Although it was early in the season for a competition, several athletes representing Trinity Taekwon-Do (Cochrane and Water Valley clubs) headed to Lethbridge to compete in the Alberta Cup. 

With the season just kicking off in September, Cam Macdonald, Founder/Instructor of Trinity Taekwon-Do, says most of the competitors who signed up are quite pro-competition. "The real keen, avid competitors were the ones that took advantage of this tournament. All nineteen went down to compete in sparring and patterns. We had one little kicker do a young kids version of sparring and patterns, and we had one black belt do some board breaking."

Thanks to three of Macdonald's black belt, assistant instructors for facilitating the group, Trinity Taekwon-Do athletes brought home thirty-four medals including five gold, ten silver, and nineteen bronze. "It was a pretty rare occurrence but everyone who went down came home with a medal, so that was pretty cool."

Although the tournament was so early, Macdonald says it allows for newer students and athletes to see what their future potential could be. "Seeing other people go and compete certainly helps. For newer students who started in September, it shows them the opportunities that do exist."

The primary reason the tournament was held so early is mostly due to Nationals being held on November 8 and 9 in Regina. "The rational is for everybody to get one competition behind them before they head to Nationals so that Nationals isn't the first tournament of the year."

While not totally certain, Macdonald anticipates a dozen athletes will head to Regina to compete. And while testing skills out competitively is great, Macdonald, shares he is just as excited to see the growth all his students will display by the end of the season. "I think it is going to be a really great year in terms of training and competition. We have lots of really good, up and comers that are looking really awesome, and we still have lots of consistent year after year competitors so it will be a great mix."

This year's competition schedule includes Nationals in November, an in-house tournament in February, and Provincials in March.

To find out more about Trinity Taekwon-Do, go HERE.