The lone representative from the Kootenays performed admirably at the 2012 Karate Provincial Championships in Burnaby last weekend.
Fruitvale’s Macy Verigin took home a bronze medal as competitors of all ages and levels gathered from across the province to see who was this year’s best in kata and kumite.
Macy, a member of the Beaver Valley Chito-Ryu Karate Club, was the only Kootenay karate-ka to qualify for the provincials at the regional championship in Kelowna last month winning bronze. She joined a team of Zone 1 and 2 qualifiers to represent the Kootenay-Boundary and Thompson-Okanagan-Nicola regions for the event at the B.C. Institute of Technology.
“As I have said before to all my students, if you try hard enough and believe in yourself you can make anything happen,” said Beaver Valley Karate Sensei Scott Hutchinson in an email.
The Fruitvale Elementary school student was not only the first Karate-ka to qualify to go to the provincials, she is the first novice-level bronze medalist in Kata from the area - ever.
“Macy was the most junior ranked of all the girls in her division, meaning they were all higher ranked and more experienced than her making her win a very hard and well deserved one,” says Hutchinson.
The provincials used a base score of 7.0 to judge kata this time, with five judges scoring with highest and lowest dropped to give an average score of 21.0.
Macy demonstrated the kata, Kihon Kata Ichi, and scored 6.8, 6.9, and 6.9 for a score of 20.6, a well deserved score and a great performance for the 10-year-old novice who has just two years experience with the Beaver Valley club.
“Karate can be so much fun if you let it, and it allows for a social well being and a sense of belonging that is so hard to find.
“I think Macy had quite a bit of fun in not only meeting her goals but smashing them with the cherries on top,” added Hutchinson.