Ali Shafaie

Foil/Epee Coach

alishf3@gmail.com

Personal Information

I’ve been brought into fencing through such an accomplished family. At the age of six, I was taken to a fencing camp, and immediately fell in love with the sport right there. I saw the accomplishments of my father, my aunt, and my uncles in fencing. This motivated me to continue with the sport and try to strive for the best. I won a Super Youth Circuit at the age of 10 in foil, and from there it made me practice harder and get even better. Now, I have achieved the “A” rating in both foil and epee fencing, won a national championship in Division3 Epee, defeated the World Champion in Foil, and I have been on the Junior and Senior National Points list! I was also the captain of the Rutgers Men’s Foil team for the 2019/20 and 2021/22 seasons! I love teaching the sport and passing along my love to children and allowing them to realize their potential!

In June 2023, I was hired to be the Head Coach for the Christian Brothers Academy (CBA) Varsity Fencing Team! I am extremely excited about this opportunity and cannot wait to build champions at the High School level too.

I’ve also been a certified USA Fencing referee since the age of 9. I am among the top referees in the USA with an N2 rating and referee at several national championship events every year, along with lots of top-level collegiate meets and NJSIAA high school meets. My goal is to also earn an international refereeing license in the future to referee tournaments all over the world!

Click here for some of my fencing videos over the years!

Education

  • Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science, 2022. Rutgers University – New Brunswick, NJ

Top Coaching Highlights

  • National Points List for students in Y10 Foil, Y10 Epee, Y12 Foil, Y12 Epee, Y14 Foil, Y14 Epee, Cadet Foil, Cadet Epee, Junior Foil, Junior Epee, and Senior Foil!
  • Head Coach for CBA Varsity HS Fencing Team, led team to their best regular season in program history (8-0)!
  • Led CBA team to 3rd Overall at 2024 Cetrulo Championships and placed 3rd in 2024 District 5 Championships!
  • Senior Men’s Foil World Cup with Team USA in Plovdiv, Bulgaria – April 2022
  • Division1 Men’s Foil – Coached in Top 16 in St. Louis, MO (October 2021)
  • Team USA Cadet Team – Silver Medal in the Bratislava World Cup (January 2019)
  • European Cadet Circuit in Rome, Italy – February 2019
  • European Cadet Circuit in Bratislava, Slovakia – January 2019
  • European Cadet Circuit in Vienna, Austria – November 2018
  • Been a strip coach for Y10, Y12, Y14, Cadet, and Juniors at National Championships

Top Fencing Accomplishments

  • Earned “A” rating in Epee – Freehold, NJ – June 2022
  • Captain of 3rd place Men’s Foil Team (Rutgers University) at the National Collegiate Club Championships – Providence, RI – April 2022
  • 7th Place – MACFA Individual Championships @ Drew University – March 2022
  • 46 Foil wins in 2021-22 Collegiate Fencing Season for Rutgers University
  • Captain of Freehold Fencing Foil Team – 7th Place in the Nation – Columbus, OH
  • Earned “A” rating in Foil – 2019 – Freehold, NJ
  • Senior (Division1) Foil Points List – 2018-2020
  • Junior Foil National Points List – 2017-2020
  • Leon Paul Senior Satellite Cup – London, UK – 2017
  • New Jersey Cup Senior Foil Champion – 2017
  • Summer Nationals Champion of Division 3 Epee – Salt Lake City, UT – 2017
  • April NAC 5th Place – Division 3 Epee – Baltimore, MD – 2017
  • Lilov ROC DIV1A 7th Place – Cedar Grove, NJ – 2017
  • 6th Place in NJFA RJCC – Maplewood, NJ – 2017
  • Fenced in Junior Olympic Championships – 2015-2020
  • Fenced in National Championships every year since 2009
  • Capitol Clash SYC Y14 Bronze Medalist – National Harbor, MD – 2015
  • 22nd Place in Y12 National Championships – Columbus, OH – 2013
  • Mission SYC Y12 5th Place – Rocky Point, NY – 2013
  • Capitol Clash SYC Y12 5th Place – National Harbor, MD – 2013
  • Ben Gutenberg Y10 SYC Champion – Rochester, NY – 2010
  • New Jersey Youth Circuit Y8 Champion – Maplewood, NJ – 2008