Daryl Homer isn’t what you would call your typical successful young black athlete. He doesn’t dominate a sport with a ball or play anything that has to do with a basket. Those that he competes against don’t look like him and yet on the biggest stages, Homer produces his best performances.
The Bronx native is a 21-year-old two-time NCAA national title holder, three-time fencing world champion, currently ranked #1 in the US and #12 in the world, and is the youngest member of the 2012 USA Olympic Men’s Sabre Team competing in the London Summer Olympic games; and he has still yet to finish college.
With one year left, Homer has put school on hold for the time being in pursuit of his fencing career. Homer has been immersed in fencing culture since he was a kid. He started when he was 10 at the Peter Westbrook Foundation, a program focused on introducing fencing to inner city youth. As he became successful he caught the eye of an Olympic coach Yury Gelman who continues to coach him to this day.
“Fencing is definitely a culture shock,” Homer said. “But I started out fencing with 90 percent black people at Peter Westbrook.”
Homer calls himself fortunate. Growing up he had professional Olympic role models in the same training gym he was. He saw people doing the same thing he aspired to do in the future, including Keeth Smart and Erinn Smart.
The Olympic games are a dream come true for Homer because he has worked so hard to get to this point. He says he will be sure to take each moment in. “With my first Olympic games I am looking most forward to the opening ceremony and taking it all in,” Homer said. “It’s all about the camaraderie with my teammates, being around other strong athletes and growing. It’s bigger than just the game.”
In a sport with very few minorities, which is largely dominated by whites, Homer stands out and succeeds. This year he is one of four black athletes on an Olympic fencing team of 16, including two other African-American males and one African-American female.
The schedule of an Olympic athlete is packed and Homer’s is no different. Today he heads out to Mexico; by next week he will be in Chicago, only to be back in the city in a couple of weeks to compete in small competitions in preparation for the Olympic games. When he gets into his steady regimen Homer will be training for 5-6 hours a day on his technique, strength, conditioning and repetition.
Fencing is his life right now, but Homer does say he plans on finishing school and graduating in 2013. Following the Olympics, Homer will be entering his senior year at St. Johns University in Queens, NY. He took this year off to train for the Olympics. “I sometimes ask myself at what point does fencing take over my career,” Homer said.
“I’m in a good position because others are older into their 30s and I have the luxury of only being 21, but I want to combine advertising [my major] and fencing to help the inner city. It’s something that’s not available now.”
Homer wants to give back and help his many mentors who stood by him in the past. The idols that Homer looks up to include advertising media mogul Steve Stout, rapper and entrepreneur Jay-Z, and The Onion’s Baratunde Thurston.
“The way they all are able to use advertising and the media to get their work out there is what I look up to,” Homer said. “The cross-marketing I see, especially how Jay-Z effectively puts it all together, is great.”
Homer attributes a lot of his success to his mother and positive role models. Without them, he says he wouldn’t have had the guidance or motivation to want to be the best.
“My mom has always found ways for us to get up out of the Bronx,” Homer said. “She wanted my sister and I [sic] to achieve. And being that I’ve been around Olympic athletes at such a young age, I’ve been fortunate.”
Homer was born in St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands and now lives in the Manhattan, New York. He has one sister who is the captain of her fencing team.
His advice for other youth interested in fencing is simple: “Starting early can help,” Homer said. “Fencing takes time and lots of hard work, just like anything in life. It takes sacrifice. Things are a part of a journey and there are many things to learn while you are taking that journey.”
Follow Daryl Homer on his social media:
on Instagram @DarylHomerUSA
on Facebook at Facebook/DarylHomerUSA
on Twitter @DarylHomerUSA
Follow Marquise Francis on Twitter @mKfly