Local martial arts club, Trinity Taekwondo shows out at the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) Alberta Provincial Championships, bringing back some hardware in the process.
“25 medals came home from the event,” said Cameron MacDonald, Head Coach of Trinity Taekwondo. “I'd say it's one of our best events of the year.”
The tournament was held on April 5 in Airdrie, Alta., and attracted over 250 competitors from across the province. Twenty-one athletes from Trinity’s Cochrane and Water Valley locations participated.
The following students earned medal at the provincials:
- Emery Ondrey - Gold in Patterns, Gold in Sparring
- Devon Livermore - Bronze in Sparring
- Jasper Huizinga - Bronze in Patterns, Silver in Sparring
- Jackson Stevens - Bronze in Patterns
- Henry Bergen - Bronze in Patterns, Bronze in Sparring
- Norah Macdonald - Bronze in Sparring
- Myka Barvir - Bronze in Sparring
- Cohen Stambaugh - Bronze in Patterns, Bronze in Sparring
- McKinnon Draper - Bronze in Sparring
- Mason Stambaugh - Bronze in Patterns
- Madeleine du Toit - Gold in Sparring
- Tripp Sarmenta - Silver in Patterns, Silver in Sparring
- Nathan Peacock - Bronze in Patterns, Silver in Sparring
- Jager Sarmenta - Gold in Power Breaking
- Ben Sharkey - Silver in Sparring
- Mark Orcutt - Bronze in Patterns, Bronze in Sparring, Silver in Power Breaking
- Erin Barvir - Bronze in Patterns
Trinity’s season runs from September to June and features four tournaments:
MacDonald explained that the provincials is only one of four tournaments that Trinity joins throughout their season running from September to June. He noted that location played a key role to Trinity’s performance at the provincials, with the advantage of minimal travel.
“Any time we have the provincials or the Western Canadian Championships close to Cochrane, close to home, Trinity usually has a really good team.”
Macdonald also shared that, as a coach, there is a sense of pride he feels watching his students perform on a big stage such as the provincials.
“I have such an amazing position to witness everything from a new student who may just signed up in September, now going to an event for their first time. But then equally I’m very proud seeing veteran students, black belts, junior black belts who've been training for years, suddenly finding their stride and have success.”
As Macdonald and the rest of Trinity Taekwondo help prepare some of their students joining the National Championships on May 17-18 at Levis, Quebec, he hopes that the recent performance will inspire the rest of the club’s students to continue working hard.
“It's kind of cliche statement, but I like to tell my students, you know, you go to these events and you either win or you learn. There's really no losing because when you go to a tournament like this, you've already won because you're doing something that other people either aren't willing or aren't able to do so. You've already won by stepping up and going and testing yourself at such an event.”
