Jeffrey Lopez is the architect of Fencing Masters. He competed his way toward the national level before moving into coaching in 1976, and has taught the sport ever since.
He learned his craft from the ground up, training under Monsieur Lessuer of France and building on it through years of exchange with Japanese, Korean and Chinese coaches. Long before there was a salle, there were lessons: a church car park, school corridors, community halls, anywhere with space to lunge. Singapore's first full-time professional fencing coach was already at work, and in 1995 those roaming years became a permanent piste when Fencing Masters opened as one of Singapore's earliest private fencing clubs.
A double silver and bronze medallist at the 1987 SEA Games and an International Olympic Committee certified coach, Jeffrey has produced Singapore and international champions across five decades, notably Choy Fong Leng, who won the individual Gold medal at the 1989 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur. 50 years in, he still leads the club and mentors the next generation of coaches, so the way he was taught keeps reaching the next fencer through the door.
Credentials
- International Olympic Committee (IOC) certified fencing coach
- NCAP Theory Level 3, Singapore Sports Council certified
- SG-Coach Level 1 (Fencing) certified
- People's Association recognised coach
- 1987 SEA Games: double silver and bronze medallist
- Coaching since 1976, five decades on the piste
- Founded Fencing Masters in 1995, one of Singapore's earliest private fencing clubs
- Singapore's first full-time professional fencing coach
- First Aid and AED certified
- MOE Registered Coach
- Approved coach under the Singapore Sports Council-managed Sports Education Programme (SEP)
Notable fencers coached
- Choy Fong Leng, individual Gold medallist at the 1989 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur
- Many Singapore national, school and age-group champions over the decades
- Former students who now run their own programmes, coach at other clubs, or have opened salles of their own around Singapore
Currently coaching at
- Fencing Masters, since 1995
- Yusof Ishak Secondary School, since 2024
- Madrasah Al-Arabiah Al-Islamiah (Toa Payoh)
- Catholic Junior College, since 2002
Coaching track record
He began coaching at the Singapore Armed Forces Sports Association in 1976, and has since taught at institutions including:
- Poi Ching School, until 2020
- St Joseph's Institution
- St Joseph's Institution (International)
- ACS International
- Victoria Junior College
- Singapore Management University
- ITE (West)
- The American Club
- Salle de Vittorio
- St Joseph's Convent
Selected clinics
Coach Lopez has also run fencing clinics for organisations including Microsoft, Apple, Siemens, the Singapore Institute of Management, the Singapore Dance Theatre (for Romeo & Juliet), Raffles Junior College, Anglo-Chinese Junior College, the National University of Singapore and the Singapore American School, among many others.
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