Soaring on the Wings of an Eagle

In 1957, The Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company at 300 Broadway in Newark, NJ sold its granite-pillared headquarters to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark. That fall, Essex Catholic High School was born and opened its vast bronze doors to a first freshmen enrollment of 240 students. Within the next seven years, the school's enrollment was close to 3,000. An incoming freshman asked his uncle, a medical doctor, if he would share his fencing prowess by establishing and coaching a fencing club at the school. And so, in October 1960, five students tried out for fencing. Over the next 14 years, Dr. Samuel D'Ambola gave of his time and his heart, without pay, and created a dynasty at Essex Catholic, winning over 20 titles including 9 state championships and producing scores of athletes that would become collegiate All Americans, Olympic medalists, world class athletes, and prominent professional businessmen, most of whom went to college on athletic and academic scholarships. This is the chronicle of motivation, discipline, and understanding how to respect a sport with all that it brings - loss as well as victory, teammates raising each other up to greater heights, and passing the baton of excellence from one varsity team to the next, from the natural-born athlete to the less-gifted. This is, most of all, the chronicle of Coach Sam "Doc" D'Ambola who allowed hundreds of fencers to understand the key to lifetime achievement: agility of mind.