twitter:title

Proud to be selected for the 2026 Aussie Athlete Fund $1 Million Challenge as a sabre fencer keen to build business partnerships on the road to the Olympics.

description

twitter:description

https://www.datocms-assets.com/102439/1701081359-2023-asf-website-social.png?auto=format&fit=max&w=1200

twitter:image

https://www.facebook.com/AustralianSportsFoundation

twitter:card

twitter:site

My storyIn 2018, my Year 5 teacher had an idea: try fencing for Friday sport. Three days later, aged ten, I became the newest member of Marrickville Marauders, a grassroots fencing club in Sydney&#39;s Inner West. Eight years later, I&#39;ve competed on five continents, been named a nine-time National Champion, won seven international medals, and been recruited to Penn State University, one of America&#39;s top NCAA Division I fencing programs. This year I move to the United States and will remain a member of the Australian Men&#39;s National Sabre Team, still competing for Australia. My goal is to represent Australia at the Olympics. I&#39;ve been a member of the Australian Men&#39;s Sabre Team since I was 13. Since then, it has taken me around the world representing Australia. I was 13 in Dubai, 14 in Uzbekistan, 15 in London, 16 in Riyadh, 17 in Wuxi and 18 in Rio de Janeiro. World, Zonal and Commonwealth Championships. I tried to meet every opportunity with curiosity, visiting mosques, skyscrapers, museums, eating the food. The places I travelled and the competitions I took part in represented both a growth in my fencing and, more broadly, steps to understanding the cultural, political, social, economic and religious perspectives of the world. My next step at Penn State will deepen both. Training within a high-performance NCAA environment gives me year-round elite coaching and access to international competition that does not yet exist in Australia, essential for the long road to Olympic selection. Beyond the competitionFencing has given me more than I ever imagined possible, and I have tried to give back from early on because of it. Getting here has taken a community: family, friends, coaches, mentors, teachers, professionals, and strangers across the world who opened their homes to me for competitions they would never attend. Communities fundraised. People helped in ways they had no obligation to. I have always known my journey isn&#39;t mine alone. That&#39;s why giving back has mattered to me from the start. I began volunteering as a referee at 12. Today I am a nationally accredited sabre coach and referee, I coach and mentor younger fencers including at-risk students through a volunteer program, I sit on the board of my local club working to improve pathways for junior athletes, and I actively support the development of para fencing in Australia. I want to help make sure the next ten-year-old with no fencing background, no budget and no obvious pathway has more opportunities than I did. Why partner with meFencing is a small sport in Australia, and that is part of what makes this moment meaningful. There are no major sponsorships, no prime-time coverage. What there is is a genuine community, a credible Olympic pathway, and an athlete who has already shown he will do the work to get there. For the right partner, that is an opportunity to be early and to be part of something real. As a partner you would directly support international competition towards Olympic qualification, high-performance development within the NCAA system with lessons brought back to Australian fencing, and ongoing grassroots coaching, mentoring and community contribution. In return I offer logo placement on my Australian Men&#39;s Fencing Team competition and training gear, regular updates and behind-the-scenes content suitable for your own channels, social media recognition, an in-person school, club or staff engagement appearance each year on returning to Australia, and connection with a national network of businesses through the Aussie Athlete Fund $1 Million Challenge. The AskI&#39;m raising $10,000 through the 2026 Aussie Athlete Fund $1 Million Challenge, established by five-time Olympian Natalie Cook OAM OLY to connect athletes with Australian businesses who believe in what sport can do. There&#39;s a detail I love about this sport: Australian iron ore goes into the maraging steel of fencing blades used around the world. Every fencer who has ever competed internationally has carried a small piece of this country with them. Your support makes sure an Australian is out there competing with it. I know what that generosity means. I came to fencing with no background, no connections and no budget, and I got here because people believed in what was possible. I want to help make sure more young fencers get that same chance, whatever their circumstances. Every contribution helps make that real. Photo credits: Ed Chiu and Fencing Sport Photography, FIE (International Fencing Federation) and Real Federacion Espanola de Esgrima

Daniel Iliffe AUS Fencing