At last weekend's Carlow International Karate tournament, kids from Bangor 's Carnalea Karate Club were once again proving exactly why they are held in such high esteem by their peers across Great Britain and Ireland .

Seven juniors from the club were selected to represent Northern Ireland at this prestigious two day event, that attracted competitors from as far away as Austria and Hungary , not to mention the home countries.

At their first ever attempt at team kata, both the junior team, made up of Sarah Brashaw, Levi Kane and Victoria Lindsay and the senior team, Neil Bailie, Kurtis Kane and Glen Bailie each secured third in their respective categories.

In the individual kata categories, Glen, Levi and Victoria all reached their respective finals, Glen narrowly missing out on a medal with a fourth place. In the parent (black belt level) and child competition, Sarah and her dad, David managed a silver at their first attempt in this type of competition. World Champion David added, “I was much more nervous performing with my daughter as opposed to on my own. If I had messed up, she would have given me a very hard time.”

Once again in the sparring events the Carnalea students showed their class. Claire McPeake beat two very good fighters from England and Wales , losing out to a Hungarian in the quarter final. Kurtis Kane, after suffering a knee to his chin in his second round fight, came back into the fight losing only by a narrow margin. Neil Bailie fought one great fight after another and only lost out in the final through an injury. Nevertheless to take away a silver amongst this standard was still a superb achievement.

Glen Bailie also collected in the under 13 boys category and led the Northern Ireland International team to third.

Levi Kane had a magnificent performance with Sophie Rodgers from the Esporta club in the girls team event. They fought through every round with only two fighters and won every fight. Levi not only secured gold in this event but was also awarded the fighter of the tournament award.

Coach David Brashaw was delighted with the results. He commented “The kids were superb. This was by far the highest standard of international we have attended for a very long time. The team kata performances are certainly something we will aiming to secure silverware for northern Ireland at the World Championships in Hungary next October.

The club recently ordered their new tracksuits, surprisingly never having a brand identity before. David stressed “We hope some major sponsor or local company will now see how we are profiling our success and back us with sponsorship. We hope to eventually raise £3000 to purchase proper training mats for our students.”

David can be contacted for information about karate, its positive impact for children such as confidence building, social skills, achievement and inclusive play on 07760 337578.