After just seven years of existence, the Syosset boys’ and girls’ fencing teams won the Long Island championships, marking the girls’ team’s first championship title. As the program celebrates its victory, coach Robert Moon says goodbye to the athletes as he retires from coaching.
“When we lose, we lose as a team,” he said. “When we win, we win as a team.”
The boys’ team defeated Newfield/Miller Place 14-4 and the girls’ team defeated Ward Melville 13-8.
The team has 45 student-athletes in the regular season, but because each team can only enter the playoffs with a select number of players, the teams end with 30 athletes total.
Moon said the team has seventh—through twelfth-grade students, some of whom come into the season without prior experience.
“I never like to make cuts,” Moon said. He said throughout the season, students with less experience have the opportunity to learn before returning for the following year.
Moon started coaching the team when the program was started in 2018. He said he was working at Variety Children’s Learning Center in Syosset when his colleague, who coached lacrosse at Syosset, told him about the position.
Moon, a former fencer from Centereach, said that his background is important in coaching, especially since fencing is not a well-known sport.
He said the program has steadily improved since it started seven years ago. Moon said the program was “making a name” for itself the first season he was with them.
Moon said many athletes came to him after the season ended and asked how to improve for future seasons. Moon said he told them to fence outside of the regular season, encouraging them to compete in tournaments independently throughout the year.
He said the boys’ team had made the playoffs by the second season and was undefeated in the regular season by the third year.
Moon said that in 2023, both the boys’ team and the girls’ team won the championship and their conference, but last year, both teams lost by one point in the championships, a “heartbreaking loss.”
At the beginning of this season, Moon said the girls’ team lost three matches, but after seeing success at a Huntington relay match, the team began to build momentum.
“That was a good turning around point for the girls,” he said.
From there, he had the boys’ and girls’ teams fence each other at practice. Moon said competing against fencers that the students didn’t typically face off against in practice helped improve their technique.
“To be competitive, you have to fence better fencers,” he said.
He said the team “kept the drive going” into the championships, beating teams that they lost to during the regular season.
The girls’ team lost to Great Neck South 19-8 in the regular season and won against them in the championships by 14-7. Similarly, Moon said the team lost to Jericho High School 15-12 in the regular season and won against them in the championships by 14-5.
Although the sport focuses on the individual’s skills and performance, Moon said he aims to foster a collaborative group dynamic.
“You can’t do this without everyone,” he said.
Moon said he attributed the “team mentality” to this year’s success because everyone was helping each other improve throughout the season.
This season is the last of Moon’s career with the program as he steps away from his role to focus on his family. But with both Syosset teams earning championship wins, it marks the end of a successful one.
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