Karate kids from North Down have been at it again; having fun, achieving and winning trophies. Last weekend in the Kenpo Open Tournament in Dublin, for member of the Carnalea club were representing Northern Ireland against teams from all over Ireland.

In the Boys U13 Kata , Glen Bailie was unlucky to come away with silver, however he made amends in the fighting final and clearly demonstrated why he is the best fighter of his age in Ireland at the present time. His brother Neil collected another silver in the Boys U15 kata. Levi Kane had her best performance in a kata event and was delighted to make her first national final. Her brother Kurtis was narrowly defeated in his sparring event by the eventual winner of his category.

This weekend the Bailie brothers are off with the Northern Ireland team to the Higashi Open Tournament in Reading. This, followed by the forthcoming Ulster Championships in two weeks time is the first of many steps toward making it to the WKC World Championships for Children which is likely to be in Taiwan or Puerto Rico. Coach David Brashaw added “It is terrific the level of success that these children are achieving, but without some major local companies starting to take an interest in supporting them, it will be difficult for them to achieve their full potential.”

In the club, the following juniors all successfully achieved their merit badge for correctly tying their belt all by themselves: Craig Brashaw, Rhiannon Wells, Andrew Wilson, Savannah Romein, Kirstie Greer, Sarah Shields, Conor Porter, GT Wright, Aime Reid, Daniel Burgess, Dale McCall, Sherylin Burgess, Sarah Keenen, Sean Keenan, Kate Keenan, Curtis Shaw, Courtney Majury, Margaret Savage, Anna Nicholls, Andrew Nicholls, Charlotte Munro, Christopher Munro, Lorna Bryson, Jack McClements, Thomas Watson.

As an added bonus this week David was awarded Coach of the Year at the Ards Borough Sports Awards. He explained “This award is in honour of all the members of the club and their parents support over the past year.It is a tribute to them all.”