When Mpho Nkoane, coach of Soweto Fencing Club, approached some kids to join his club, they looked at him as if he was mad.
“Do you really think we are that stupid? If you want us to fence your yard, why don’t you just say so instead of trying to con us into believing that fencing is a sport.
“Oh, you will also have to pay us insurance just in case we hurt ourselves with that barbed wire of yours,” said a kid who called himself Chester.
Nkoane had anticipated this kind of reaction.
The 25-year-old from Mamelodi, Pretoria, is on a mission to educate black communities about his favourite sport.
He reckons that by the end of next year, most kids from disadvantaged backgrounds will think nothing of missing a Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates match to attend a fencing tournament.
“Instead of roaming the streets the whole day, people can come and give us moral support or better still, join our club,” said Nkoane.
His desperation to lobby public support saw Nkoane loading the five kids who were still giggling and calling him stupid into his old bakkie to give them visual evidence that fencing really is a sport.
“So my bra, considering we don’t have any fencing experience, how much are you going to pay us to fence your yard?” asked the talkative Chester.
Ten minutes later, the group arrived at the Orlando Park Station Recreational Hall in Soweto. Inside were a group of men dressed in white from head to toe.
“Scientists, yippee. Now, where is the fence?” said Chester.
At that moment, the fencers picked up their épées (sharp-pointed sword used in the sport) and started fighting. All the while Nkoane was teaching his “students” how the game is played.
“Every time you hit your opponent’s body with the épée, you get points. Fencing is a mind game. It’s all about strategy,” Nkoane explained to the kids who were now watching and listening with interest.
One exclaimed that he has seen the sport in movies before.
Nkoane’s fencing club consists of fewer than 20 members and none of them has yet made it to the national team.
But Nkoane believes that this will soon change, even if it means going around Soweto knocking from house to shack in a bid to recruit people to take interest in the sport he worships.
