USA Fencing Announces Jean-Marc Oppenheim as 2023-24 High School Coach of the Year Award Winner
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by Nicole Kirk
Celebrate with us as Jean-Marc Oppenheim, head coach at Don Bosco Prep High School, wins the prestigious 2023-24 USA Fencing High School Coach of the Year award, honoring his dedication to shaping young athletes into not only competitive fencers but also exemplary individuals.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - USA Fencing celebrates all high school fencing coaches, and the invaluable lessons they bring to their programs.
That’s why we’re excited to announce the 2023-24 winner of the High School Coach of the Year award: Jean Marc Oppenheim, the head coach at Don Bosco Prep High School in Ramsey, New Jersey.
This award, which debuted in the 2016-17 season and is returning after a three-season absence, gives us a chance to celebrate the coaches who have a great impact on their student-athletes, guiding them toward competitive success while instilling in them core values like respect, teamwork and dedication.
Phil Andrews, CEO of USA Fencing, expressed his enthusiasm for the award.
“High school fencing is such a pivotal stage in the athletic and personal development of our fencers,” he says. “This award is the latest example of our renewed dedication to nurturing this level of the sport, celebrating the coaches who inspire excellence and passion in their athletes.”
Oppenheim says this award serves as validation for a career transition he made after more than three decades teaching at Columbia University, “winning this award has crowned my years of active fencing since high school. The award recognizes indirectly the talented and patient coaches with whom I was privileged to train; it rewards my commitment to the development and success of my high school fencing teams, a career that I began quite unexpectedly seven years ago after 35 years of university teaching.”
When talking about his rewarding coaching accomplishments, Oppenheim lists quite a few. He talks about seeing fencers develop a love for the sport, “regardless of their athletic ability, to develop a love of fencing as a sport and, hopefully, a lifelong activity, while emphasizing those aspects of fencing that teach safety, sportsmanship, humility, courtesy, and grace, on and off the fencing strip.”
He also noted an incredible reward is “seeing the boys on my team who, as incoming freshmen, had never fenced, win county, district, and team state tournaments within two or three years; having school team fencers achieve notable results in individual New Jersey State Championship and regional USA Fencing events.”
Another rewarding accomplishment for him is “seeing my fencers graduate knowing that most, if not all, will continue to fence after high school.”
Congratulations Jean-Marc Oppenheim on being named the 2023-24 USA Fencing High School Coach of the Year!
Past Recipients of the High School Coach of the Year Award
- 2016-17: Jeff Salmon, Ward Melville High School (East Setauket, N.Y.)
- 2017-18: Michael Marx, Concord-Carlisle High School (Concord, Mass.)
- 2018-19: Corlis Hicks, Rochester STEM Academy (Rochester, Minn.)
- 2019-20: Daniel Bailey-Yavonditte, Newark Academy (Jersey City, N.J.)
- 2020-21: Kristin Vines, The Baylor School (Chattanooga, Tenn.)
- 2023-24: Jean-Marc Oppenheim, School (Ramsey, N.J.)
