Chris Cheney

Chris began his competitive career in 2002 at A-Bout Fencing in Dickson, Tennessee with Casey Chandler at the Dickson Athletic Club.

His entry into mainstream fencing came a year later when at an RYC in Kentucky, he and and his brother Bryan were invited by Terrence Lasker to a camp at The Ohio State University where over the next 3 years they took lessons at camps with Terrence and Vladimir Nazlymov. For Bryan, this was the start of a career leading to 7 national championship titles and the distinction of becoming the youngest fencer in history to win a US National Division 1 Championship title in any weapon, and for Chris a competitive career leading to 2 team national championships (Sr MS 2008, Division 1 MS 2018) as an athlete, a top 12 ranking in Jrs, and a Sr world ranking.

In addition, Chris has officiated 4x NCAA Championships, 5x ACC Championships, and an Ivy League Championship as a referee. He has been a professional referee since 2019 and earned his FIE referee license in saber in 2021, and serves as a referee assigner, instructor, and observer for USA Fencing’s referee commission.

Chris’s professional coaching journey began at the age of 22 with the opening Cheney Fencing in Franklin TN in 2011. In just 6 years Cheney Fencing produced multiple youth national finalists and many regional medalists both in the US and China, and fencers went on to fence for Notre Dame, Yale, Case Western, WPI, and others.

Chris left Tennessee in 2017, and began training and coaching at Durkan Fencing in New Jersey, working along side Patrick Durkan, Jed Dupree Oly, Dan Bass, Mike Bindas, Yessir Ramirez Oly, and Andres and Alberto Linaldi. During this time he was also a training partner with Grant Williams, Brian Kaneshige, and Jackie Dubrovich Oly. From 2018-2019, he worked at Midsouth Fencers Club in Durham NC, where he helmed the beginner and intermediate programs. From 2019-March 2020, Chris spent 10 months on the road as a professional referee, while also visiting over 30 fencing clubs across the US. During this time he observed and participated in training and conversations that give him a unique perspective on the day to day operations of the sport across the country.

Following the completion of the 2019 NCAA season, Chis began coaching full time for Tim Morehouse Fencing NYC a mere one week before Covid 19 forced a switch to digital coaching. During this time he gave lessons globally via the TMFC digital coaching platform, with students as far as China and Southeast Asia. After tournaments resumed, Chris became the lead tournament coach for TMFC, coaching at least 20 fencers at regional, national, or international competitions every weekend, at one point for 15 consecutive weekends. This experience gave him experience coaching fencers of all ages, levels, and fencers he had never worked with before, and at a volume unprecedented in the sport. Between his refereeing and coaching schedule, Chris would work up to 100 days in a row, coaching in the club during the week and at tournaments on the weekends, and refereeing around the world on the other weekends.

After parting ways with TMFC, Chris became interim head saber coach at Rochester Fencing Center in upstate NY as they waited for the arrival of their new head coach, Medhat ElBakry. After fulfilling his obligations, he made the move to southern California where he serves as a coach at Southbay Fencing Academy in Torrance, CA.

Chris is a trauma informed coach specializing in creating safe, healthy environments for athletes of all ages to self actualize through sport while developing the personality, physical strength, and mental fortitude to achieve their goals. He has worked with children professionally for almost 2 decades, as a fencing coach, Pre-K-12th grade PE teacher in a private school, and as a school athletic director. His passion is sharing the love of fencing with all, and helping parents to better understand and enjoy the sport with their children.

Chris is the founder of FirstPoint Fencing, and is dedicated to creating products and services that benefit the parents, fencers, referees, and coaches in the fencing community.