By Beverley Douglas, Contributor
Erinn and Keeth Smart.
- Contributed
NEW YORK, Gleaner Extra:
THE TALL, dark and handsome young man striding down the corridor towards me at the New York Fencers Club looked nothing like Errol Flynn, the late swashbuckling extraordinaire of the 1930s silver screen. For one thing, Keeth Smart is African American. Flynn was a white Australian. Their commonality, however, is their way of handling the sabre.
Poised and disciplined, 26-year-old Smart, who ranked number one in the world in the men's sabre last year, is representing the United States at the Olympic Games.
This is a feat not even the dextrous Flynn ever matched. And that's not all. Smart's sister, Erinn, also a fencer and ranked 18th in the world in the foil, will compete individually in the women's foil.
Thirteen years ago, when they were just getting off the ground, the brother-sister team earned their stripes at the Peter Westbrook Foundation. The most influential programme of its kind in the United States and renowned for introducing and nurturing African-American and Latino boys and girls to a sport traditionally opened only to a select group the foundation was founded by Olympian Peter Westbrook.
DOORS
"So many doors are not opened to us," said Westbrook, who won a bronze medal in the sabre competition in 1984. "Our community is undeserved. Fencing is a great sport for our people and there are many benefits to reap from it." At any given time, there are approximately 130 young people ranging in age from 9 to 18 in a fencing class at the foundation, located on West 25th Street in New York City.
Westbrook is especially proud of the fact that four of the 14 members of this year's Olympic fencing team are products of his foundation. They include the Smart siblings, Ivan Lee (the 2001 NCAA Division I sabre champion) and Kamara James, all children of Caribbean heritage. Lee, who will compete in the men's sabre, hails from Brooklyn via Trinidad and Tobago, while James, an épée fencer and the only fencer competing in The Games in either team or individual division, is Jamaican. So, too are the Brooklyn-born Smarts, whose mother Audrey, hails from Moneague, St. Ann.
"This is an absolutely marvellous thing and a blessing to our organisation, our people and to the sport of fencing in the United States," said a beaming West-brook, a seemingly tight bundle of kinetic energy. "We raised Erinn from [she was ]10 years old and Keeth from [when he was] 11, and it's nice to see the fruits of your labour unfold and come ripe. It makes all of us feel warm."
In addition to Westbrook's guidance in the fundamentals, Erinn and Keeth received a strong foundation from their parents. It was their father, Thomas, who read an article about Westbrook and fencing in USA Today back in 1992 when the siblings were 10 and 12, respectively. At the time, Thomas was the production manager for Black Enterprise Magazine. It was not too early, he reasoned, to look ahead to college for his children. He knew, he said, that to get into a good one took more than academics. It took lots of money, and a scholarship in the sport of fencing could lead the way. So, it was off to New York University, Westbrook's alma mater, to meet Westbrook and get in the programme.
EXPOSED TO SPORTS
While no parental pressure was put on them to excel at or to take part in any particular sport, the Smart kids were always exposed to sports. Erinn did gymnastics and ballet, while Keith ran, swam, and played basketball and football. "Erinn is a better athlete and even Keeth would admit it," says their father, who now works for the Bureau of Statistics in New York.
"She's a natural-born athlete. I pity her kids when she has them. They will not be able to measure up," he added with a soft chuckle. Erinn and Keeth were the first two students at the Westbrook Foundation. And it was tough love for Keeth at first, his father explained, as he had to learn to take the pain from this most physical of sports. "I never thought they would be world-class fencers," he confessed. "We thought fencing would keep them occupied."
Audrey recalls the challenges. First, there was the expense: numerous weapons (foil and sabre), mask, padded jacket, underarm protector, padded breast protectors, knickers, gloves, sneakers and socks. Then, the juggling: ballet and piano for Erinn on Tuesday evenings, piano and trumpet for Keith on Saturdays. It became all-consuming. "We had to make choices; we couldn't do it all," says Audrey, who taught reading at PS138 in Brooklyn at the time. Their station wagon was always at the ready, picking up or dropping off a child. "We had to time it so that we could catch the parking meters because we couldn't afford to pay parking," she confessed. Although Audrey was exhausted (Thomas was in college at the time and couldn't help as often.) she realised how much her children loved the sport of fencing. Many a Friday night they would load up the wagon and head to Boston or to Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or Indiana to a meet. On Sunday night, they would reverse the commute. It was difficult; it was hard. They were only 12 and 14 and I wanted to give them a little bit of what I didn't have."
More than a dozen years have passed. They have come a long way since. They have travelled nationally and internationally, attending meets in Argentina, Venezuela, Japan, Korea, Budapest, Moscow and China, appearing in the print media (<B>GQ<P>, <B>The New York Times<P>, <B>Newsday<P>, and <B>the Post<P>) and on television: CBS and the Conan O'Brien and John McEnroe shows. Even with all this exposure, the brother-sister team never lost sight of their parents's teachings. Staying focused, looking at the big picture and seeing how all the parts fit together, pursuing their goals, they said, no matter the obstacles, they graduated from college and secured good jobs: Keeth as a financial analyst with Verizon and Erinn with Lord Abbett, a financial management firm in New Jersey.
In the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, Erinn was an alternate, the sole woman in the foil. Beautiful, self-assured and elegant with eyes the colour of Jamaican coffee beans, she is her brother's best friend. "Fencing helps our relationship," says the 24-year-old, who admits that the foil is a natural for her. "We're fortunate that when we go on our many trips we always have someone we can talk to or hang out with; someone who can understand us and know where we're coming from." So, self-assured and gracious, she's not even nervous about her upcoming matches with many of the world's best. "Anything can happen at the Olympics," she said. "I expect to do fairly well. I'm an underdog, but a strong underdog," she added. The most difficult thing about fencing, she added, is her very fast movements and being able to slow down. "It could be my greatest attribute or it could hinder me as well." And her easiest? "Moving up and down the rectangular strip of floor. I'm a natural," she said.
So is Keeth. This is his second Olympics experience. While a full-scholarship student at St. John's University, where he earned a degree in finance, he represented the United States. at the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney. Not bad for someone who, until his mother introduced him to the sport, had never seen a fencing match. "I was very sceptical, he said, but my mother was very supportive. She donated her time and effort and I grew to love it," he says. He's won many tournaments and for the past number of years, is the U.S.'s top saber fencer. "I feel very confident about the Olympics. It's a challenge. I continue to work hard as it is so easy to get distracted." And when does he have some fun? "There's no time for fun," he interjected, "the Olympics are too important."
They've been hanging together. Erinn has always been in lockstep with her brother, according to their father. "Everything he did, she did," says Thomas. Both attended and graduated from Brooklyn Tech, one of New York City's specialty high schools. And she knows what she wants, too. Not many young black kid would turn down a full athletic scholarship to Stanford, Notre Dame and Penn State. She did. Why? Because she was fixed on attending Columbia University. And touche, Barnard College "offered her a handsome, financial package." For four years while at Barnard, she fenced for Columbia. In 2001, she earned a bachelor's degree in economic history from Barnard.
Audrey has never missed seeing her children compete. She went to Sydney and will be in Athens as well. She also gives a lot of credit to Peter, whom she says, subsidised the coaches. The children's success is a culmination of commitment, dedication, discipline and so many dreams. "I am grateful to God that he's enabled us to do this. When talent is so great, it's prayers and desire. I take credit for the first Olympic years," says Audrey with pride in her voice, "but I must give credit to them for their own persistence, their coaches, and their father, Tom. For the past four years, he's been shuttling them back and forth to the airport." The Smart kids cannot say enough about their parents. "They instilled a strong work ethic and we understood that," says Keeth.
The Smart siblings have overcome their biggest challenge - getting to the Olympics. "All else," says their father, "is the icing."
