$2 Lesson Introduced Norwalk Teacher to an Old Sport With a Point to It

When he was 17, Dana Vrsalovich took a $2 fencing lesson at the Renaissance Fair in Agoura. The instruction lasted only about 20 minutes, but Vrsalovich was hooked.

“I love the sport,” said the 29-year-old Norwalk High School language arts teacher, who introduced fencing to students at the school a few years ago, after Norwalk was one of the schools selected to receive surplus funds from the 1984 Olympics. Bellflower and Bell Gardens high schools also were selected from the Southeast area.

Vrsalovich and teachers from about 30 other schools in the county learned basic fencing skills at the Salle Gascon Fencing Club at the Westside Fencing Center in Culver City, which received a $20,000 grant from the Los Angeles Organizing Committee, Amateur Athletic Foundation, to help create fencing programs at high schools.

At Norwalk, free classes are held in the school gymnasium every Tuesday night. The basic equipment, including the foil, is also provided at no charge.

On a recent Tuesday evening, Vrsalovich, who is also the school’s tennis coach, was working with 12 student fencers. He had to shout to make his voice heard above the noise created by the basketball being thumped on the gym floor during a nearby junior varsity practice. The two sports were separated by a padded partition and many centuries.

After doing stretching exercises for about 30 minutes, the fencers put on their white cloth vests, steel mesh masks and armed themselves with foils that feature dull, flexible blades with rubber tips to prevent injury.

“Advance. Point. Thrust. Crossover. Advance. Lunge. Grace. Be graceful,” Vrsalovich commanded. The students laughed easily, clearly enjoying themselves.

Josh Whittall, 13, said he joined the class because of his love for “sword fighting.” Whittall, who is in the eighth grade, said he and his brother, Aaron, 11, “break off tree branches to sword fight.” Leigh-Ann Santillanes, 15, said she became interested because her mother and other relatives in the family had done some fencing. Santillanes finished sixth among 42 participants at a recent match with three other schools.

While fencing will never replace football or basketball, the sport is popular because it provides physical and mental exercise, Vrsalovich said. “You have to have stamina, strength and be mentally alert. Modern fencing is one of the most exhilarating sports around.”

Dale Toohey, a professor of physical education at Cal State Long Beach, has been inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame in New Zealand. Toohey has been the rugby coach at the university for the last 18 years. He is also the director of the Center for the Study of International Sports at the college.

Toohey, 55, is one of three people inducted into the recently formed Hall of Fame. During his time as college coach, Toohey’s teams have won nearly 90% of their games. His team has won the league championship the last two years and has an 11-1 record for this year. Toohey’s son, Dean is the captain of the Cal State Long Beach rugby team.

Bellflower Unified School District Board of Education member Justine Miller has been elected to the Board of Directors of the California School Boards Assn. Miller will represent Region 14, which covers Los Angeles. She will serve two years.

The association meets once a month in Sacramento to discuss and make recommendations on school issues to the Legislature.

Miller, who has been on the Bellflower board since 1981, also was elected clerk of the five-member board. Phyllis John, who served as president of the board, was reelected to the post, and Jay Gendreau was selected vice president.

The Rev. John C. Bonner, 66, is retiring at the end of the year after nearly 30 years as pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church of Lakewood. His wife, Marjorie, 65, who was the church’s choir director for the same number of years, is also retiring. Last month, the Lakewood City Council honored Bonner at a retirement celebration, naming him chaplain emeritus.