Johns Hopkins is renowned for many reasons: its medicine, research, and lacrosse to name a few. Now, a smaller and less familiar group at Hopkins - the women's fencing team - has joined in, setting the bar for universities across the country. Many collegiate athletic teams reach out to help their communities, but few programs are as significant and inspirational as the one developed by head coach Jim Murray and the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays.

Nearly every Saturday throughout the academic year, members of the Hopkins women's fencing team meet with youth who have a variety of disabilities and teach them their sport - one of the many that wheelchair athletes compete and excel in.

Murray and the students load their equipment into a car or two at Hopkins, drive five minutes to the Bennett Sports Institute, work for one hour with children ages 12-17, and return to Hopkins to unload. Start to finish, the time commitment is two hours per week, but the value is immeasurable.

"Some of the participants do not have the chair mobility skills to do a more active sport, or they have a disability that might be a limitation somewhere else ... but not in fencing," Murray said.

We are all well aware of the importance of sports in our lives, but disabled people often miss out. Johns Hopkins' outreach program addresses this disparity.

"Fencing is a great sport to strengthen the body, mind, and spirit for all persons," said Stacey Johnson, the U.S. Fencing Association (USFA) Wheelchair Fencing Chair and a past president of the USFA. "We know it can serve wheelchair-bound individuals in the same powerful way."

Fencing is an official sport of the Paralympic Games, so the Bennett Sports Institute youth can certainly have ambitious goals and dreams like all children have. Another strength of wheelchair fencing is its suitability for people who have only recently become wheelchair users. The weapons are lightweight and easy to handle, and mobility skills are not necessary because the chairs are held in place by rigid frames.

Johns Hopkins became involved with wheelchair fencing two years ago when Leshak Stawicki, the U.S. Paraylmpic fencing coach, contacted Murray about starting an outreach program with his team. After just one morning of email exchanges - from Murray to the Johns Hopkins head athletic trainer, to the university's director of sports medicine, to the Kennedy-Krieger Rehabilitation Hospital (a JHU affiliate) - Murray found the perfect way to help. Kennedy-Krieger's satellite program, the Bennett Sports Institute, specializes in youth wheelchair sports.

The Bennett Director, Gerry Herman, invited Murray and his team for a Saturday demo when all the youth programs (basketball, tennis, swimming) were going strong, and within minutes the new fencing program was established.

"In some respects we were very lucky that this program was so easy to start," Murray said. "We had a coaching staff of varsity fencers, an available gym only minutes away, and enthusiastic young people at Bennett just waiting to begin."

In other respects, it's not luck but rather Murray's and his team's commitment and compassion that both established the fencing program and keeps it running.

"I told the team at the outset that we cannot offer a fencing program and not stay committed long range," Murray said. "On any given Saturday I know that four or five of my fencers will be ready to go. It's their program and I'm proud of them."

Johns Hopkins Athletic Director Thomas Calder echoes that pride: "Not only are the athletes and coaching staff part of a very successful program," he said. "But they have shown their concern and dedication toward spreading their sport to other people who may not be as fortunate as they are."

Murray's personal commitment to wheelchair fencing has far exceeded the two hours per week that he signed on to. Last spring he helped run a wheelchair fencing clinic at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center for service members recovering from war injuries. Champion Paralympic fencers Mario Rodriguez and Gary VanDerWege demonstrated a competition, while John Register, the director of U.S. Paralympics and a former soldier in Iraq, spoke to the servicemen about the sport. Meanwhile, Murray instructed the participants on the basics of fencing.

Murray has traveled across the country to learn more about and to plan the future of wheelchair fencing. He met with Register in Colorado Springs; stopped in Atlanta, Georgia, to volunteer; and most recently attended a four-day training camp in Louisville over Labor Day weekend.

In Louisville, Murray gained hands-on experience with wheelchair fencing frames, which are not yet available at the Bennett Sports Institute.

"Since we don't have frames, sabre is the best weapon to learn so the kids don't `pole vault' away from each other," Murray said. "Since our young fencers are teammates in other Bennett sports, our fencing camaraderie fits right in. It's a great day."

The USFA and its wheelchair fencing committee sees Johns Hopkins' outreach program as an exceptional way to promote the sport, which they believe is so important in the lives of people with disabilities. They hope more collegiate fencing teams will begin similar programs with peers in their communities.

"With the help of institutions such as John Hopkins University, working through NCAA fencing programs, we hope to build more bridges in communities," Johnson said. "This will open doors to more opportunities for disabled youth and adults in this country."