If you ever want to pick a day when you will be guaranteed good weather check out the UKITF calendar and choose a competition day! You can be assured the sun will be shining outside whilst competitors battle it out inside! Sunday 19th May was no exception. It was the day of the UKITF Team Challenge and it was sunny and dry when members and supporters of Stoke Gifford TKD arrived at the Olympiad Sports Centre in Chippenham to help set up the hall and prepare and practise for the day ahead.
The competition started promptly with patterns. The boys team of Luke, Jacob and Nick put on a performance to be proud of and were delighted to be rewarded with a silver medal each. They were followed by the tough Cadet boys red/black belt category. The Giff was represented by two teams here and they did brilliantly to win their rounds and end up against each other in the final. After performing the designated and choice patterns Ben BA, Joseph and Callum triumphed over Kieran, Ollie and Ben C to retain their team champions crown.
Lucie, Connie and Esme also had a tough group but they kept their technique and timing together and earned a well deserved bronze. Chloe was keen to compete but had been unable to form a team from SGTKD. Fortunately the spirit of TKD came through and two black belts from another club stepped forward and together they showed everyone what the Team Challenge is all about.
Next came the Senior group and Sarah, Tina and Laura stepped onto the mats. After a brave performance and a couple of unplanned “ripples” they stepped off again with a silver medal each.
The volume of support from the spectators began to increase as the sparring started. Whether during point-stop or continuous sparring all the competitors gave 100% and there were some very exciting bouts as the medal tally for the club increased.
The special technique and destruction categories finished off the day. Some impressive kicks and breaks added valuable points to the clubs score and it was a pleasant surprise and a proud moment for all the Giff when Miss Burridge collected the Team Cup as SGTKD took first place.
The Team Challenge is an opportunity for competitors to do something different and to have fun and the day certainly provided many moments of brilliance, humour and true team spirit.
Thank you once again to all those who helped to organise and run the day and of course to those who competed and those who came to support. We had a great day! See you at the next one! Written by: Stoke Gifford TKD - 13th June 2013
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