Meet Matteo Gallo of South Bay Fencing Academy

Today we’d like to introduce you to Matteo Gallo.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I founded South Bay Fencing Academy in 2019 after moving to the United States of America from my home country of Italy. It has always been my dream to lead a sports organization in fencing, the sport in which I grew up and developed me as a young man. Since then, leading South Bay Fencing Academy has been my true purpose. The club established itself as one of the best clubs in the nation and I hope one of the best fencing communities and fencing families across the board. In the past five years, we have won seven national championship titles from Y-10 to seniors. We have had several fencing competing for Team USA in every category, and many of our fencers have been recruited by some of the best academic institutions in the country to fence in their Division 1 NCAA teams. All this was possible thanks to the culture of integrity and commitment we were able to build and live day in and day out at our facility located in Torrance, California.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It’s funny how almost inevitably the most challenging and difficult times end up being the most important turning points for my career and also for the development of our club and our team.

Of course, throughout the years we have faced several challenges, starting from the COVID-19 pandemic, which started six months after we established the club in the summer of 2019. We had to go through a year and a half of a very tough period, like everybody else in the world. We went from Zoom classes, online lessons, and fencing classes at the beach, fencing outdoors with no equipment, and a lot more. It was a very, very complex period for the Club, both financially and on the performance side, because there were different restrictions all the way across the US, so some of our competitors were instead allowed to practice and train regularly. We were very afraid to fall back, but luckily we managed to create a great training process even in those conditions, and we came back very, very strong after the COVID, with a breakthrough season in 2021-2022. The team has evolved throughout the years, but we were able to maintain our culture and its pillars and make sure that everybody who joined was going to abide by the rules and by the standards that we set for our fencers.

We’ve been impressed with South Bay Fencing Academy, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We are a fencing club specialized in the weapon of Sabre. We have been consistently ranked among the best in the country for the youth program, which has seen several successes in the past few years and has been ranked the number one in the nation for the Youth-10 age group and among the top10 overall. We have won several national championships and national gold medals, plus a lot of international medals, such as World Cup gold (both individual and team), Pan American Championship titles, and European Championship titles. We have competed in every international competition at any level across the world. We have sent our student-athletes to represent some of the top universities in America, such as Columbia, Brown, Northwestern, UPenn, Notre Dame, UC San Diego, Brandeis University, and Vassar College. LIU, Boston College, Penn State and more. We are proud to have one of the best and most accomplished coaching staffs in the United States fencing landscape, with a series of incredibly professional and personable coaches who are the cornerstone of our program and will help our fencers become the best version of themselves on and off the strip. We offer group classes, individual private lessons, camps, clinics, and every possible training opportunity for young kids from 6 years old up, all the way up to our adult program dedicated to more senior fencers and beginners alike.

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I believe fencing is one of the most beautiful sports in the world, and it has an incredible impact on people’s lives. It really teaches you incredibly valuable lessons that you can take and apply in your everyday life. I believe the number one and most important thing you learn through fencing is personal responsibility and really a sense of being accountable and responsible for yourself.

We always say that the fencing strip is really a place where you are alone and you have to face your fears, you have to face your shortcomings, but also it’s a place for you to earn what you deserve. It’s a place for you to get the accomplishments you work so hard for. I believe the joy you get from doing something special in fencing is really a very unique and special kind of joy that I think both our athletes and I, as a coach, find very hard to find anywhere else.

In terms of where the sport is going and the evolution of the sport, I would love to see fencing being able to be more accessible to a wider public. Of course, we have several rules that are sometimes quite hard to understand for the untrained eye. I think, in this regard, the use of the new technologies and AI can be a massive gain for the sport. We probably should find a way to revolutionize the competition formulas in order to make the sport more accessible and enjoyable for television and to be televised or streamed. I think the goal for all fencing professionals should be to try and take one further step to make it more accessible and more and more enjoyable by the non-expert.

Pricing:

• Fencing Classes at SBFA starts at $275/month for Youth or $30 for Adult Fencers

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.southbayfencingacademy.com
• Instagram: @southbayfencing
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/southbayfencing/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matteogallo/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/south-bay-fencing-academy-torrance

Image Credits
Bizzi Team