Congratulations to the Academy’s very own Hafsa on her recruitment to Wayne State Fencing!

 

Mentorship transforms lives, providing guidance that strengthens both the trajectory and long-term outcomes of a young person’s life. 

With a retention rate of roughly 94%, the Academy serves students whose tenures range from less than six months to more than eight years.  At our core, the Academy invests in families: we invest early, remain focused, and that fortitude yields results. 

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Our program reaches a diverse group of young people from across the Chicagoland area.  In the past season, we served youth from 51 different communities.  Our students reflect the full socio-economic spectrum and come from a wide range of family structures, including traditional nuclear families, single-parent households, and many other backgrounds.  Our programming is intentionally designed to be inclusive of all youth, regardless of their personal circumstances.

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Hafsa joined the program as a high school freshman and has grown into a well-adjusted young woman.  She is typically on-site four days per week for up to 4.5 hours per day – not including time spent at competitive tournaments.  Academy programming places a high emphasis on individual responsibility, drive, and, most importantly, on collaborative accountability and stewardship among those who reject mediocrity in their quest for excellence. 

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For Hafsa, this diligence has borne fruit.  One of ony three female high school recruits from Chicago for the 2026-2027 season, she will fence for Wayne State University’s Women’s Epeé squad.  A 2026 National Honor Society inductee and our top student-athlete intern, she consistently demonstrates the emotional maturity required to navigate this sport at the collegiate level. 

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None of these accolades is surprising.  During her tenure here at the Academy, she regularly attended in-club training and mentorship sessions, met extraordinary and exacting standards, all while maintaining a 4.9 GPA all four years of high school – truly embodying the adage, “small shifts for big gains” and earning high praise from our partner, Coach Kenny at Fresh Start Sports and Mentoring, Inc. 

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While we take great pride in our successes -- developing nationally ranked top-50 youth athletes and elite NCAA recruits -- we are even more proud of how effectively our methods build character in young people and help them excel at every level.

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