Among the swimmers, gymnasts and pole vaulters, second–grader Melissa Kline fixated on one sport — fencing– during the summer olympics. She fixated on the white suits and sword-like weapons dueling on her TV screen. From that moment on, now Freshman Kline wanted to be an Olympic fencer.
“Every single year I would ask my mom to sign me up and finally one day she did,” Kline said.
Since beginning lessons when Kline was in sixth grade, fencing has allowed her to travel the country for competitions. Some require a 20-minute bus ride to the local fencing arena, some are held west of Wyoming. Kline travels these long distances to prove her talent to college scouts and competitive advisors.
In her fencing class, Kline is the only girl of ten students — but she doesn’t mind. In fact, she feels being surrounded my male athletes makes her a better fencer.
“We all help each other to get better at tournaments. Even though we are all different ages, we all go to tournaments and cheer us on,” Kline said.
They push each other to become better fencers by addressing mistakes directly — if someone isn’t picking up on foot work, they stop and fix it. Sometimes, in between lessons, older teammates will tutor Kline in biology when she doesn’t understand the concept. And after spending hours at tournaments, trips to grab ice cream and hang out are pretty common.
When the team travels state after state to compete, she and her teammates are not allowed to warm up with each other because of the age and gender differences. It gives Kline an opportunity to find new sparring partners — allowing her to meet new people along the way–and keeps each member independent in their own right.
Freshman Jillian Poplau, a close friend of Kline’s, admires how Kline is open to meeting new people instead of sticking with the same clan every tournament.
“She makes amazing friendships through it and is always talking about the people,” Poplau said. “You can tell she really cares about it and the people she has met there.”
Kline owes her passion not only to the sport, but to her coaches who have trained her. When her Bulgarian coaches left the country for their hometown after a family member died, Kline competed without her coaches. Though she earned first place, Kline felt lost without the coaches that she relied on.
Her coaches’ father passed a family heirloom to Kline after watching the same tournament on TV from Bulgaria. The necklace has been passed down to members of their family, and now has been passed down to Kline because of the close bond she shares with them.
“I’m the only one on the team who has that and it’s kinda like I’m part of the family,” Kline said.
On the off-season, Kline builds her savings account buy refereeing at fencing tournaments. She also gives private lessons and volunteers to help younger kids at her club who are just beginning.
With college approaching fast, Kline continues to train with the goal of earning a scholarship to one of her many dream schools– Notre Dame, Northwestern or the Air Force Academy. At every tournament with college scouts in the audience, Kline thinks of her long term goal: the Olympics.
After reaching the college level, Kline hopes to continue on to world championships, which would qualify her to compete in the Olympics. She hopes to medal in the Olympics – just like the fencers on her TV in second grade.
Grace Allen | The Harbinger Online