Karate Canada has proudly concluded on Sunday June 11th the largest edition to date of its annual Junior National Training Camp, assembling no fewer than 125 athletes and 9 National Team Coaches, in both kata and kumite. This number represents a 42% increase from the previous edition! The 3-day Camp was co-led by National Team Head Coaches Katarina Vadovicova (Kata) and Denis Beaudoin (Junior Kumite), with the help of Assistant National Team Coaches Sorin Alexandru, Karen Armour, Hasan Bratic, Pam Ross and David Strohbach, as well as assistance from Apprentice Coach Nicholas Patrick Rivest in Junior Kumite. Heather Fidyk, Para National Coach, was also present and helped out with Junior Kata.

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Highlights of the Camp included a physical testing segment for junior and U21 athletes; an inspiring presentation by Christopher De Sousa Costa (Athlete Representative), Sarmen Sinani (Sr Team Captain) and Nicholas Patrick Rivest (Jr & Sr Team Member) of the Senior National Team Charter, as well as an engaging and amusing team building activity and much more. At the end of the Camp, Karate Canada announced the names of all Youth division athletes selected to participate in the 2017 Cadet & Junior Pan American Championships (to be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, August 24-26th). The complete team will be announced in July, following the results of the Youth World Cup (in Umag, Croatia).

As usual, Karate Canada salutes the unwavering commitment of all parents who support and accompany their young athletes through their journey to excellence. We also wish to sincerely thank all of the staff members and volunteers who once again made this great event possible. Finally, we wish to congratulate all participating athletes for their hard work and dedication, and we look forward to the remaining Junior National Team Roster events of the season, such as the Youth World Cup (Umag, Croatia June 26th-July 2nd), the Kata National Training Camp (Vancouver, BC, August 10-13th; optional for all invited Youth and Junior athletes), the upcoming Regional Kumite Training Camps to be held in Kingston (August 5 or 6th (TBC), for Ontario and Quebec athletes), Halifax (for Atlantic provinces’athletes, August 18-19) and Surrey (September 23rd, for BC athletes), the aforementioned 2017 Cadet & Junior Pan American Karate Championships as well as the 2017 Cadet & Junior World Championships (Tenerife, Spain, October 26-29th).