Chuck Alexander
Coach Alexander is the founder and head coach of No Fear Fencing Club (NFFC). A club he founded in 1994. Since the beginning of NFFC, he has trained local, regional and national champions. He began his formal coaching career as a fencing coach at San Diego State University in 1980. In 1993 he became a coach for the University of California San Diego’s (UCSD) NCAA fencing team. And in 1998 held the position of UCSD’s head coach. During his time at UCSD, he has produced several all-Americans, as well as Intercollegiate Conference of Southern California (IFCSC) individual/team gold medalists.
Coach has competed internationally in world cup and world championship events. He has participated in competitive events on almost every continent. Locales include Australia, Canada, Cuba, Puerto Rico, England, Russia, Germany, Hungary, Peru and Egypt. After almost 50 years of competition, Coach still competes internationally and is a five-time USA Veteran World Championship Team member (2005, 2006, 2007, 2014, 2019).
Coach Alexander has been involved in the professional development of new coaches and has served as an executive board member and Vice President of the United States Fencing Coaches Association.
Coach Alexander’s competitive fencing career began in 1973 under the instruction of Heizaburo Okawa. He was SDSU team captain in 1976 and 1977, and a member of the 1976 Western Intercollegiate Fencing Conference (WIFC) foil and epee team. He earned his first “A” rating in epee in 1980 (which he has continued to hold for over 40 years). Coach Alexander was a Division 1 NAC finalist in 1991, and many times USFA national championship top 24. Between 1990 and 1995, he was on division I national top 20 point list in epee. And during this time he was invited to, and competed in, the US Olympic Festival (1990, 1991, and 1995), earning silver and bronze medals. He is a four-time gold medal and six-time silver medalist as the team captain and member of a Pacific Coast Sectional Championship epee team.
| No Fear Fencing Club | Escondido, CA Founder/Head Coach/Owner Sept 1994 – Present Founder and Head Coach of No Fear Fencing Club. NFFC is dedicated to the development and maintenance of competitive fencers who compete at regional, national and international levels. NFFC accomplishes this by supporting the development of competitive cadet, junior, senior, and veteran epee fencers. Gryphon Fencing Academy | Murrieta CA Head Coach/Owner May 2018 – December 2019 Development of competitive cadet, junior, senior, and veteran fencers. Member, Board of Directors, United States Fencing Coaches Association (USFCA) Vice President, Western Region July 2016 – June 2018 Member of the board. 2008-2018 The USFCA is dedicated to developing and maintaining the quality of fencing instruction, and to serve the many needs of fencing coaches in the United States. A USFCA member shares a commitment with hundreds of others who are devoted to the improvement of US fencing through the associations’ activities. More information can be found at http://usfca.org The USFCA is the accreditation and certification organization for fencing coaches in the USA. The USFCA is a member of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), and the Academia d’Armes Internationale (AAI) Prevot of EpeeCertified USFCA examiner University of California San Diego (UCSD) | La Jolla, CA, USA Coach Sept 1994 – July 2017 Head Coach (All weapons) Sept 1995 – June 1996 Coached UCSD women’s epee team to conference gold 1994 through 2002. Produced many gold medal conference gold medal athletes throughout the tenure at UCSD. Produced two NCAA all Americans, many IFCSC individual and team epee gold medalists. San Diego State University | San Diego, CA, USA Head Coach Sept 1979 – June 1982 Coached the university’s fencing team in all weapons. Developed fencers from beginners through competitive athletes. San Diego State University | San Diego, CA, USA Head Coach Sept 1979 – June 1982 Coached the university’s fencing team in all weapons. Developed fencers from beginners through competitive athletes. |
Papers and publications:
The Competitive Pyramid Series
- Competitive Epee Overview, submitted to USFCA magazine, Feb 2013
- Goal Setting, published in the USFCA magazine, June 2011
- Epee, A Tactical Overview, Web Article, June 2014
- Coach Selection, USFCA magazine, May 2013
Work in progress
- Teaching students to fence: A behavioural & developmental perspective
Career highlights (As athlete and coach)
2023 USA Fencing Leadership Academy Graduate
2023 Coach, Bronze medalist, NAC V50ME
2023 Coach, Gold medalist, January NAC V50ME
2022-2023 USA Fencing Veterans Committee Member
2022-2023 USA Fencing Regional Coordinator, Region 4
2021-2022 USA Fencing SEMI Committee Member
2021-2022 USA Fencing Regional Coordinator, Region 4
2019 Athlete, World Championship Team Member, V60ME (Cairo, Egypt)
2019 Coach, Gold medalist, SJCC Anaheim, CdtME
2016-2018 Vice President, United States Fencing Coaches Association
2016 Coach, bronze medalist, Pan American Championships, V40ME
2016 Athlete, Pan American Champion, Ponce Puerto Rico, V60ME
2015 Athlete, Pan American Champion, Lima Peru, V60ME
2015 Coach, Gold Medalist, NAC V40WE
2015 Coach, Silver medalist, NAC V40ME
2015 Coach, Silver medalist, NAC V50ME
2015 Coach, Bronze medalist, NAC V60ME
2015 Coach, finalist, NAC V50WE
2014 Athlete, Veterans Pan American Champion, Aruba, V60ME
2014 Coach, bronze medalist, US national (JO) championships, Cadet women’s Epee
2014 Coach, bronze medalist, US national championships, V40ME
2014 Coach, bronze medalist, US national championships, V50ME
2014 Athlete, USA National Champion, V60ME
2014 Athlete, World Championship Team Member, V60ME (Debrecen, Hungary)
2013 Coach, bronze medalist, US NAC 2, Y14 women’s Epee
2009 Athlete, World Championship Team Member, V50ME (Moscow, Russia)
2007 San Diego Division USFA Member of Congress
2006 Athlete, World Championship Team Member, V50ME (Bath, England)
2006 USFA Pacific Coast Section Vice-Chairman (Seniors)
2006 San Diego Division USFA Member of Congress
2005 USFA Pacific Coast Section Vice-Chairman (Seniors)
2005 Athlete, USA National Champion, V50ME
2005 Athlete, World Championship Team Member, V50ME (Tampa USA)
2005 Athlete, Finalist World Championships V50ME (Tampa, USA)
2005 San Diego Division USFA Member of Congress
2004 USFA, Pacific Coast Section, Vice-Chair, Seniors
2003 USFA, Pacific Coast Section, Vice-Chair, Seniors
2002 Athlete, World Cup, Puerto Rico, Men’s Epee, Top 64 (World Cup points awarded)
1999 Athlete, Australian National Championships, Senior Men’s Epee, 12th place
1998 Coach of NCAA All-American, women’s epee, UCSD
1997 Head Fencing Coach, University of California at San Diego
1996 Coach of NCAA All-American, women’s epee, UCSD
1996 Executive board member USFA San Diego Division
1995 Coach of NCAA All-American, women’s epee, UCSD
1995 Athlete participant at US Olympic Festival, Boulder, Colorado
1995 Organizer and site manager, Cal. State Games, Fencing
1994 Chairman USFA San Diego Division
1993 Athlete/Coach, Silver medal Pacific Coast Sectional Championships, Epee Team
1992 Athlete/Coach, Gold medal Pacific Coast Sectional Championships, Epee Team
1992 Athlete, Bronze medal Cal. State games (epee)
1991 Athlete, Finalist US National Circuit (4th) (Ventura NAC) Div 1 Epee
1991 Athlete participant at US Olympic Festival, Los Angeles, California (bronze)
1990 Athlete, USA Olympic Festival, Minneapolis, Minnesota (Epee silver)
1989 Athlete/Coach, Gold medal Pacific Coast Sectional Championships, Epee Team
1987 Athlete/Coach, Gold medal Pacific Coast Sectional Championships Epee Team
1983 Athlete, Semi-finalist in US National Championships, Epee (Div 1)
1981 Coach, San Diego State University Fencing Team
1979 Vice Chairman USFA SoCal Division (Los Angeles)
1978 United States National Fencing Coaches Association, Moniteur d’Armes.
1976 Western Intercollegiate All-Conference (epee) (San Diego State University)
1976 So. Cal. Intercollegiate All-Conference (foil) (San Diego State University)
1974-1977 Member (Captain) of San Diego State University fencing team.