Zain Shaito is one of the top-ranked fencers is the US, and the Olympics in 2012 are a real possibility if he continues to train hard at the Fencing Institute of Texas. At left: Shaito in action.

Now, the 17-year old kid who grew up in Michigan dreaming of playing in the NHL is a fencing phenom with a realistic shot at making the United States Olympic team in 2012 for the summer games in London.

Shaito, who trains at the nationally-renowned Fencing Institute of Texas in the city of Farmer’s Branch, talked about how he got into the sport.

“My sisters were doing it for around six months,” he said. “After I got my cast off (from the broken arm), my mom told me I should start fencing to strengthen it.

“I started going once per week, three times, four times per week, and then I just stopped going to hockey and kept fencing.”

Shaito, whose family is of Lebanese descent, is still a hockey fan, but his sole personal focus is on continuing to climb the ranks of the fencing elite.

He talked about the skills a fencer needs to be successful.

“Fencing is a mental game, like physical chess is what they call it,” he said. “You definitely need to be strong mentally and you have to have really good, strong legs. Boxing is probably a second thing that’s the closest to fencing.”

He trains six days a week for about five hours a day, often times sparring with some of the best the sport has to offer. His tournament schedule includes matches at the local, national, and international levels and is as demanding as any you’ll find in sports.

For example, in two weeks, Shaito will be in London for the World Cup. Just a week after that, he comes back to the United States to fence in the National Tournament.

One of Shaito’s biggest wins came in April 2008 when he led the U.S. to a win over Italy for the Junior World Championship in Acireale, Italy.

He was part of a three-man team that included Gerek Meinhardt, an 18-year old prodigy who made the 2008 U.S. Summer Olympics team at age 17, making him the youngest U.S. Olympic fencer ever.

The 6-foot-1, 155-pound Shaito has sparred against his good friend Meinhardt before, giving him a taste of what Olympic competition would be like.

“Usually he kind of gets the best of me, but last time we fenced it was pretty close and we kind of traded off,” he said.

In order to make the 2012 Olympic team, Shaito will need to make top 8 in the world or top 3 in the United States and both goals are within his reach as he is one of the top-ranked fencers in the U.S.

In the meantime, he also plans to continue his academic career in the spring, as he has applied at St. John’s University in Houston.

But the goal right now is to keep pursuing his ultimate goal of making the Olympics. He knows he’ll have plenty of support along the way.

“My friends think it’s a really cool sport,” he said. “Of course it’s not for everyone but it’ll catch your eye from one way to look at it or another.”

His parents have also supported both him and his three sisters in a sport that can get quite expensive due to equipment and travel costs.