Skip to content

Fort St. James Taekwondo Competitors win big at Western Championships

The International Taekwondo Federation Western Championships took place on May 13-14 and four local competitors brought home various medals.
40918fortMay19.16010
From Fort St. James

Barbara Latkowski

Caledonia Courier

The International Taekwondo Federation Western Championships took place on May 13-14 and four local competitors brought home various medals after the tournament in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Vera Poole, head coach, accompanied her team to the Championships.

“The competitors were well prepared. But there are always challenges. Nerves came up as they do. But overall, it was an awesome tournament,” Poole said.

Poole, owner of Energy Connection Health and Fitness Ltd. in Fort St. James has trained for about 11 years and has been teaching for seven. Her official title is assistant instructor and she is 2nd dan black belt.

Taekwondo is a martial art with heavy emphasis on kicks and relies strictly on the use of hands and feet.

“Taekwondo is also about discipline and empowerment. It’s about belonging to a family no matter who you are,” Poole said.

Poole is thrilled to share her passion for this sport and was excited to accompany her team to the tournament held in Regina.

“It was really amazing,” Poole said. “We even had family members accompany us so we had our very own groupies to cheer us on which was great.”

The four competitors are: Cela West who came back with a gold medal, Nikolai Legebokoff who won silver, Ursan Kitchen won both silver and bronze and Tom Roberson won silver in sparring.

The next tournament will be held in Prince George on June 11 at Duchess Park.

And Poole is looking forward to accompanying 20 members from Fort St. James.

“For anyone who would like to attend and watch, we could always use the support. It’s going to be an exciting competition.”