Shore Taekwondo Team Decimates Opposition

An Insight Into The Dedication Of The Shore Taekwondo Team

A. T. Gilchrist

LAST WEEK ON SATURDAY 2 SEPTEMBER, the Shore Taekwondo Squad competed in the All Schools Tournament at Riverview, ending their tremendous season with a climactic inter-school competition, comprising of 30 divisions and over 60 matches. The divisions, categorised by height, weight and belt, in order to achieve as equally balanced a matchup as possible, each contained up to four fighters from different schools and coaching academies, all competing as individuals for 1 Gold, 1 Silver and 2 Bronze medals respectively, as outlined in the image below.

However, as a team sport, not only was each member fighting for merely an individual gold medal, but also the victory of their respective team as well, as each medal was assigned a different point value with bronze, silver and gold medals scoring one, two and three points respectively. This further motivated Shore’s tight knit team, resulting in a strong representation and performance within the tournament itself, as our individual result wasn’t as pressured anymore, as no matter what, as long as we did our best for the team, we knew we would do well. Subsequently, Shore performed outstandingly, and as a testament to their phenomenal hard work and dedication across the winter season, won the Boys Championship Perpetual Trophy Pahlke Cup. Making this win even more prestigious is the fact that many of the other top teams train all year round, whilst Shore only trains in the winter season, managing to get back up to pace and still outperform the other competitive schools.

Congratulations to all our boys who competed, those supporting, injured and especially the Year 12s who represented Shore in their last ever tournament.

Gold Medals

Joshua Lo, Andrew Gilchrist, Alexander Gilchrist, Harry Carpenter, Christopher Yun, Ben Pennefather and Finn Herald

Silver Medals

George Chen, Hugo Wood, Phillip Yun, Mitch Bowen, Christian Wong and Phillip Greenwood

Bronze Medals

Atip Natbaen, William Abrahams, Lucas Tang, Sean Daniell and Kye Daniell

Moreover, whilst the tournament was the main event of the day, the final of the First Five round took place late into the afternoon as well. For those unfamiliar, the First Five fights would regularly be the weekly competitions during Saturday Sport, in which schools would be matched up and entailed the best five fighters from the first school facing off individually against the opposing school’s first five. For example, five consecutive bouts of 1v1, with each fighter’s victory counting as a point for each school, in order to determine by the end the best school. These points accrued over the course of the winter season, and by the end Shore was in the lead, with Sydney Grammar School trailing behind by several points. However, such rivalry was settled with the annual finals on the day of the tournament, to see which school had the best fighters. Representing the Shore side, fought Alexander Gilchrist, Joshua Lo, Atip Natbaen, George Chen and Max Shirley, and in a legendary sequence, crushed Sydney Grammar school, winning each individual bout to obliterate them 5-0, cementing Shore’s domination, and resulting in the first ever clean sweep in a First Five Final.

At the heart of the Shore side’s strength was their dedication, tenacity and enthusiasm, evident in their warming up all together, helping each other get geared up before a fight, and supporting each other, no matter how difficult or challenging their situation was. Many boys had opponents of slightly higher belt or height advantage, yet in spite of such adversity, pressed on, doing their best and oftentimes coming out on top, yet never complaining, displaying the true Shore spirit. Fighting alongside such hard working and positive teammates, especially across the age range, with the squad containing boys from Year 7 to Year 12, has been a privilege, and certainly will be one of the many things I and the Year 12s will miss next year.

A special thank you to Sascha and Steve, our excellent and knowledgeable instructors, our Captain George Chen and Vice Captain Alexander Gilchrist, and most of all to our wonderful coaches, Mr Gorge and Ms Jung. Thanks for your wondrous support and supervision over the course of the season. Your guidance has been incredible.