On Saturday the 28th of July we competed at the International Games Celebration competition at Ponds Forge, Sheffield.

As a last minute entry we only had eleven competitors all aged under the age of eleven but the small squad won a total of twenty-three awards in a competition with over 400 entries. The club performed brilliantly in a fantastic competition on a day that was buzzing with excitement as the England kata coach was present making his selections for the upcoming world championships.

Our results were outstanding with seven first-place awards , eleven second-place and six third-place awards (there were no joint thirds awarded). The first-place trophy’s were fantastic.

Of particular merit was Megan Purvis who not only won first in Team Kata but also took first place in individual Kata. She lost on hantei in a play off for third-place in the individual kumite, as did another four of our team.

Another person who deserves a mention is Simone Stewart. Occasionally a student has a couple of unlucky draws at competitions but Simone has had a year of them. She went out in both kata and kumite in the early rounds (again) to the eventual winner of each section. Things will change as she was good enough to take second in both categories.

Overall the tournament was great fun and the atmosphere electric.

On the way home we stopped at Wetherby, a small market town, where we fed the ducks, played in the river and ate fish and chips in the lovely sunny July weather before heading home.

Tags: competitions, 2012