Trinity Taekwon-Do participated and performed quite well in the Alberta Cup that took place in Lethbridge on June 2. More than 300 competitors from British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan from ages four and up including colour and black belts competed in patterns, sparring, specialty board breaking and power board breaking. Trinity sent 18 athletes to compete in the event including instructor and coach Cam Macdonald, where the studio won a total of 28 medals, including nine gold, five silver and 14 bronze medals. Macdonald said he was very pleased with how the competition went for his class, saying he was impressed by the turnout from surrounding provinces. "It was a good tournament. It's been two years since this tournament has been held (with the last also being in Lethbridge) and we brought 18 competitors ... 17 students plus myself competing against the 300 plus from other provinces. It was a good turn out for sure," Macdonald said. Macdonald highlighted a few standout performances from his group of students. "There was a young six-year-old girl named Maelynn Plouffe and she won a gold medal in patterns in her age group. Why it stands out to me is she's pretty new to her belt level, so she's fairly new to her pattern as well ... we had bonus training to prepare for this tournament and she came and learned her pattern, practised lots and then went down to Lethbridge and won the gold. For me, it's really cool to see a young athlete taking it seriously and putting in the extra work to excel," Macdonald said. "Another one that stands out is a brother and a sister duo of Lucas and Alexa Veroni that are pretty new students as well. Lucas is a white belt and Alexa is a yellow ... but they're quite keen and they're picking up the sport naturally. They won two medals and again, avid competitors, went to the bonus training and they seem to be soaking it all in and excelling at the sport." "Then on the other end of the spectrum, I had some black belts who did well in not only in patterns and sparring, but in board breaking. Derek Lenson won a silver medal in specialty board breaking as well as bronze in sparring ... the board breaking event is a highlight for me because it's one of my favourite things to do and coach, so that was a third highlight of the event." Macdonald said his group will now take the rest of the summer off before getting back into training mode in the fall for upcoming events. "Nov. 10 and 11 Calgary is hosting the National Taekwon-Do Championships this year, so that will be not only a big tournament, but a great way for our black belts to make an impression," the coach said. "Every two years, the National Championships is part of the qualifying that sends black belt teams to the World Championships." "So this is that qualifying year to try and make the team if they want to go to the World Championships. It'll be a big tournament close to home and give our athletes a chance to compete at a high level."
