Essam Mohamad | Olympian and Coach

While Coach Mohamed Essam is one of the most recent coaches to join Tim Morehouse Fencing Club, he is a highly accomplished fencer and experienced coach. Fencing for 24 years, he has been a National Foil Team Member in his native Egypt for the last 10 years. He is a Rio 2016 Olympian, participating in the individual and team events. Since 2013, he has earned multiple Senior individual medals at the African Zonal Championships and the African Games. In 2011, he was the African Junior Individual Champion. He has earned more than 50 medals from Egypt’s National Championships for the Junior and Senior Competition. As a member of the Egyptian Team, he is a multi-time African and Arab Champion. He has a degree in BSC Logistics & Supply Chain Management from the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime. 

Before joining the TMFC team, Mohamed worked as a coach for 5 years in clubs located in Egypt as well as France. His previous students won 15 medals at Egypt’s National Championships for Cadet and Juniors. In his short time at TMFC, his students have already won numerous medals at Regional and National level competitions, including a North American Cup Cadet Boys gold medal. We look forward to more success in the future!

Carlos Ugalde Fernandez | Coach (Saber/Foil/Epee)

Carlos Fernandez Ugalde comes to the Tim Morehouse Fencing Club with a passion for fencing and loads of international experience.

Originally from Spain, Coach Carlos started fencing at age 12 and several years later, made the Spanish National Team. He has served as the National Coach of Argentina and also the National Coach of Spain.

It’s his passion to inspire young fencers to have a love for the sport. “I want my students to have fun,” he says. “At the same time they are getting ready for competitions.”

He adds: “My goal every day is to transmit the love and passion I have for fencing to them.”

Irem Ulku | Coach (Saber/Epee/Foil)

Coach Irem comes to us all the way from Türkiye. She has 27 years of fencing experience and was on the Turkish National Team. In 2001, she was the bronze medal winner of the Balkan Individual Women’s Saber Championships and a member of the silver medal winning Team Women’s Saber in the same year. She has placed in the top 32 of the European Championships and top 16 of the team event at the Junior World Championships. Coach Irem is very involved in all aspects of the sport. She has Bachelor’s degree in Sports Management from Türkiye Ege University and a Master’s degree in Coaching Sports, and Health Sciences from the Türkiye Celal Bayar University. She currently researches and prepares articles on the sport of fencing in her field of Sports Biomechanics. 

Irem has been a fencing coach for 18 years and an International Fencing Referee for 11 years. She worked with the Cadet Men’s Saber National Team and the Veteran Men’s Saber National Team in Türkiye. There, her students won National and International medals, including the European Cadet Women’s Saber Championship. She also recently obtained a Maitre De Sabre certificate from the US Fencing Coaches Association. Tim Morehouse Fencing Club is already benefiting from her extensive knowledge and experience!

Babacar Keita | Coach (Saber)

Babacar Keita is a member of the National Team of Senegal. He coaches Youth fencers and leads Youth fencing classes.