NORTH OF ENGLAND OPEN 23.10.16
North of England Open. Sheffield Oct 23rd
Two weeks after the English International and Dokan were away again this time at the Sheffield Institute of Sport international running stadium for the North of England open to compete against the 40 other clubs that entered. We managed to muster a squad of 25 students for this one despite half of our regular squad being away on holiday. The practice at the previous international was invaluable as we came out all guns blazing and were on tremendous form in both fighting and kata.
This time we won 21 gold medals, 11 silver and 24 bronze medals in an exciting and atmospheric day for the club. Having a 50 seater coach to most competitions means we have great support for our competitors as they fight at the end the day and the camaraderie amongst Dokan students is unrivalled. There were many individual performances worthy of a mention and I will note a few of them.
Left is Eve Palmer who took the individual kata gold at both the Worcester International and The North Of England, this confirms Eve is amongst the very top kata girls for her age group in the country.
Right is our 7 years and under boys fighting team who also won gold. But of particular merit was Sam Atkinson (near left) who also won the individual kumite and fought brilliantly all day pulling off an amazing head kick in the dying seconds to take a gold in the individual final.
Our other individual fighting champion was Katie Hunnam who also got silver at Worcester. Katie battled her way through the rounds like a pro and is on top form. Most of our golds came through team events and it is the fact we have a large squad with a depth of quality that I can arrange to fit students into good teams. The big girls above Alex, Eleisha & Hannah took gold in team fighting and team kata and at their age and level results like this are exceptional. The entire squad conducted themselves admirably throughout the day not only while competing but by supporting one another. It was a great day for the club.
Left are some of our Dokan girls chatting between categories. Far Left is Anais Errington who earns a few lines for her outstanding performance on the day. Anais won both the individual fighting and the individual kata which in itself is some achievement but it was in team fighting where she made her name. Second round of team kumite Anais was knocked to the ground and developed an immediate black eye. The medics were called and although Anais pleaded to continue they pulled her out. Katie Snowdon stepped in as a reserve and the team went on to win gold. The organiser gave Anais a gold too which was a very nice thing to do. So Anais finished the day with 3 gold and one silver medal. The silver was won in pairs with Eve. PS Katie Hunnam mentioned on page one is the smiler in the middle.
Part of the reason Dokan have such good camaraderie amongst our students revolves round the coaches to and from tournaments. I always try to put a fifty seater coach on and we need to almost fill it to cover the costs. Now as squad parents know competitions are a long day and sometimes if you take your car you can leave much earlier than the coach depending upon when your child finishes. I can guarantee your child would rather travel on the bus with everyone else, but even knowing this I cannot say anyone is selfish for wanting to exit as early as possible. But what people need to consider is those parents that do not have transport and the fact that for many students the bus journey is as an important part of the day to them as the actual competition. For social bonding it is more important. Driving to and from comps especially with younger children excludes them from this social time and for them the drive is boring which could lead to them losing interest in competing. They need to feel part of something and have more than just the comp to look forward too. A similar principle applies to our stop over weekends. The best squad parents from my point of view give me the option: they will take coach seats if I am struggling to fill it but will drive if someone needs the seats.
Boy with the cup is Marcus Henderson age 8 squad all-rounder, fighting and kata star. Gold team kumite Sheffield.
https://www.dokan.co.uk/2016/north-of-england-open-23-10-16.html#sigProIda8c1927260