Jennifer Oldham, an accomplished coach with over twenty years of experience at the university and club level, has been named Cleveland State's next head fencing coach. She is just the second-ever full-time coach in the history of the program and began her duties on January 16, 2024. Oldham comes to Cleveland following a successful tenure in North Carolina, where she led and managed Forge Fencing Teams, Inc. During her first season at Cleveland State, she claimed their first Central Collegiate Conference Champion in men’s epee and coached a qualifier into the NCAA Championships.
Oldham fenced as a collegiate athlete for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in psychology and women's studies competing as a foil fencer. She progressed post-collegiately as a women's saber fencer and won a World Cup team bronze medal in 2000 representing Team USA. She continued to thrive in a team environment and became a team National Campion in 2000 as part of Oregon Fencing Alliance. In 2004 she earned her master's degree in counseling psychology from Lewis and Clark College.
Oldham began her professional collegiate coaching career as a volunteer coach for the University of North Carolina at Charlotte from 1996-98. Following her time there, she went to the Oregon Fencing Alliance, where she was an assistant coach and competed as a national team member from 1998-2004. She served as a volunteer coach at her alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 2006-07.
More recently, Oldham has served as the founder, owner and head coach of Forge Fencing Teams, Inc., formerly Mid-South Fencers Club. She now serves as coach emeritus. In addition, she has held many roles in coaching and mentoring with USA Fencing. Currently Oldham is serving on the Coaches Commitee for USA Fencing and on the board of directors for WFencing, where she was a founding member. Throughout her career, Oldham has coached and mentored over one hundred national and seven international medal winners and many NCAA Championship qualifiers, including a silver medalist in 2021.
