The morning session saw three members of the team compete in the women’s individual competition and all come away with medals; a great start to the day. All members of the team then took to the floor in the afternoon for the team competitions. The standard was exceptionally high and everyone rose to the challenge and put in excellent performances. While the competitors enjoyed a rest, Jemima Kingsley and Emma Christie continued working hard as referees. Although this was their first experience of refereeing at a championship, both did a great job and performed with confidence under intense pressure.

As the team returned home and bruises were compared, there was time to reflect on the weekend. We talked about the fantastic turnout from all TTA clubs, the inspiring standard of competition and the incredible amount of support from spectators and fellow competitors. I think we were all agreed that it was great fun and an invaluable learning experience, with each of us identifying areas to work on in training.

Congratulations to all those who took part and created such a fantastic team spirit over the weekend:

• Mr Jake Bender, 2nd Dan, participated sparring
• Beth Dunn, 1st Dan, gold medal sparring
• Andy Hopper, 1st kup, participated sparring
• Chris Gilmartin, 1st kup, participated sparring
• Simon Smith, 1st kup, participated sparring
• Clare Everett, 1st kup, silver medal sparring
• Sarah Garrett, 3rd kup, silver medal sparring
• Chen Siew, 5th kup, participated sparring
• Paul Spurgeon, 6th kup, participated sparring

• Jemima Kingsley, 1st kup, referee
• Emma Christie, 6th kup, referee

By Clare Everett

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 25th, 2009.