Salle Ossian fencer set for Games
Sarah-Jane Hampson Ill-timed knee surgery skewered her chances of making the team for the Commonwealth Fencing Championships on home soil four years ago.
But now Sarah-Jane Hampson is ready to make up for lost time.
With no financial backing for the five-strong team, the 22-year-old Perth Salle Ossian club member is digging deep to fund her trip to represent Scotland at the November champs Down Under.
But as a petite 5 foot 6 inch competitor regularly squaring-up to six-foot-plus continental rivals and trusting to her agility and aggression to win through, she has overcome bigger challenges in her international career.
Having walked away from criminology studies at Napier University to pursue her fencing career, Sarah-Jane quickly made her mark with both Scotland and Team GB.
Her long-term career goal is to become a paramedic and in the meantime a trainee care assistant’s post at Moncreiffe Care Home in Bridge of Earn is helping on two fronts.
“I wanted to give my fencing a real go so I had to find a job which could accommodate my training commitments,”she said.“Thankfully everyone at the home is very supportive of my fencing career.
“The shifts are flexible so I can train with coach Phil Carson at the Salle Ossian base in Perth.
“There’s no financial support when it comes to representing your country in fencing so you have to meet all the expenses yourself. That’s quite a challenge in itself.
“So having an understanding employer is vital and Moncreiffe management are 100 per cent behind me.
“The residents are brilliant with me. They take a real interest in my fencing and looking over my kit.”
Sarah-Jane, a junior Commonwealth medallist, was on course for the senior Commonwealths four years ago before suffering a knee injury.
“It is a physically demanding sport and fencers tend to suffer with their ankles, knees and hips,”she explained.
“But I love it. I wouldn’t know what to do without it. The surgery was hugely disappointing, a horrendous time.
“But now I have made the five-strong team for Canberra and it’s all so exciting.”
Senior sabre fencer Sarah-Jane is ranked number one in Scotland and recently limbered-up for Australia at the Europeans, representing Great Britain in Serbia and posting wins over the hosts and Bulgaria.
She said:“This season has been extremely tough, both physically and mentally. Coming back from Canberra with a medal would be a dream come true.”
Moncreiffe Care Home manager Norma Macleod said:“We are all so proud of Sarah-Jane and her achievements.”
●Sarah-Jane has set-up a fundraising page for supporters at uk. gofundme.com/59puz3k