Simone Mazzoni

Biography

The Penn State Nittany Lion men’s and women’s fencing teams, under the guidance of head coach Matteo Zennaro, announced the hiring of Simone Mazzoni as assistant coach in September of 2025. The former Italian Fencing Federation coach is in his first season as a foil coach for the Nittany Lions. Mazzoni comes to Penn State having served as a club coach in Italy for the past 14 years and as a coach with the Italian Fencing Federation since 2019. He was the foil coach for Club Scherma Roma from 2011 to now and was the Paralympic Foil Coach for the IFC from 2019 on. Mazzoni also served as the event manager for the Italian Baseball Softball Federation from 2020 to now. His results as a coach on the international level are extensive. Mazzoni has coached athletes to 11 international gold medals, seven silver medals and six bronze medals. He coached one athlete to the foil Gold Medal at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo and another title at the 2023 U20 European Championships. Mazzoni has a degree in sports science, a Master’s in sport management and received his MBA in law and sport management.