When Sean Buckley was a little boy growing up in Secaucus, he always dreamed big.
“I was pretty much a Star Wars nerd,” Buckley said. “I was constantly waving my light sabre around, but I really didn’t do it publicly. I was in my backyard, waving that thing around all the time. I guess I got to fifth grade, when my parents told me that there was actually a sport that I could do that.”
It was at that time when Buckley was introduced to the sport of fencing.
“I jumped right into it,” Buckley said.
The Buckley family took young Sean and his sister, Sarah, to a fencing center in Wayne.
“The coach really wanted my sister first, but she hated it,” Buckley said. “It stuck with me. I was so into it right away.”
Buckley had been a baseball player and was taking karate lessons before he was introduced to fencing.
“But I really liked fencing,” Buckley said. “It was a sport that I was really into. I stuck with it. I went to take lessons and wanted to get better.”
Buckley eventually became a regular at the National Fencing Academy in Wayne and later, the Manhattan Fencing Center in New York.
“I got really serious when I was 12 and I started competing when I was 14,” Buckley said.
When it came time to select a high school, there were really not a lot of choices. St. Peter’s Prep was the lone Hudson County high school to offer fencing.
“I wanted to go to St. Peter’s beforehand,” Buckley said. “But when I got there, the team was a club team. It became a team later on.”
That’s because Buckley did his best to recruit people to join the fencing team at Prep. It’s not an easy achievement, because the equipment alone is very costly and ranges in the thousands.
“It was part of it,” Buckley said. “It was sort of a freshman sport. We needed to get others out, but it was expensive.”
Buckley was also part-time coach while being full-time competitor.
“I did turn out to be a teacher and coach as well,” Buckley said. “I was sort of the sideline coach.”
In the sport of fencing, there are three weapons – epee, foil, and sabre.
“Sabre is basically the anger management, violence control one,” said Buckley, who only competes in the sabre. “It’s the only weapon where you can slash out. The others, you have to poke more to score. By far, the sabre is the fastest weapon. Epee and foil are more precise. They bored me entirely.”
In Buckley’s eyes, the sabre was the only weapon to fence with. After all, it’s what Zorro used. And Robin Hood. And of course, don’t forget, Buckley’s personal hero, Luke Skywalker.
“Yeah, all the movie guys are totally sabre,” Buckley said.
For the last two years, Buckley has been about as good with the sabre as any other high school kid in New Jersey. A year ago, he finished second in the state tournament overall in the sabre. Last weekend, at the NJSIAA state championships held at Rider University, Buckley placed second once again.
“Last year, everyone had an idea who was going to win, so I wasn’t too disappointed with finishing second,” Buckley said. “This year, it was a lot more competitive and I was hoping to win. No one ever wants to finish second. Everyone is disappointed when they lose, especially when it’s that close.”
Buckley just missed winning the state sabre title by less than a full point.
However, Buckley knows his overall importance. He’s been able to put the sport of fencing on the map in this area, almost like an ambassador to the sport.
“I definitely hope that I’ve gotten some people interested and involved in the sport,” Buckley said. “Even if it’s just one person, then I don’t mind at all. I am happy I got my school’s name out there and helped the program. They do have talent at Prep and will win in the future.”
Prep fencing coach Greg Evans believes that Buckley’s impact has been long lasting.
“He really does serve as an ambassador in Hudson County,” Evans said. “There are a lot of kids who don’t know what fencing is all about, but Sean’s made people aware that it really is a good sport. I can certainly hope that he might have encouraged other kids to give it a try. It’s very impressive what he’s done with us.”
Buckley is hopeful to continue his fencing career at possibly St. John’s, Brown, or Columbia in the future. He also competes on a national level all year long out of the Manhattan Fencing Center and he will concentrate on that aspect of his life now that the high school season is over.
But it is still remarkable that a fencer from Hudson County, from Secaucus, a town where they probably think fencing is the white picket stuff that encompasses your house, is a two-time runner-up in the state championships. Kudos to Sean Buckley…
The National Football League draft is up coming in a few weeks and one of the defensive ends gaining major attention of late, becoming a solid sure-fire first round selection is Tennessee defensive end Robert Ayers.
Well, as it turns out, Ayers has Hudson County roots. The 6-3, 272-pound pass rusher supreme spent a little time in Hoboken and was slated to be a member of the Hoboken High School Red Wings in the late 1990s, before moving back to his native South Carolina.
“He came to us and was with us for a short while,” former Hoboken head coach Ed Stinson said. “But he moved before he ever actually played for us. He was a good looking kid who had some promise. He was in our weight room and working out with us, but he was here and gone that fast. It is valid that we did have him for a little bit and if he does get drafted [in the first round], he would have been the greatest we ever had.”
Ayers had a standout game in the Senior Bowl and skyrocketed up the draft chart after an impressive performance at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis six weeks ago.
It looks as if Hudson County would have two representatives in the first round, as former Bayonne and Rutgers wide receiver Kenny Britt also appears headed for a first round selection…
Bergen County Community College finished third in the nation in the recently completed NJCAA Division III junior college nationals in Oneonta, N.Y. at the SUNY-Delhi, thanks to the efforts of former Union Hill standout Jewry Hernandez, who was one of the team’s leading scorers. Hernandez had 13 points and hit a clutch 3-pointer in the closing seconds in his team’s win to place third in the nation…
Don’t forget the Hudson County Sports Hall of Fame dinner Thursday night at the Casino-in-the-Park in Jersey City. Tickets are still available for the 19th Annual Induction Dinner and can be purchased by calling the Hudson County Parks Department office at (201) 915-1386.
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