tennessee, on Feb. 16-19, 2018. SoCal fencers who wish to compete should attend the SoCal 2017-2018 JO Qualifiers which will be held at the Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, California, on Saturday, Dec. 16, 2017. The top 25% will qualify.

Junior Olympic Champions - Junior Men

YEAR	MEN’S FOIL	DIVISION	MEN’S EPEE	DIVISION	MEN’S SABER	DIVISION
2024	Vinni Yu	New Jersey	Alexander Fray	Gulf Coast TX	Alexander Jeffords	Southern CA
2023	Chase T. Emmer	New Jersey	Nicholas Candela	Nevada	Jaden P. Callahan	New England
2022	Bryce Louie	Southern CA	Samuel A. Imrek	Gulf Coast TX	Hyunseok Choi	New England
2021	Edriss Ndiaye	Virginia	Nicholas Lawson	Metro NYC	Nickoloz Lortkipanidze	West-Rock
2020	Joon Paik	New Jersey	Cedric Mecke	Metro NYC	Trenton Schmitt	Mt. Valley
2019	Daniel Zhang	New England	Stephen Ewart	Southern CA	James (Luke) Linder	Arizona
2018	Julian Knodt	Central CA	Stephen Ewart	Southern CA	Andrew Doddo	Metro NYC
2017	Andrew Machovec	Long Island	Alan Temiryaev	Metro NYC	Khalil Thompson	Metro NYC
2016	Nolen Scruggs	Metro NYC	Jack Bradford	Colorado	Karol Metryka	New Jersey
2015	Julian Knodt	Northern CA	Anton Piskovatskov	Gulf Coast TX	Andrew Doddo	Metro NYC
2014	Axel Kiefer	Kentucky	Alexander Eldeib	Virginia	Edward Chin	Metro NYC
2013	Michael Dudey	Gulf Coast TX	Ariel Simmons	Gulf Coast TX	Peter Pak	Long Island
2012	Robert Nunziato	Metro NYC	Matthew McGrath	Arizona	John Hallsten	Mt. Valley
2011	Michael Dudey	Gulf Coast TX	Peregrine Badger	New England	Kaito Streets	Northern CA
2010	Gabriel Acuna	Gulf Coast TX	Tyler Adams	Georgia	Will Spear	Huds-Berks
2009	Alexander Pensler	Illinois	Eric Gurnowski	New Jersey	Bryan Cheney	Tennessee
2008	David Willette	Northern CA	Peter French	Colorado	Daniel Bak	New Jersey
2007	Ariel Desmet	Oregon	Sean Harder	Columbus OH	Aleksander Ochocki	New Jersey
2006	Nicholas Chinman	Colorado	Teddy Sherrill	Metro NYC	Aleksander Ochocki	New Jersey
2005	Kai Itameri-Kinter	New England	Nicholas Chinman	Colorado	Raskyrie Davidson	Metro NYC
2004	Clinton Kershaw	Mt. Valley	Dwight Smith	Metro NYC	Patrick Ghattas	Oregon
2003	Michael Galligan	Gulf Coast TX	Benjamin Solomon	Northern OH	David Douville	Georgia
2002	Dimitri Kirk-Gordon	Central CA	Benjamin Solomon	Northern OH	David Douville	Georgia
2001	Gabriel Sinkin	Western NY	Jansson Viviani	Metro NYC	G. Colin Parker	Georgia
2000	Steve Gerberman	Gulf Coast TX	Weston Kelsey	Oregon	Harvey Miller	Metro NYC

Junior Olympic Champions - Junior Women

YEAR	WOMEN’S FOIL	DIVISION	WOMEN’S EPEE	DIVISION	WOMEN’S SABER	DIVISION
2024	Jaelyn A. Liu	New England	Regina Lee	Southern CA	Alexandra B. Lee	Northern CA
2023	Jaelyn A. Liu	North TX	Christina Watrall	New Jersey	Jenna Shoman	New Jersey
2022	Katherine Apelian	New Jersey	Ketki Ketkar	Western WA	Magda Skarbonkiewicz	Oregon
2021	Zander Rhodes	New Jersey	Kyle Fallon	Connecticut	Magda Skarbonkiewicz	Oregon
2020	Maria Stamos	Metro NYC	Faith Park	Virginia	Chloe Fox-Gitomer	Oregon
2019	Nicole Pustilnik	San Diego	Dariya Yefremenko	New Jersey	Alexis Anglade	Georgia
2018	Samantha Viqueira	Metro NYC	Claire Beddingfield	Southern CA	Edith Johnson	Georgia
2017	Delphine Devore	Connecticut	Kasia Nixon	Southern CA	Veronica Czyzewski	New Jersey
2016	Sylvie Binder	West-Rock	Kasia Nixon	Southern CA	Ryan Jenkins	Orange Coast
2015	Ashley Tsue	Kansas	Amanda Sirico	Capitol	Malia Hee	Oregon
2014	Miranda Litzinger	Central CA	Dariya Yefremenko	New Jersey	Malia Hee	Oregon
2013	Iman Blow	Metro NYC	Amanda Sirico	Capitol	Claudia Kulmacz	New Jersey
2012	Nicole McKee	Long Island	Anna Van Brummen	Gulf Coast TX	Adrienne Jarocki	Metro NYC
2011	Jacqueline Dubrovich	New Jersey	Audrey Abend	Metro NYC	Desirae Major	Indiana
2010	Mona Shaito	North TX	Isabella Barna	Oregon	Eliza Stone	Illinois
2009	Margaret Lu	Connecticut	Katharine Holmes	Capitol	Emily Cheng	Columbus OH
2008	Lee Kiefer	Kentucky	Courtney Hurley	South TX	Monica Aksamit	New Jersey
2007	Kylei McGill	Metro NYC	Neely Brandfield-Harvey	Gulf Coast TX	Caroline Vloka	Metro NYC
2006	Emily Cross	Metro NYC	Courtney Hurley	South TX	Daria Schneider	Metro NYC
2005	Doris Willette	Northern CA	Courtney Hurley	South TX	Ibtihaj Muhammad	New Jersey
2004	Jacqueline Leahy	Metro NYC	Keri Byerts	Oregon	Valerie Providenza	Oregon
2003	Metta Thompson	Western NY	Catherine Szarwark	Tennessee	Valerie Providenza	Oregon
2002	Jacqueline Leahy	Metro NYC	Alli Schirtz	Oregon	Caitlin Thompson	Oregon
2001	Jacqueline Leahy	Western NY	Kerry Walton	Northeast	Sada Jacobson	Georgia
2000	Katy Cavan	Metro NYC	Andrea Ament	Northern OH	Mariel Zagunis	Oregon

Junior Olympic Champions - Cadet Men

YEAR	MEN’S FOIL	DIVISION	MEN’S EPEE	DIVISION	MEN’S SABER	DIVISION
2024	Steven A. Miall	New England	Alexander Bezrodnov	New Jersey	Emilio A. Gonzalez	Metro NYC
2023	Nickolas Rusadze	West-Rock	Alexander Bezrodnov	New Jersey	Anthony Jiang	San Diego
2022	Nicholas W. Kim	Metro NYC	Samuel A. Imrek	Gulf Coast TX	Gian K. Dhingra	Orange Coast
2021	Andrew Chen	Kentucky	Henry Lawson	Metro NYC	Darii Lukashenko	New Jersey
2020	Brandon Li	New England	Ethan Kushnerik	Metro NYC	RJ Anglade	Georgia
2019	Bryce Louie	Southern CA	Justin Haddad	Capitol	Nickoloz Lortkipanidze	West-Rock
2018	Ethan Gassner	Northern CA	Hunter Candreva	Metro NYC	Kamar Skeete	Georgia
2017	Joon Paik	New Jersey	Robert Hondor	New England	Daniel Solomon	Long Island
2016	Michael Li	Central CA	Adrien Thein-Sandler	Southern CA	Andrew Sun	Georgia
2015	Geoffrey Tourette	Central CA	Mick Yamanaka	Long Island	Andrew Sun	Georgia
2014	Nolen Scruggs	Metro NYC	Tristan Krueger	Oregon	Karol Metryka	New Jersey
2013	Thomas Dudey	Gulf Coast TX	Clinton Rodell	Virginia	Ian Jones	Orange Coast
2012	Axel Kiefer	Kentucky	Matthew McGrath	Arizona	Andrew Mackiewicz	New England
2011	Nobuo Bravo	Northern CA	Trevor Shepard	Southern CA	Christofer Ahn	Gulf Coast TX
2010	Brian Kaneshige	New Jersey	Alex House	New England	Will Spear	Huds-Berks
2009	Alex Chiang	Georgia	Cornelius Saunders	West-Rock	Michael Tom	Metro NYC
2008	David Willette	Northern CA	Michael Raynis	Southern CA	Bryan Cheney	Tennessee
2007	Frederick Bentley III	Kentucky	Joshua Dolezal	Indiana	Harrison Mahaffey	Southern CA
2006	Miles Chamley-Watson	Metro NYC	Michael Elfassy	Metro NYC	Aleksander Ochocki	New Jersey
2005	Nicholas Chinman	Colorado	Graham Wicas	Philadelphia	Raskyrie Davidson	Metro NYC
2004	Brendan Meyers	Metro NYC	Nicholas Chinman	Colorado	Jonathan Berkowsky	South Jersey
2003	Clinton Kershaw	Mt. Valley	Teddy Sherrill	Metro NYC	Jonathan Berkowsky	South Jersey
2002	Parker Miner	Utah-S. Idaho	Benjamin Bratton	Metro NYC	Patrick Ghattas	Oregon
2001	Bredan Meyers	Metro NYC	Jackson Ranes	Nevada	Mike Momtselidze	Columbus OH
2000	Steve Gerberman	Gulf Coast TX	Joshua Guevara	North TX	Maten Zagunis	Oregon

Junior Olympic Champions - Cadet Women

YEAR	WOMEN’S FOIL	DIVISION	WOMEN’S EPEE	DIVISION	WOMEN’S SABER	DIVISION
2024	Caterina S. Fedeli	Georgia	Regina Lee	Southern CA	Natalie Tsui	Metro NYC
2023	Hailey M. Eyer	New Jersey	Yasmine A. Khamis	Gulf Coast TX	Sophie Liu	Capitol
2022	Ivy Zheng	New England	Sumin Lee	Nevada	Jenna Shoman	New Jersey
2021	Ivy Zheng	New England	Sedna Gandhi	West-Rock	Veronica Mika	New Jersey
2020	Evelyn Cheng	Central CA	Hadley Husisian	Virginia	Zoe Kim	New Jersey
2019	Nicole Pustilnik	San Diego	Ari Rausch	Gulf Coast TX	Mikaela Avakian	Southern CA
2018	Maia Weintraub	Philadelphia	Emily Vermeule	New England	Ryan Jenkins	Orange Coast
2017	May Tieu	New Jersey	Gabrielle Hill	Minnesota	Edith Johnson	Georgia
2016	Lauren Scruggs	Metro NYC	Greta Candreva	Huds-Berks	Edith Johnson	Georgia
2015	Natalie Yang	New Jersey	Belinda Mo	Orange Coast	Violet Michel	New England
2014	Morgan Partridge	New England	Tatijana Stewart	Utah-S.Idaho	Malia Hee	Oregon
2013	Quinn Crum	New England	Jennifer Horowitz	Southern CA	Lillian Chu	Central CA
2012	Kaila Budofsky	Metro NYC	Amanda Sirico	Capitol	Alexa Antipas	Long Island
2011	Mona Shaito	North TX	Audrey Abend	Metro NYC	Francesca Russo	New Jersey
2010	Mona Shaito	North TX	Ashley Severson	Metro NYC	Julia Abelsky	Georgia
2009	Lee Kiefer	Kentucky	Katharine Holmes	Capitol	Francesca Russo	New Jersey
2008	Lee Kiefer	Kentucky	Francesca Bassa	Gulf Coast TX	Joanna Cichomski	Illinois
2007	Hayley Reese	Kentucky	Francesca Bassa	Gulf Coast TX	Monica Aksamit	New Jersey
2006	Lindsay Knauer	South Jersey	Courtney Hurley	South TX	Eliza Stone	Illinois
2005	Jessica Wacker	Central CA	Christa French	North TX	Caroline Vloka	New Jersey
2004	Doris Willette	Northern CA	Courtney Hurley	South TX	Daria Schneider	New England
2003	Doris Willette	Northern CA	Keri Byerts	Western NY	Daria Schneider	New England
2002	Jacqueline Leahy	Metro NYC	Ruth Schneider	Western NY	Sarah Parker	Georgia
2001	Jacqueline Leahy	Western NY	Eleanor Leighton	Indiana	Mariel Zagunis	Oregon
2000	Hannah Thompson	Western NY	Jasmine McGlade	Colorado	Mariel Zagunis	Oregon