Creator Showdown: 12 Creators, 4 Team USA Fencers, 3 Days at the Heineken Riverdeck

Share:

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Some of the biggest names on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram are about to put on a mask and try fencing in front of their massive audiences.

USA Fencing will host the Creator Showdown on Sept. 21-23 at the Heineken Riverdeck at The Seaport in Lower Manhattan, a three-day competition that pairs 12 social media creators with four of the best fencers in the country. The 10 creators announced so far reach more than 215 million followers, most of whom have never watched a fencing bout.

And that, as you might guess, is the entire point.

How it works

After receiving some coaching from the elite fencers, the 12 creators will suit up and compete in a series of fencing-themed challenges, with points awarded by finishing position.

Think King of the Strip, where a single touch wins and the victor stays on. Think Battle Royale, where one Team USA fencer faces down four creators at once and has to eliminate every one of them. Or imagine a Hunger Games-style free-for-all where the creators rush to collect their fencing weapon to arm themselves for battle.

The creator with the most points at the end of the Creator Showdown wins.

The pro fencers

Four Team USA fencers will anchor the teams:

  • Maia Chamberlain OLY

  • Bryce Louie

  • Mitchell Saron OLY

  • Lauren Scruggs OLY

The creators

Here is the roster announced so far, ordered by the size of each creator's largest platform. Handles listed are their primary accounts.

Plus two more to be confirmed.

Most of these creators come from dance, gymnastics, stunt work or strength sports, which means they arrive with body control but no fencing experience whatsoever. Watching how they’ll handle a foil, epee or saber is a large part of the appeal.

Why we're doing this

Fencing's oldest problem is not that people dislike it. It’s that most people have never seen it, and a good number of those who have seen fencing just assumed the sport wasn’t built for them.

The Creator Showdown attacks that premise directly. Rather than asking newcomers to find fencing, it puts fencing in the feeds they already scroll, introduced by people they already follow. Creators will post throughout the event, and the production team will deliver short-form videos and a long-form feature after the final bout.

With the Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games two years out, the timing matters. Name recognition built now is worth far more than name recognition built a few months before the Games.

What members can do

Clubs and coaches should expect to see increased interest in fencing, arriving in the form of traffic at their front door. Every piece of content will point newcomers to TryFencing.org, which routes them to a club near them.

If you run a club or coach at one, this is the moment to make sure your beginner pathway is ready. Check that your listing is accurate, that someone is answering inquiries and that a curious 14-year-old who watched a TikTok on Tuesday can get on a strip by the weekend.

The rest of us can follow the creators above, then share what they post during event week. Even if you only have a few hundred (or a few dozen) followers, we encourage you to reshare the videos you see to expand fencing’s reach.

Only the beginning

Sept. 23, the final day of the Creator Showdown, is just the beginning. The event will return in 2027.