I’m Tired, Boss

This isn’t an easy post to write, but it’s time to be honest with myself and with all of you:
I’ve decided not to seek re-election as Chair of the USA Fencing Board of Directors.

While the announcement has come through official USA Fencing channels, I find it necessary to provide my own, unfiltered perspective through the platform that helped me get elected to this position in the first place.

When I stepped into this role a year ago, I did it because I love this sport and I wanted to help fix some of what was broken. I knew it would be hard work, but I underestimated just how much of my time and energy it would take. Between my full-time job, young kids, and using nearly all my vacation days to volunteer, I’ve reached a point where I’m simply tired. Add that year with the last quad spent with the Men’s team, and Jesus Christ, I’m exhausted, y’all.

And to be even more candid: I didn’t sign up to spend my nights and weekends dealing with lawsuits, death threats, and distractions that pull focus from the real work of governing and growing our sport. I want to get back to fencing, to mentoring, to coaching, and to just being part of the community I love, not constantly defending it in courtrooms and comment sections.

That said, I’m deeply proud of what we accomplished together in my year as Chair. When I took on this role, it was more important to me than anything else that we, the Board, would leave this sport better off than where it was. It’s important to emphasize the “we,” in this, because governance is a team sport. And I’m truly proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish despite some serious headwinds:

• We closed with a record financial year: our second such record year in a row. We eliminated our operational deficit and restored our reserves—a strategic plan milestone that speaks volumes to the financial discipline of the national office and the Board.
• Membership and club numbers reached record highs.
• Para fencing participation has surged, opening doors and building a more inclusive future for our sport. More than ever, I feel confident that we will ultimately become a parafencing powerhouse.
• We fulfilled the strategic plan goal of getting an NCAA Women’s Championship, bringing greater equity to NCAA Fencing (with kudos to Brad Suchorski who made this a personal mission).
• Killed the mandatory coaching education program with a chainsaw
• Took the t.109 strip coaching ban and took napalm to it
• Proudly represented this organization in a Congressional hearing
• Established a Coaches’ Committee, giving our coaching community a long-deserved governance seat at the table
• Created a Parents’ Council, enabling Greg Husisian to make some awesome blog posts.
• Accomplished the strategic plan goal to expand funding to the top 6 athletes.
• We stabilized leadership during a turbulent period…and I’ll leave it at that
• Re-stated our commitment to hosting North American Cups in partnership with our Canadian friends up north, all while strengthening relationships with leadership under the wonderful Pascal Tesch of the European Fencing Confederation
• Created a regional free weekend every month to promote more room for local growth
• We brought more transparency to how the Board operates, embedding organizational change management into our processes and keeping a better open line of dialogue with the membership.
• We made structural changes that will outlast any one of us, making reforms that make the organization more accountable, more professional, and more sustainable.
• We reformed the culture of the organization to support victims, strengthened our member codes of conduct, and tightened sanctions in our black card policies to ensure our refs could operate in a more healthy environment (and raised referee pay while at it!)

And, maybe most importantly, we reminded people that USA Fencing belongs to its members, not to any one faction or personality.

I also want to say this as clearly as I can: our community needs to stay engaged.
I encourage you all to read our agendas/minutes, attend our meetings, and really get an understanding of who’s driving our organization forward through sound governance and policy, who’s moving the needle on our strategic plan, and who is working with their colleagues in a collaborative manner, no matter how they got on the Board.

As for what’s next: I’m not disappearing. I’ll continue serving as an At-Large Director for at least the next year, and I’ll keep doing everything I can to support good governance and responsible leadership from that seat. If any of you are worried about me staying engaged, ask yourself: is a man who manually inputs 100,000,000+ fields of Epee metadata into Excel capable of taking his foot off the gas?

I also want to give my full and enthusiastic support to Scott Rodgers as Chair and Phil Andrews as CEO. They’re both steady, thoughtful leaders who understand the big picture and have the experience to guide USA Fencing into its next chapter. They deserve everyone’s support.

I’ll begin with Scott. Scott is the Michael Jordan of American para. That analogy holds true in so many ways: he was our last paralympic medalist, taking bronze in Athens 2004. At a certain point, he “retired” and rode off into the sunset with a Hall of Fame legacy under his belt. Like Jordan as GM of the Wizards, he took on a role as a bit of a management/training partner for the future generations, only for him to say: “you know what? I still got it and I can still tango with these young’uns.” He came out of retirement and single-handedly checked the box on one of our 2024-2028 strategic plan goals by taking a silver medal in a World Cup last year.

But beyond his on-strip accomplishments, in under one year, Scott has been an incredible Board colleague, demonstrating the “speak softly and carry a big stick” attitude, establishing trust rapidly among his peers. He’s the kind of dude I’d jump on the phone with for what was supposed to be a five minute conversation that then turns to three hours. I’m glad he’s on the Board, and I’m glad he’s agreed to be Chair.

I know the community has had reservations around moving away from a nonmember-elected Chair. I was once of those critics myself. But please know, I would have never stepped away from Chair if I didn’t believe with absolute certainty that my successor would be ready to lead our sport to new heights. That’s why Scott Rodgers is a logical choice. If you’re worried about a nonmember elected Chair advocating on behalf of all members of the Fencing community, give Scott the opportunity to prove you wrong. I’m confident that he will.

As for Phil Andrews: this man has been nothing short of magical in the three years he’s been with USA Fencing and the single most transformative CEO the organization has ever had. You see the public Phil. What I’ve seen behind closed doors is a guy who came in from the outside, established credibility and trust immediately, and worked 80+ hour weeks to put his heart and soul into our sport. He’s led with compassion, kindness, empathy, and care. He’s hired outstanding people on his staff and built a culture in the national office that puts the membership at the center of everything. He’s turned our sport from looking like a used Kia into a Ferrari.

Walk through a national event and observe the growth in sponsors, the professional layout of the finals areas, the coaches’ lounges, the merchandise areas that feel like a modern customer experience, and the technology innovations that have streamlined how we interact with our members all have the fingerprints of Phil Andrews on them.

Phil will be the first to tell you he’s not perfect. His mantra has always been “progress, not perfection,” and when I reflect on what he’s been able to accomplish, it’s jaw-dropping. My job was “easy,” simply because I’ve been able to ride the coattails of Phil, step back, and let him cook with minimal oversight.

Finally, I want to reaffirm something that’s always been at the heart of why I serve, why I’ve blogged (for free) for 10+ years, and how I was raised by my folks:
Fencing is for everyone.
No matter your race, religion, gender, gender identity, or socioeconomic background — this sport belongs to you. That’s not just a slogan to me; it’s a commitment. And even with the challenges we’ve faced, I’m going to keep fighting for a fencing community that’s open, accessible, and welcoming to all.

Thank you to everyone who’s supported me, challenged me (well, almost everyone), and believed in me this past year. It’s been one of the hardest and most meaningful experiences of my life.

Now, I’m looking forward to cheering from a slightly different seat… and maybe finally taking a real vacation.

— Damien Lehfeldt
Now Just a Regular Ol’ At-Large Director, USA Fencing Board of Directors

PS: A few thank you’s

To Our Volunteers: I cannot even begin to express the gratitude I have for those of you who have raised your hands to volunteer for our sport. The community does not always see the thankless work you do, but we are so privileged to have such an outstanding group of our community members who support our sport in every facet, division support, to coaching, to international relations, to ethics, and disciplinary proceedings as well. Thank you all, one hundred times.

To Our Members: I’m sorry if I’m letting you down with this announcement. I will always be grateful for your faith in me to elect me to this At-Large seat and go from a s***posting blogger to a leader in this sport. I’ve tried my very best every single day I’ve been in this role, and I hope by the time my term is over, I’ll have made you proud. No leader can look at their body of work and expect perfection, but at the very least, I hope I’ve made your experience in Fencing a little bit better than where it was before.

To Kat Holmes: You remain the rock of the Board. If anyone knew the details of the courage you’ve shown in the face of adversity, they would gain a whole new level of appreciation and respect for what you’ve brought to this Board and sport as a whole. I will spend the rest of my life striving to be the leader you are, and I won’t get halfway there.

To Jackie Dubrovich: I will forever remain grateful for the bond we forged when in the trenches before and after Tokyo. I knew you were going to be an amazing Board member and you’ve done nothing but prove me right with your leadership on NomCom. To see a storybook end to your fencing career with a gold medal in the Grand Palais and now a club owner has been nothing short of inspiring. You deserve all this success and more. 

To Lauryn DeLuca: My biggest regret is that I didn’t know you earlier on in my Fencing journey. Through shared adversity and hardship, you’ve quickly become one of my closest friends, and as I’ve said multiple times: if every nonprofit Board had a Lauryn DeLuca on it, the world would be a better place. Your advocacy for the para community has embedded support in our culture, and for that reason, you’ve been a transformative figure on our Board and in our sport.

To Molly Hill: I revisited my post titled “Molly Frickin’ Hill” endorsing your candidacy (which got me in trouble a little bit),  and all I can say is: told you all so! I wrote: “I am continuously impressed with Molly as a person and leader in the Fencing community. She’s an incredible active listener, she’s empathetic and will be able to bring the perspectives of multiple stakeholder groups, she has a fantastic sense of humor, and the community has consistently glowing things to say about her.” Molly, you checked all those boxes and filled big shoes with ease. I also want to sincerely thank you: You held me accountable more than anyone else, you challenged me to lead better, and while you don’t have the same affinity for dank memes and s***posts that I do, I will consider this a shortfall in your otherwise stellar character and let it go!

To Andrea Pagnanelli: You’ve raised the bar with Independent Directors. You’ve proven your weight in gold and DOGE coin, and I genuinely look forward to meetings with you because I always feel like I learn something new. And above all else—thank you. It was you who encouraged me to run for Chair. It was you who believed in me before it was cool. I genuinely mean this when I say: I hope this isn’t the last Board we serve on together, and I hope our relationship doesn’t end whenever we’re “done” with USA Fencing, because it’s been awesome to work with you.

To Jade Burroughs: We are so fortunate to have someone of your caliber and expertise advising us as an Independent. I’m grateful you agreed to be on our Board, even with all the challenges we bring, and I look forward to our continued relationship supporting this sport.

To Donald Alperstein: I wish people understood who you are more. For decades, you’ve been one of the cornerstones of the sport and have led this organization through every high and every low with nothing but grace, humility, and selflessness in cultivating future generations of leaders in our sport. When the Board of the days of yore took my public criticisms of the organization and considered me a nuisance, your reaction was: “how do we bring this guy in and position him to lead?” All of my success in this sport has been directly as a result of your willingness to mentor me, open doors for me, and guide me through numerous challenges. You’ve taught me that leadership isn’t about making popular decisions, but about making the best decisions. Whenever I think of you, I think of this quote from Hamilton, modified for the purpose of this exercise: “I have never agreed with Alperstein once. We have fought on like seventy-five diff’rent fronts. But when all is said and all is done: Alperstein has beliefs, [insert name here] has none.”

To Peter Barton (Parliamentarian): For 10 years now, you’ve held the most thankless, yet high impact job as parliamentarian. You’re a true renaissance man in terms of your contributions to the sport as an FIE ref, fencer, Robert’s Rules expert, and legal expert as well. Thank you for always delivering feedback with grace and professionalism and keeping the Board on track in (and outside) of meetings. And for being an outstanding raconteur.

To Emily Bian (Treasurer): When Sam Cheris left this mortal coil, you stepped into the shoes of a true titan in our sport and have overseen our finances to new heights. You have the most underrated sense of humor on the Board, and in an alternate reality, you could have been a standup comic. Few people understand the importance of a treasurer, but I can stand on top of the highest mountain and say you’re the best one in the Olympic movement.

To the National Office Staff: In the 30+ years I’ve been a member, you’re the best office I’ve seen, and it’s not even close. I’m so frickin’ proud of the state of this sport, from our communications, to how NACs are run, to the golden age of high performance we’re in, to the training staff that keeps our athletes healthy, our finances, our foundation trustee interaction, our compliance management, I could go on and on, but you made me proud as Chair and continue to make me proud as a member. Thank you. You’re not just great at your jobs, you’re fantastic people.