Eight medals for Nanaimo’s Shima Karate at provincials

Kurt Nordli said she was the mother of a young athlete and then decided that she wanted to start competing as well.

“She’s been competing since she was a yellow belt and done quite well, but that’s only been a couple of years.”

Two other club moms, Melissa Trouth and Shannon Scarisbrick won the Team Kata gold with Francis.

Nordli noted that there’s been so much interest in karate from moms with children taking classes at the club that there’s been a dedicated moms class added on Friday nights.

Shima’s other gold medal went to Brea Gillette in Kata.

Azia Deal in Kata and Adam Welch in weapons took home silver medals at provincials, while Tegan Havas earned a bronze in Kata and Marcus Nguyen captured third in sparring.

The club’s final bronze medal came in Team Kata from the trio of Damon Baerg, Oliver Hilderley, and Owen Hopewell.

Berg is an example of a Shima athlete with big aspirations as he’s training to make the BC Winter Games team.

Nordi says Berg was a triple gold medalist at each of the last two Vancouver Island Tournaments he went to.

The 2019 Provincial Karate Championships were held Nov. 30 to Dec. 1 and Nordli explained there are different levels of training depending on what athletes were trying to achieve.

“People who want to go to a tournament to just have fun usually train twice a week and maybe practice a bit. But to qualify for Winter Games or be on the BC team you to train at least two to three times a week in addition to your regular sessions.”

Nordli, who served as a referee at the 2019 provincials, said competing at the very large Richmond Oval was a great experience for the Shima contingent.

“It’s a pretty amazing venue so it’s a pretty big deal. There’s six rings running and there’s people, and coaches, and referees everywhere so it’s a pretty exciting weekend.”

Some of the adult divisions are a bit smaller but Nordli said in most of the kids divisions the number of competitors you had to go through to win a medal was substantial.

“I know my kids had to go through at two pools of 16 kids and then the first and second compete against each other from the different pools. So when they win a medal they earn that medal.”

Anyone who wants to try karate should contact the Shima dojo where two introductory classes are offered for free.

Nordi said he has seen first hand that karate can be a life changing experience for both kids and adults.

dan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On twitter: @danmarshall77

by Dan Marshall

Eight medals for Nanaimo’s Shima Karate at provincials

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