Coaches
William Becker - Head Coach
William Becker graduated from Florida International University with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education and has recently obtained a Master's of Arts degree in Physical Education from the University of South Florida. He has been involved in the art of fencing since 1983 and has been coaching since 1991. Mr. Becker began his fencing career under the tutelage of Jacques Piguet, a French master and former coach of Cornell University. He continued his fencing career with Geza Kogler and Miguel D’Alerta. He moved on to become a nationally ranked fencer under Maestro Valentin Nikolov. Maestro Nikolov was a member of the Bulgarian National Sabre team and later coached the Bulgarian National Team, where a member of the team was the world champion of sabre. Mr. Becker was the head coach of Broward Community College fencing club from 1991 until 2004 when the club relocated to the City of Hallandale Beach and was called South Florida Fencing Club. The South Florida Fencing Club enjoyed many successes at that location until Mr. Becker relocated to the Phoenix, AZ area in 2007. Mr. Becker also taught fencing at Barry University from 1998 to 2007. He is currently a nationally ranked referee holding an esteemed ranking of a 2 in sabre and a 3 in epee and foil. He also holds an esteemed international referee license in both foil and sabre which was obtained in 2007. Mr. Becker is currently the Southeast Section Chair and the former Gold Coast Florida Division Chair of the United States Fencing Association. He has hosted numerous divisional, sectional and national tournaments with great success.
Mr. Becker has experienced many successes during his fencing career. He is a twenty-five-time Sunshine State games gold medalist, ten-time Florida Gold Coast division champion in Men’s Sabre, four-time Florida Gold Coast Division champion in Men’s foil and two-time division champion in Men’s Epee. Mr. Becker has been a finalist in foil, sabre and epee fifteen times at the Southeast Section championships. In 2003, Mr. Becker was the Southeast Section Men’s Sabre champion and has been a four time silver medalist and three times bronze medalist in the same event. He was a U.S. National Championship finalist in 1989, 1993, 2006, 2007, and 2008. In 2004, he was a member and coach of the Summer National championships Men’s Sabre Silver medal team and a member of the bronze medal Men’s Epee team. Mr. Becker has over 20 National tournament medals.
Mr. Becker enjoys coaching students of all ages. He has coached many students to win national medals and now has two national champions.
**Notable Accomplishments of Students **
2008 Vet 50 Men's Sabre National Champion
2008 Vet 50 Men's World Championship Team Member
2008 Junior Olympics Cadet Men's Sabre Runner-Up
2008 Div 1A Men's Sabre National Championship Silver and Bronze Medalists
2008 Canadian National Team Member- Junior Women's Sabre
2007 Canadian National Champion Cadet Women's Sabre
2007 Canadian National Team Member- Cadet Women's Sabre
2007 Vet 40 Men's Sabre National Championships - Runner-up
2004 Summer Nationals Men's Sabre Team - Silver Medal
Numerous U.S. National Tournament Medalists
Top 32 Junior World Cup- Women's & Men's Sabre
Top 16 Junior World Cup- Women's & Men's Sabre
Top 32 Cadet World Cup - Men's Sabre
Top 16 Cadet World Cup - Men's Sabre
Numerous Southeast Section Champions and Medalists
Numerous Rocky Mountain Section Champions and Medalists
Numerous Arizona State Champions and Medalists
Numerous Sunshine State Games Champions and Medalists
Numerous Gold Coast Florida and Arizona Division Champions and Medalists
Numerous students in NCAA and Collegiate Club Fencing Programs
2009 Men's Sabre National Collegiate Club Champion
2009 Women's Sabre National Collegiate Club Champion
Michelle Becker - Assistant Coach
(mickisoftball@mindspring.com)
Michelle has been fencing for the past 9 years. She is a mother of two and an elementary school teacher. She has won numerous local and regional competitions and has been coaching for the past 4 years. Many of her students have qualified for Junior Olympics and National Tournaments.
Michelle really enjoys working with the beginning fencers and young students.
Will Becker - Assistant Coach
Will Becker has been fencing since 2003 and has won many local and regional competitions. Will is the 2009 National Club Collegiate Men's Sabre Individual Champion as well as the anchor of the 2009 National Club Collegiate Men's Sabre first place team. He's been coaching for the past two years and is currently attending Arizona State University on a fencing scholarship.
Jason DiMinico - Assistant Coach
Jason began fencing with Bill Becker at the age of 14 in Fort Lauderdale, Fl. He won many local and regional tournaments, including the 2008 Rocky Mountain Sectional Foil champion and the 2008 Western Collegiate Foil champion. In 2008, he was also a nationally ranked junior foil fencer. He has been coaching for the past two years. He currently attends Arizona State University on a fencing scholarship.
Erica Hartmann - Assistant Coach
Erica has been fencing for ten years. She is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University where she competed on the women's sabre team. She began her fencing career at DC Fencers Club where she also coached for many years. She was nationally ranked junior sabre fencer in 2006 and placed second at the National Women's Fencing Collegiate Championships in 2007. She is currently pursuing her doctorate at Arizona State University.