Fencing

Brent Kelly
- Title:
- Assistant Coach (Epee)
- Phone:
- 719-333-2641
Brent Kelly enters his first season with the US Air Force fencing team as assistant coach in 2023-24, with a focus on supporting and leading the epee squad.
Prior to joining the coaching staff at the Academy, Kelly worked in business intelligence and analytics (Google, Capital One, Spectrum) and mentored college-competitiveness-focused high school and middle school aged fencers at Northern Colorado Fencers in Boulder, Colorado.
Kelly is a 2011 graduate of the University of Notre Dame with a bachelors of science in mechanical engineering and a proud alumnus of the Fighting Irish Fencing Team. He competed in the 2011 NCAA Championships for the Irish, contributing to the team championship title after placing third in the 2011 NCAA Midwest Regional qualifier competition.
Kelly also fenced for Columbia University, competing in the 2008 NCAA Championship and contributing to the 2007 and 2008 Ivy Championship Columbia team title as first-team and second-team All-Ivy, respectively.
His coaching philosophy and methodology is a combined approach of analytical rigor, contemplative mindfulness, and competitive fervor. This mentality has developed through vast and various exposure to magnificent coaches spanning the spectrum of focus from developmental to elite-competitive. This coaching pedigree includes (but is not limited to): Aladar Kogler (Columbia), Gia Kvaratskhelia & Marek Stepien (Notre Dame), Gary Copeland and Scott Permer (Northern Colorado Fencers), Jens Stephan (UCSD), Seth Kelsey (Air Force / Olympic Training Center), Jim Carpenter (Gold Blade / Stevens Institute of Technology) and Mohamed El Sakhawy (Gold Blade Fencing).
Kelly ardently believes in competitive fencing as a means of developing a more disciplined, more resilient, and more self-aware depth of character, as well as a means of developing a deeper respect for the immense value of teamwork, personal responsibility, and sense of community.
Kelly is immensely grateful to now have the opportunity to work with and learn further from coach Sebastien Dos Santos and coach Adi Nott at the US Air Force Academy, and looks forward to helping lead the Falcons into a productive and successful 2023-24 season.
Prior to joining the coaching staff at the Academy, Kelly worked in business intelligence and analytics (Google, Capital One, Spectrum) and mentored college-competitiveness-focused high school and middle school aged fencers at Northern Colorado Fencers in Boulder, Colorado.
Kelly is a 2011 graduate of the University of Notre Dame with a bachelors of science in mechanical engineering and a proud alumnus of the Fighting Irish Fencing Team. He competed in the 2011 NCAA Championships for the Irish, contributing to the team championship title after placing third in the 2011 NCAA Midwest Regional qualifier competition.
Kelly also fenced for Columbia University, competing in the 2008 NCAA Championship and contributing to the 2007 and 2008 Ivy Championship Columbia team title as first-team and second-team All-Ivy, respectively.
His coaching philosophy and methodology is a combined approach of analytical rigor, contemplative mindfulness, and competitive fervor. This mentality has developed through vast and various exposure to magnificent coaches spanning the spectrum of focus from developmental to elite-competitive. This coaching pedigree includes (but is not limited to): Aladar Kogler (Columbia), Gia Kvaratskhelia & Marek Stepien (Notre Dame), Gary Copeland and Scott Permer (Northern Colorado Fencers), Jens Stephan (UCSD), Seth Kelsey (Air Force / Olympic Training Center), Jim Carpenter (Gold Blade / Stevens Institute of Technology) and Mohamed El Sakhawy (Gold Blade Fencing).
Kelly ardently believes in competitive fencing as a means of developing a more disciplined, more resilient, and more self-aware depth of character, as well as a means of developing a deeper respect for the immense value of teamwork, personal responsibility, and sense of community.
Kelly is immensely grateful to now have the opportunity to work with and learn further from coach Sebastien Dos Santos and coach Adi Nott at the US Air Force Academy, and looks forward to helping lead the Falcons into a productive and successful 2023-24 season.