Maplewood's NJFA Fencers Thrive

The New Jersey Fencing Alliance (NJFA) in Maplewood ended the season with many top performing athletes once again winning medals in all three weapons. These elite athletes have had an outstanding year with NJFA. Its members have successfully competed in local, regional and national tournaments. Several of these youth athletes  will be headed to the coveted Columbia High School Fencing team in the coming years. 

 Fourteen-year-old Andrew Greenberg, Sabre Fencer and eighth-grader has had a fabulous year and is a force to be reckoned with. His accomplishments this year include 7 gold medals, 6 silver medals and 3 bronze medals in numerous Men’s Sabre events. Greenberg also took home the trophy for second place in the NJFAs Youth Cup season and earned his “D” rating in March.

Fifteen-year old Elizabeth Sweetra, Sabre Fencer and ninth-grader won the trophy for the overall winner of the NJFA Youth Cup season in Youth 14 Women’s Sabre. Her accomplishments this year also include 5 gold medals, 2 silver medals and 2 bronze medals which includes a bronze in the Denise O’Connor U-20 High School Championships and earned her “E” rating. 

Thirteen-year-old seventh-grader Amber White from Maplewood, continues to consistently place in Youth 14 Women’s Sabre events. Recently, she won gold at the NJ Division Summer National Qualifier, bronze at the last two NJFA Youth Cups and she earned  her “E” rating earlier this year. White also won the trophy for the overall second place winner in the NJFA Youth Cup season in Youth 14 Women’s Sabre. 

Ten-year old Jadeyn Williams, who attends St. Michaels in Cranford, NJ is a very strong and dedicated Sabre fencer with 2 gold medals, 1 silver and 5 bronze medal wins this fencing season. Williams brought home the Youth 10 second place trophy for the NJFA Youth Cup this year and will surely be bringing home many more medals in the future. 

Thirteen-year old eighth-grader Josh Abdill, who already stands at 6’2” and attends South Orange Middle School is an Epee fencer with a very bright fencing future ahead of him. This past weekend he won the gold medal trophy Youth 14 Men’s Epee at the Mr. Ma Tournament in Burlington and will be joining Columbia High Schools fencing team in the upcoming season. 

Eleven-year old sixth grader at Millburn Middle School Jasmine Shen, picked up a foil blade earlier this year and hasn’t put it down since. In her first year competing, she has already accumulated 1 gold medal, I silver medal and 3 bronze medals. She is an up and coming foil fencer to truly watch out for in the future.

Sabre Coach Abdoulaye Thiam of NJFA said “When these fencers pull their masks down, they are all business. Just this year alone, several of our members have earned classifications and continue to improve their national rankings. I am confident that their focus and determination in the sport will take them all the way to the Olympics, if that is what they desire. They are certainly developing the skill.” Abdoul is a former 2008 Men’s Sabre Olympian and has been with NJFA for the past 2 years.

Congratulations are in order for the following fencers who qualified and continue to train for the upcoming Summer National Championships which are held in Columbus, Ohio this year which lasts from June 22- July 3. Sabre: Elizabeth Sweetra, Amber White, A.J. Greenberg, Jadeyn Williams, Blessing Olaode, Dana Oliver, Avika Bansal and Celia Accardi. Foil: Jasmine Shen, Camille Pham, Najiyyah Clark, Anusha Bansal, Anastasiya Muravyeva and Irina Koroleva. Epee: Evan Accardi.

NJFA is located at 54 Burnett Ave, Maplewood, New Jersey, 07040 and is one of the largest fully equipped state-of-the-art fencing facilities in the country. This 17,500 sf venue offers 19 grounded official USFA fencing strips. Frank Mustilli, owner and head coach, lives in South Orange and opened NJFA about 10 years ago.