# @USA Fencing on YouTube

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://youtube.com/watch?v=RJ_iFZYtbrM
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/36505780-USA-Fencing-youtube
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/557a090e62.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-11-03T11:00:52.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** USA Fencing (@USAFencing) — https://gondola.cc/USAFencing

## Caption

Parafencing is fast, tactical, and relentless—there’s nowhere to hide.
National Parafencing Coach Eric Soyka explains how the discipline works, what Paris 2024 taught Team USA, and how any club can add parafencing: frames, chairs, space, recruiting, coach ed, and referees. We also look ahead to the plan for LA 2028 (and beyond), with more training camps and better access to raise the ceiling for U.S. athletes.

Guest
Eric Soyka — National Parafencing Coach, USA Fencing; Coach at Phoenix Center & Rogue Fencing Academy

Chapters
00:00 “Knife fight in a phone booth”: why parafencing feels different
01:04 Eric’s path into parafencing
03:08 Visibility and youth pipeline growth
04:49 Making a club para-friendly (even in small spaces)
06:33 Paris ’24: why qualifying is the grind
10:30 Tactics & technique: what’s the same, what’s unique
13:08 Classifications A/B/C & a common myth
15:19 Club startup: frames, chairs, recruiting, grants
22:56 Coaching & refereeing pathways (courses, observations)
27:17 Building toward LA → Brisbane: camps, access, collaboration
29:56 What Team GB has—and U.S. adaptations
34:43 Quick hits: funding priorities, who to email, warm-up ideas, one myth to retire

Quotable
“Parafencers are fencers. It’s the same.” — Eric Soyka

About First to 15
Hosted by Bryan Wendell, First to 15 brings you conversations with athletes, coaches, referees, and leaders shaping fencing today. Listen to the podcast by searching First to 15 USA Fencing on your favorite app.

Hashtags
#Parafencing #WheelchairFencing #USAFencing #AdaptiveSports #LA2028 #TeamUSA #InclusiveSport

## Stats

- **Views:** 109
- **Likes:** 7
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 0

## Tags

adaptivesports, inclusivesport, teamusa, wheelchairfencing, la2028, usafencing, parafencing

---
Copyright (c) Gondola