Junior Olympic fencing comes to Salt Lake City

SALT LAKE CITY — Cameron Woods was blessed with athletic talent. But the one thing he wanted to do was use that ability to be different.

So when he saw a young man and his sister discussing their chosen sport of fencing, he asked his mom if he could give it a try.

"I liked the fact that it was something new," said the 14-year-old Chicago resident who is in Salt Lake competing in the Junior Olympic Tournament at the Salt Palace Saturday through Monday. "It wasn't the norm. I really wanted to be unique, didn't want to play basketball or football."

Woods mother felt both her children should always engage in the arts, service and something that improved his physical fitness.

"He joined our local club (Windy City) here in Chicago and he really liked it," said Tanya Woods. "But at that time he was swimming and was a member of the Chicago Children's Choir, so he opted to do those in the fall."

And then his sister, who is six years older than him, took it up and began talking about how much she enjoyed it.

"He got a little jealous because she was having such a good time," said Tayna Woods on Saturday morning as Cameron prepared to compete in the round robin portion of the Junior Olympic Tournament. "The following year he said, 'I want to do this full time.' And he really did take a shine to it."

Woods entered local tournament and ended up taking second.

"I didn't even know how to keep score," said Woods laughing. "We forgot a piece of equipment and had to borrow it. … We were totally discombobulated. When he took second, we were shocked. It was pretty amazing."

One of the tournament officials, pulled her aside and told her she was in trouble.

"He said, 'He's really good'," she said quoting him. "'You're going to spend a lot of money.'"

He went to a regional tournament in April and lost in the first round. Which is when his coach told her that if Woods wanted to reach his goal of being an Olympian, he needed private lessons.

That paid off as he took third in a national tournament in July.

"It was a meteoric rise," she said. "They read the biographical information of those kids competing and Cameron didn't have anything he could write down. It was very humbling."