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 RICHARD HOWARD
"Head Coach Emeritus"
Coach Howard has been coaching fencing
for over 30 years. He is certified by the United States Fencing Coaches Association and the Academie d' Armes Internationale
as a Moniteur D' Escrime in foil, epee and sabre. He is also a professional member of the United States Fencing
Association.
Coach Howard was initially trained by
his maternal grandfather, Mr. T. E. Anderson, who was a student of Ralph Faulkner at the Falcon Studios in the late 1920's
and early 1930's. In addition, as a young teenager, Coach Howard's grandfather placed him under the tutelage of Maestro
Nick Toth in Colorado Springs in 1960.
Coach Howard has helped develop the
talent of numerous fencers, producing numerous fencers who have competed at the National Junior Olympic Championships and
other national competitions, including Juleah Nusz, the 2009 Junior Women's Epee National Champion. He is also a certified
fencing referee in all three weapons. He is also the first recipient of the "Fellow Award" from the United States Fencing
Coaches Association.
Coach Howard is retired from Amarillo
College, where he taught biology for many years. He also served as the curator of the AC Natural History
Museum. He is also a concert pianist and has composed a suite for piano called "Prairie Visions," which can be purchased
at music stores in the Amarillo area. Coach Howard was recently named "Head Coach Emeritus" of ACFA for his many years
of service to fencing in Amarillo.
 CHUCK SLAUGHTER
Head Coach
Chuck Slaughter is the Head Coach
and a competitive fencer with ACFA. He has been fencing competitively since 1999. Chuck is the coach for the Beginning
and Intermediate Youth Fencing Classes in Amarillo College's "personal enrichment" department, teaching children ages
8 to 13. He also serves as the coach for the Amarillo College adult beginning fencing class
and the intermediate to advanced fencers at AC. He is also the primary coach of Juleah Nusz, the 2009 USFA National
Champion in Junior Women's Epee.
Chuck was selected as the 2006
Volunteer Coach of the Year by the United States Fencing Association and was a National Finalist for the 2006 United States Olympic Committee Volunteer Coach of the Year Award. He has completed his Level 1 Coaches certification in foil and epee at the United States Fencing Association's Coaches
College, held at the U. S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He has served as Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Secretary of the Plains Texas Division of
the USFA.
He is married to Gayle, and they
have two children, Jared and Courtney. He has been an Assistant District Attorney in Amarillo, Potter County, Texas,
since 1989. He is a senior prosecutor in the 108th District Court and works with local law enforcement
agencies investigating child abuse in Potter County. He is a member of the board of directors of The Bridge
Children's Advocacy Center in Amarillo.
BARY NUSZ
Coach
Bary is our newest coach. Primarily an epee
coach, Bary is the primary coach that assists the head coach in all of the fencing classes at Amarillo College.
Coach Nusz also serves as the Secretary of the Rocky Mountain Section of the United States Fencing Association. He is
active with a national group which promotes greater training opportunities for elite junior women epeeists.
For the last few year, he has also served as the
tournament director for all of the tournaments hosted by the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. He
also heads up ACFA's tournament committee and is the director of the Amarillo Open Fencing Tournament.
He is employed as an engineer with Falafel Software,
which is based out of Santa Cruz, California. He is married to Aimee (a huge asset to ACFA herself) and is the
father of Juleah and Derik.
BEN SIMPSON
Coach
Ben Simpson started as a Coach at ACFA after he
graduated from the University of North Texas in Denton with a Degree in Music. Ben started fencing many years ago at
Amarillo College and eventually served as a Red Shirt in addition to competing. Ben has been certified as a Moniteur
D' Escrime in foil, epee and saber. Coach Simpson assists with the AC fencing classes when he is available but his primary
responsibilities are to help coach the competitive fencers. He is the primary saber coach at ACFA.
 JARED SLAUGHTER
Coach
Coach Jared Slaughter has served as a coach at
ACFA in some capacity since 2001, when he began working as a teaching assistant in the AC youth fencing classes.
He was a student at Amarillo College and Texas Tech, where he fenced competitively for ACFA first and subsequently for the
Double T Fencing Club where he also served as an Assistant Coach. He returned to Amarillo in 2009 and his
coaching duties include substituting for the head coach in the AC fencing classes. His primary weapon is foil (even
though he is higher rated in epee) and he works with the foilists when available.
He is currently employed by McCoy Myers and Associates
in Amarillo. His dog, Bacchus, serves as one of the official therapy dogs at youth fencing tournaments hosted at Amarillo
College. He also serves as a fencing referee for tournaments in the Plains Texas Division.
All Coaches wear black to the AC Fencing Classes so that
they may be easily identified as coaches to beginning fencing students.
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