It’s been another memorable year, with the club continuing to thrive; new members taking up Tae Kwon Do for the first time, existing members building on their achievements (both in the dojang and in the competition arena) and the club working with our local community. Thank you all for your continued support – it’s this that has made us Farnham Sports Club of the Year 2019 at the Farnham Sports Awards. Talking of awards, here’s the roll of honour for our club awards for this year: Selected to the Special Team of Role Models (S.T.O.R.M.) – Lulu Oram-Tooley, Lucas Parratt & Hayden Owen; Top Ninja (that’s our classes for 5 to 7 year olds) – Keslyn Nawrattel; Theory – Isaac Summers; Dedication – Tyla Nawrattel; Perseverance – Dimitri Perricos; Sparring – Will Bryan; Patterns – Dylan Walker; Inspirational Student – Rachel Nawrattel; Most Improved Student – Eden Walker; Competitor of the Year – Will Oxley; Best New Student – Dan Lee; Student of the Year (joint winners) – Nicole Oxley & Melissa Oxley.

There’s such a diversity of excellent sports clubs in Farnham, many of whom were represented at the Farnham Sports Council/Active Surrey Farnham Sports Awards presentation this year. To be nominated alongside so many impressive clubs, teams, sportspeople and coaches is an honour in itself. Once again, we are delighted to be among the award winners: Will Oxley is runner-up in the Senior Sports Personality of the Year Award, Tim Ayres-Townshend is the winner of the Active Surrey Farnham Sports Council Coach of the Year Award, and Farnham School of Tae Kwon Do is the winner of the Farnham Sports Club of the Year Award. So, to everyone connected with Farnham School of Tae Kwon Do – it’s YOUR club and you’re ALL winners!

Well done to the squad at the GTI British Open: 12 medals, comprising three gold, four silver and five bronze. Will Oxley – gold in sparring, Will Bryan – gold in sparring, Dylan Walker – gold in patterns, Rachel Nawrattel – silver in sparring, Dylan Walker – silver in sparring, Dan Lee – silver in patterns, Melissa Oxley – silver in patterns, Dimitri Perricos – bronze in sparring, Dan Lee – bronze in sparring, Eden Walker – bronze in sparring, Mark Placzek – bronze in sparring, Will Oxley – bronze in patterns.

What a great effort from the tournament squad at the GTI National Open Championship: 13 competitors, 15 medals, comprising five gold, two silver, eight bronze. Dylan Walker – gold in patterns & gold in sparring,Will Oxley – gold in patterns & gold in sparring, Oliver Contreras – gold in sparring, Melissa Oxley – silver in sparring & bronze in patterns, Miles Warner – silver in sparring, Will Bryan – bronze in patterns & bronze in sparring, Monty Warner – bronze in sparring, Rachel Nawrattel – bronze in patterns & bronze in sparring, Eden Walker – bronze in sparring, Nicole Oxley – bronze in sparring.

Well done to all those members who competed at the TSA Tournament in Kent. In patterns, there were golds for Will Houghton and Mark Placzek, and silvers for Will Oxley and Dylan Walker. In the sparring, Eden Walker, Lisa Houghton, Dylan Walker and Will Oxley all won gold, whilst Rachel Nawrattel won silver.

Well done to everyone who competed in the PUMA International Open yesterday. It was a very full day of Tae Kwon Do with some highly competitive categories. As well as the home nations, there were competitors from Ireland, Holland, the USA, Poland, Germany as well as a team of seven from India. Most of the categories had decent numbers of competitors and, where they didn’t, some categories were merged so that everyone had the opportunity for several rounds of patterns or sparring were they to progress to a medal position. As well as everyone gaining valuable experience, we won a total of seven medals; Will Oxley – gold in sparring, Oliver Contreras – gold in sparring, Will Bryan – gold in sparring, Dimitri Perricos  silver in sparring, Dylan Walker – bronze in patterns, Will Oxley – bronze in patterns, Dimitri Perricos – bronze in patterns.

Nine competitors, eleven medals, comprising two gold, five silver and four bronze. Nicole Oxley, Rachel Nawrattel and Lisa Houghton all won silver in patterns. Will Oxley won gold in patterns and sparring. Dylan Walker and Dimitri Perricos both won silver in sparring. Rachel Nawrattel, Lisa Houghton, Will Bryan and Tyla Nawrattel all won bronze in sparring. There were excellent performances too from Harry Collins in patterns and sparring.

Congratulations to all our annual awards winners; Courtesy – George Bagshaw, Theory – Emma Smith, Perseverance – Sophie Raine, Effort – Maria Parratt, Leadership – Ellie Houghton, Sparring – Will Oxley, Patterns – Daisy Johnson, Best New Students -Ted Maxwell & Rachel Nawrattel, Most Improved Student – Eden Walker, Competitor of The Year – Will Bryan, Ninja of the Year – Maddie Bevan & Theo Hartley,  Student of the Year – Ellie Houghton.

Well done to all our students who competed at the GTI British Open. Our squad came home with nine medals – 3 gold, 1 silver and 5 bronze – and a whole load of valuable experience; Lulu Oram-Tooley – bronze in patterns, Dimitri Perricos – bronze in sparring, Oliver Contreras – bronze in patterns, bronze in sparring, Lisa Houghton – bronze in patterns, silver in sparring, Will Bryan – gold in sparring, Kenzie Power – gold in sparring, Will Oxley – gold in sparring. There were also strong performances from Will Houghton, Sophie Raine, Nicole Oxley and Tyla Nawrattel. Special mention to Sophie for her courage and skill in sparring in a large category against bigger opponents. Big respect to Mr Houghton who was competing as a black belt for the first time.

We’re very pleased to announce that two of our members received awards at the prestigious Farnham Sports Council/Active Surrey Farnham Sports Awards;

Congratulations to Daisy Johnson, 2nd degree black belt,  winner of the Under 18 Sports Personality of The Year award.

Congratulations to Ellie Houghton, 1st degree black belt, highly commended in the category of Young Sports Volunteer of The Year.