At Forte Village, summer usually unfolds at a languid Mediterranean pace: long lunches under the Sardinian sun, swims in crystalline water, and afternoons that seem to stretch indefinitely between the beach and aperitivo. Then someone puts on a fencing mask.
From August 2–6, 2027, the Fencing Academy at Forte Village will return, bringing some of the sport’s most accomplished athletes to Sardinia for five days of intensive training, mentorship, and competition. Led by Italian Olympic legend Valentina Vezzali, the academy offers young competitive fencers something that is difficult to find anywhere else: the chance to train alongside athletes who have competed — and won — at the highest levels of international sport, while staying at one of Italy’s most celebrated resorts.
It is an unlikely combination, and that is precisely what makes it so compelling.
Where Olympic pedigree meets the Mediterranean
Vezzali is the academy’s defining presence. With six Olympic gold medals and 16 World Championship titles, she is widely regarded as the greatest fencer in Olympic history. For aspiring young athletes, spending a week learning from her is more than an impressive line on a summer résumé; it is a chance to observe firsthand the discipline, precision, and mental focus required to compete at the highest level.
She will be joined by a roster of world-class fencers, with additional champions for the 2027 program to be announced soon.
Among those who have taken part in the academy are Lee Kiefer, the three-time Olympic champion and World Champion who is America’s most decorated foil fencer, and Gerek Meinhardt, a five-time Olympian, Olympic medalist, and former world No. 1.
The international lineup extends across six countries and includes Kyosuke Matsuyama, an Olympic team gold medalist for Japan; Leonie Ebert, European Champion and Olympian for Germany; Aleksandra Matsuyama, a Polish national-team competitor and coach; and Dániel Dósa, a Hungarian Olympian and World Championship medalist.
For young fencers accustomed to seeing these names on competition results and international broadcasts, the opportunity to work with them in person is unusually personal.
A serious academy in a very beautiful place
This is not a recreational introduction to fencing. The academy is designed for young athletes already competing at an advanced level and pursuing an international competitive pathway. The five-day program includes technical training, goal-setting, tactical drills, situational and open bouting, private lessons, and a dedicated competition day.
Training takes place at Forte Village’s Sport Academy Center, home to four professional pistes equipped with the latest technology. The environment is deliberately high-performance, giving athletes the structure and intensity of an elite training camp. Outside the fencing center, however, things look rather different.
The iconic resort stretches along a spectacular stretch of Sardinian coastline, with gardens, beaches, pools, restaurants, and the unmistakable ease of an Italian summer. It is a setting that makes the academy feel less like a traditional sports camp and more like a new kind of active escape — one where an early morning training session can be followed by a swim in the Mediterranean.
For young athletes, that balance matters. So does the opportunity to experience what serious training looks like without stepping entirely outside the pleasures of being on vacation.
Learning from the best
The most valuable part of the academy may not be a particular drill or technical adjustment, but the chance to understand how elite athletes approach their sport.
How do they prepare for competition? How do they respond when a match is not going according to plan? How do they manage pressure? What separates an athlete who is talented from one who can perform consistently on the world’s biggest stages?
These are the lessons that emerge naturally when young fencers spend several days alongside Olympic champions, World Champions, European Champions, Olympians, and national-team athletes.
There is also the simple inspiration of proximity. For a young athlete with ambitions of competing internationally, seeing what that level of commitment looks like — up close — can be as powerful as any formal lesson.
The Sardinian advantage
There is something particularly fitting about hosting a high-performance fencing academy at Forte Village.
Fencing is a sport of extraordinary concentration and precision. Sardinia offers almost the opposite rhythm: expansive, sensory, and gloriously unhurried. Together, the two create a distinctive kind of summer experience.
A morning might begin with footwork, tactics, and bouts on the piste. By afternoon, the focus has shifted to the sea. The intensity of competition gives way to the pleasures of the island — fresh food, warm water, and the particular luxury of having nowhere else you need to be.
For parents, the academy offers an opportunity for young athletes to train seriously while enjoying the broader experience of a Sardinian vacation. For the fencers themselves, it is a chance to spend five days surrounded by people who have made the sport their lives.
And for Forte Village, it is another example of how the resort has expanded the idea of the luxury holiday beyond simply relaxing beautifully.
A summer with a competitive edge
The return of the Fencing Academy from August 2–6, 2027 is a reminder that a summer vacation does not have to choose between sport and leisure. At Forte Village, they can coexist rather elegantly.
For five days, the resort will become a meeting point for the next generation of competitive fencers and some of the most accomplished athletes in the sport. There will be hard training, tactical lessons, competition, and the kind of access to elite sporting talent that young athletes rarely experience. Then, when the mask comes off, Sardinia is waiting.
The Mediterranean, after all, makes an excellent place to recover from a day on the piste.
By: Lucas Raven
