Fencing coach dreams of expanding his academy into a training grounds for future Olympic champions

Taking a stab at a larger vision
By MASON LERNER
For The Chronicle

Mauro Hamza, the owner and head coach of the Salle Mauro Fencing Academy, has Olympic-size dreams for his fencing school.

The Houston academy, which serves competitive and recreational fencers of all ages, started with only a few students in 1997. Hamza now has more than 120 members, but his vision for the academy has not yet been fulfilled.

Hamza has been building his résumé as an elite fencer and fencing coach since he was a child in Egypt.

He won many junior and adult fencing titles in his home country, and he represented Egypt in numerous tournaments around the world.

He says his students have won dozens of gold, silver and bronze medals in national and international competitions. He served as the coach for the 2000-2001 U.S. Cadet and Junior National Men's Foil Team and the Egyptian National Team at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

Hamza hopes that one day he can buy his own building to house a fencing academy complete with all of the trappings needed to train future Olympians.

And he wants to expand his business to the point where it will be economically viable for him to maintain a structure with state-of-the-art training facilities, a weight room and dormitories.

He says that a place like this could "manufacture" Olympians.

That is a lofty goal for a fencing instructor in Texas that has to compete with traditionally popular sports like football, baseball and basketball.

"That is our biggest challenge. We are competing with sports that have been here for a long time. It affects us tremendously," Hamza said.

Winning strategy

So far, Hamza, who also serves as the fencing coordinator at Rice University, has used his international fencing achievements and the achievements of his academy to attract students. He has tried many different forms of advertising, but he has found that nothing attracts newcomers like winning.

"We tried many times to do advertising, but it was never effective," he said. " The results of the academy speak for themselves. The TV stations come to us. The newspapers come to us because what we do is unique."

Hamza added that his academy ensures that Houston will have a steady flow of championship-caliber athletes.

Take the Houston Rockets, Hamza said. The last time the team won a title was a decade ago. "We produce national champions every year."

Paul Swangard, managing director of the James H. Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon, agreed that the success of Hamza's students has allowed the academy to prosper in a region where fencing has a very small following. He acknowledged that the chance to compete and win should be very attractive to prospective students.

"Everyone likes a winner," Swangard said. "And you certainly have a better chance of being successful in a fencing tournament than you would ever have of being an NBA star."

Swangard recognized the challenge of marketing a sport that is obscure in this neck of the woods, and he recommended that Hamza focus on the character benefits of fencing along with the athletic aspects when promoting the sport.

"It really is invisible to most kids," he said. "There are no highlights on SportsCenter and no major fencing league, but it offers a great individual participatory opportunity. It teaches finesse. Etiquette. There are a lot of aspects to the sport that are marketable."

Sponsorship idea

Hamza is basing his business model for the future on successful fencing academies that he has seen around the world. He knows that he will need sponsorship from a major corporation for his academy to reach the level that he aspires to.

"The German team is sponsored by Mercedes, for example. This helps them to grow as a sport. I just need the ground to approach these big companies," Hamza said.

Swangard said that the first thing that Hamza needs to do is show any potential sponsor that he can give a return on the investment.

"He has to show the sponsors that are connected with the Olympic movement, both nationally and globally, that he has something compelling for them to connect with," he said.

He counseled that another step Hamza should seriously consider is reaching out to other coaches who are in his same position.

"He is really going to have to get creative," Swangard said. "He should consider a united front with other fencing academies or even other sports, such as judo. That sort of package may be more attractive than trying to go about it on his own."

Hamza said that if his students continue to win, he will eventually attract the attention of a sponsor and fulfill his dream of making his academy a player on the international scene. He is training several Olympic hopefuls, and he said that if any of them qualify, it could be the accomplishment that puts him over the top.

"An Olympian would definitely be a big breakthrough," he said.