Sunday February 27th seen the latest successful outing by the members of the Irish I.T.F. Academy which is based in Kerlogue, when a group of 12 competitors and parents went to Cardiff for the I.T.F. Wales Championship.
This is a huge event with about 500 competitors taking part, but this didn''t stop the Wexford based competitors who won 3 Gold, 4 Silver and 7 Bronze medals.
Mick Flaherty, who is chief instructor at the academy, was the winner of first medal of the day when he picked up Bronze in Patterns and this was quickly followed by Silver in Sparring. Next in the medals was Assistant Instructor Bernadette Doyle taking Silver in Patterns and our first Gold medal of the day when she was a clear points winner in Sparring. Then John O'' Connor took Bronze in both Patterns and Sparring. Willie Tyghe made a very promising comeback to competition after some six years absence and was narrowly beaten in the quarter final stage in Sparring.
With the Black Belt competition coming to a close, it was the turn of the Coloured Belt members to take to the floor. Some of our members were making their debut in competition, however, this didn''t stop some fantastic performances. 
Seven year old Luke Byrne won a Gold medal in Sparring then Silver in Patterns, Chelsey Pitman took two Bronze medals, Ruairi O'' Sullivan took a hard fought Bronze medal after six fights in Sparring, Rokas Baika secured a Bronze also in Sparring, Ryan Byrne also took Silver in Sparring in a really close contest. Martin Foley performed brilliantly in Patterns and was narrowly out pointed in his Sparring contest. Six year old Nina May Brady put in fantastic performance in both Sparring and Patterns, and showed  that she has huge potential.
Steffan Walsh showed that nothing was going to stop him taking Gold in his first big competition. After missing the call for his sparring section, the chief umpire allowed him to step up to the next weight category, but the lighter man would not be denied and took a fantastic win to massive cheers from all.
The success of this trip highlights the hard work and dedication of the students and the instructors. We would like to thank the students and parents for their support in making Irish I.T.F. a massive success in the Taekwon Do world.
The Irish ITF would also like to congratulate Master Lawes on running a very successful and fair competition. We look forward to returning next year.
 
List of medal winners:
 
Mick Flaherty                    Silver Sparring and Bronze Pattrerns
Bernadette Doyle           Gold Sparring and Silver Patterns
John O''Connor               Bronze Sparring and Bronze Patterns
Steffan Walsh                 Gold Sparring
Ryan Byrne                     Silver Sparring
Rokas Baika                   Bronze Sparring
Ruairi O''Sullivan            Bronze Sparring
Chelsey Pitman             Bronze Sparring and Bronze Patterns
Luke Byrne                     Gold Sparring and Silver Patterns
 
 
Mick Flaherty