How do sports like fencing or archery work in colleges?

L: How do sports like fencing or archery work in colleges?
let’s explain better.
Im going to graduate high school, would like to do either of these sports, if these sports are available at a college can I participate in them even if I have never practiced the sport. The colleges on which im planning to attend do not specify anything and apparently they are not intramural. My high school does not offer these sports and neither does my town.

Answers and Views:

Answer by Gary
Collegiate archery teams are generally organized as a Club Sport, rather than as a regular athletic team like basketball or football would be. That means they’re basically a student club, but one that competes with archery teams from other colleges at archery tournaments. Most teams have an adult coach and also a faculty advisor who oversee the activities of the team, but it’s usually a student-driven organization. You’ll usually find information about Club Sports organized under Student Life in the college structure, rather than within the Athletic Department.

Most Archery Clubs are very welcoming of new members without experience, and will provide qualified instruction and basic equipment that you can use. As you become more interested, you will likely want to purchase your own equipment. The more experienced members of the club will likely offer advice about the equipment you should purchase, and may even sell you their old equipment at a good price. Competition is usually optional, and not required for participation in the club. However, competition is strongly encouraged as you learn and develop your skills, because it makes it more fun and gives a purpose to practicing archery.

Most of the above comments probably also apply to fencing, although I don’t have any experience with fencing.

See for lots more information about collegiate archery, and to find out if the school you’re considering has an archery team. If there’s no team at your school, you can always start one, but that’s a more challenging undertaking than just getting involved with an existing club.

Answer by archerdude
While I do not have experience with college archery and/or fencing teams, I do have experience with archery and fencing done by college students.

If the college(s) you are looking at do(es) not offer archery and/or fencing, you should find out if there is an SCA (Society for Creative Anachronisms, Inc.) branch located at/affiliated with the college(s) you are interested in. The SCA, because its main focus is the study and re-creation/re-enactment of the Middle Ages, incorporates archery and fencing into its activities — and most major colleges (and many community colleges) have an on-campus SCA presence. The good part is that you do not have to join the SCA to take part in the archery/fencing, unless you want to join.

I have been involved in archery for more than 30 years, spent ten of those years with SCA archery, and have tried SCA fencing. Don’t let anyone fool you into thinking that fencing is easy or for “sissies”, because it is neither — and SCA fencing is only slightly more strenuous than Olympic fencing (the main difference is Olympic fencing is limited to back-and-forth; In SCA fencing, you get to move around and use some foot-work).

Visit
https://sca.org/
and find out if there is a group affiliated with/located at the college of your choice. Then send an e-mail, and ask questions about archery and fencing.