Since joining the SPA fencing team his sophomore year, junior Howard Huelster finds an opportunity to give back to the community doing the sport he enjoys the most.

Typically, athletes begin fencing in the foil category due to the lighter sword and smaller target area. After foil, fencers can either stick with that blade or move to sabre or épée. Sabre is the most unique blade with a slashing scoring technique different from épée and foil. Epee is similar to foil but utilizes a heavier and larger sword with the full body target area.

Outside of the fencing season, Huelster looks for ways to participate and continue his hobby. Head coach Sasha Pai and assistant William Moran not only coach high school fencing, but they have searched the lower school for prospective fencers.

The lower school practices normally take place Friday from 3:30 to 4:30. Before every session, Pai and Moran regularly send out emails in search of volunteers to help lead warmups and small parts of practice.

“Twenty-five ish lower schoolers show up, it’s a sizable crowd. Then there’s our head coach, Sasha, assistant coach Will and then there’s two to five students teaching,” Huelster said.

Huelster admits coaching with friends is the best way to volunteer. He and junior Yassin Mokbel always go eat at Everest on Grand after coaching kids through footwork drills and some blade action.

Huelster continues to participate and attend the lower school fencing programs because he feels that the younger kids are the future of the SPA program. “They look up to all of us. I hope these kids continue fencing until middle school because we’re gonna lose a lot of people after 2026,” he said.

Seeing his positive impact on the people he is helping, and instilling an interest in a sport that he enjoys, Huelster enjoys volunteering especially when participating with close friends.