WSKF News
The newly refurbished Edmonds Community College gym was filled with 250 competitors from 40 different dojos for Washington State Karate-do Federation’s 2010 Invitational Tournament and USA-NKF Qualifier. This event, which is reputed to be one of the best regional karate tournaments in the country, continues to draw top competitors and teams from across the USA and British Columbia. Greatly improved spectator seating, enhanced lighting, a freshly finished hardwood floor and new WSKF competition mats provided a perfect venue for the competition.
Of course any event like this requires a lot of help to get off the ground and we are very thankful to have a superb group of volunteers in registration, admissions, concessions, staging, score keeping, security, medical, and food services.
In addition, we owe tremendous debt of gratitude to the 40-officials who came out to spend their day keeping our five rings running smoothly. WKF Referees Chuck Sweigart, Julius Parniczky, Jay Farrell and Fariba Madani led the way with assistance from PKF Officials Laura Doyle, Jim Doyle, Doug Exum, Eugene Price, Matt Day, Sheryl Day, and Amie Leon. NKF Referees Jay Whaley, Kerin Schulz Womack, Bruce Sako and many other officials also worked to provide a very high-caliber tournament with proper match results.
This year teams were welcomed from various distant locations including Frank Clayton’s Canadian Martial Arts dojo that brought a big group from Powell River, BC. These folks traveled 8-hours by land and sea to attend, a trip that included two ferry crossings and many miles on the open road. Their effort was well rewarded as they returned to Powell River with numerous gold, silver and bronze medals.
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Sandeep Gill’s Burnaby Karate Academy from BC also had a fine group that included Karate BC Team members who added a lot of talent to the advanced competition divisions.
Fariba Madani from Louisville, Colorado brought a team that included PKF competitor Jax Martinelli, Taylor Kiota, and Kamran Madani. The Colorado team walked away with a solid array of medals, plus the experience of competing in some really tough divisions.
Jax Martinelli took 2-Gold medals and also won a $500 Gold Medal Sponsorship that he’ll be using to pay expenses for USA-Open, Junior Olympics or USA-NKF Nationals. Other winners of Gold Medal Sponsorship awards included Carlos Aviado and Timothy Martin who each earned a $500 check by winning their respective divisions.
7-year old advanced competitor Daniel Mendoza made the trip from Key Biscayne, Florida to attend and was satisfied to garner 2-Gold medals for his effort. Sensei (dad) Ernesto Mendoza believes that Daniel is bound to be atop the winner’s podium in many future championships. He heard WSKF put on a first class event and wanted to bring Daniel up for the competition opportunity. Both father and son had a great time and also plan to attend Junior Olympics in Las Vegas.
Other regional dojos that brought large competition teams were Chuck Sweigart’s WKA Lakewood dojo, Matt Day’s WKA Ballard dojo, Chieko Huse Sorano Karate School, and Tim Salerno’s School of Karate. We are grateful for these schools support and acknowledge their value in making this a great tournament.
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The WSKF presented Sensei Chuck Sweigart with an award in recognition of his many years of support for karate in Washington State and Nationally.
Photos David Munden
Since its inception four years ago the WSKF has been developing an admirable reputation based on top-notch competitors, sensei, referees, and volunteers who support the organization and participate in our events. We would like to express our sincere appreciation for each and every person who came out this year and hope that everyone had a great time at the tournament. We trust people appreciate the WSKF mission and will continue working together as we build a tradition of excellence in Washington State.
If you would like to view David Munden’s photo coverage of the event, visit Munden Photography website:
http://munden-photography.com/Karate/2010-WSKF-Qualifier/
Eduard Koller also provided some very nice photographs that can be viewed at his website:
http://photos.eduardk.com/Events/WSKF-Tournament/11186513_mzXsq
