Scott Tundermann

Head Coach

Coach Scott Tundermann has been fencing for over fifteen years and coaching for ten. He began coaching at Smith College in 1997, building the program from a handful of "junior varsity" fencers to a thriving team with over twenty members, competing actively in five conferences.

In 2000, Smith won the Top Club Team award at the New England Championships; in 2001, the sabre squad finished third and the team finished 7th overall. At the 2003 USACFC National Championship at U Florida, Smith fielded the gold medal women's sabre squad (team 4th), and the team has finished in the top ten in a growing field every year since. In 2007, Smith's epee squad took the bronze.

Tundermann was nominated for 1998-1999 Coach of the Year in the Northeast Fencing Conference in recognition of the strong growth of the Smith program and his leadership in the development of women’s sabre. More recently, he earned "top of the class" honors in both Sabre 1 and Epee 1 at the USFA’s Coaching Development Program in 2001 and completed Sabre 2 and Epee 2 in 2002. He is also a certified Moniteur d'Armes with the USFCA and continues to develop his coaching expertise through clinics and on-going study.

In response to the demand for a place for the broader public to fence, Tundermann opened the Northampton Fencing Center in 2000. Fencers from the Center have won medals, earned competitive ratings, and qualified to Sectionals, Nationals, and the Junior Olympics. After a few iterations, the Center has transmuted into the Riverside Fencing Club in Hadley, Mass., where Tundermann still coaches. He also works with several area school groups and occasionally provides clinics and demonstrations.

In his own fencing career, Tundermann continues to compete casually at USFA events and hovers around a C rating in all three weapons. At the 2000 Summer Nationals, Tundermann finished 6th in Div III men's epee and 15th in Div II. In 1998, he studied fencing and coaching with Hungarian and Polish national masters in Szombathely. Early in his career, he finished 3rd in sabre at the NEIFC "Big One" in 1996, fencing for Hampshire College.