Please send any corrections/add'l info to Vicky@Clarkes.net

LaGrange Karate team brings home trophies!

Here were all the trophies at the beginning of the tournament.
The team from LaGrange brought home alot of them!

    The northern Illinois regional Youth of America Karate Tournament was held Sunday March 26, 2000, at the Field House of Oswego High School, in Oswego, Illinois.  Many types of the martial arts called "karate" were represented at the tournament: TaeKwonDo, Kyokushin, Shotokan, Kenpo, and Isshin-Ryu.
    Approximately 1,000 entrants competed for trophies in Kumite (sparring), Individual Kata (forms) and Team Kata (synchronized forms) divisions.  Many students in 2nd degree Black Belt, Steve Strong's TaeKwonDo class in LaGrange competed at the tournament.  Competitors included Mike Pogwizd, age 13 of Elmhurst, Lauren and Mike Moberg, Ben Jendras, age 11, Mariano Long, and six students from La Grange: Bianca Mairof, age 9, Tyrand Mitchell, age 10, Katherine Baer, age 12, Jennifer Scheef, age 11, Jacky Clarke Such, age 8, and Jacky's mom, Vicky Clarke, age 38.
     The Youth of America Karate program is taught in various Do Jangs and Dojos (TaeKwonDo and Karate schools) and YMCAs across the country.  Karate promotes self-confidence, discipline, a competitive spirit, and a winning attitude.  The LaGrange classes meet at the Richport YMCA in LaGrange on Tuesday evenings.  The next classes begin in late March, 2000.  For information, call the LaGrange YMCA youth programs at 708-532-4377.  While this is primarily a program for children ages 5-18, interested parents are welcome to join a class with their child.
     For tournament sparring, competitors wear full protective gear: helmets, gloves, chest protectors, and mouthguards.  Sparring competitors are divided up by age, rank, and gender.  Individual Kata is divided by age and rank.  Teams can be a mix of ages, ranks, and genders.
    Making Sensei Steve proud, the two LaGrange teams initially tied for fourth place.  Another round saw Jennifer, Katherine, and Vicky take the 4th place trophies in the Team Kata division.  The 5 person team of Mike, Jacky, Lauren, Mike, and Tyrand took 5th place in Team Kata.
    Bringing home individual trophies for the LaGrange team, Katherine won 1st place in Sparring (girls yellow belt, ages 12-15), Vicky won 2nd place in Sparring (adult women, orange belt and below), Mike M. won 2nd place in sparring (boys orange and purple belts ages 5-7, Ben won 2nd place in sparring (boys orange and purple belts ages 8-11) Tyrand won 4th place in Sparring (boys orange and purple belts, ages 8-11), and Mike P. won 5th place in Sparring (boys purple and orange belts ages 12-15).

Jennifer and Vicky	Mike P. and Tyrand
Mike M., Lauren, and Katherine	A better picture of Mike...
Ben	Jacky

Mike P. with his 5th place Sparring trophy.	Ben in 2nd and Tyrand in 4th.
Look at the size of the girls  Katherine had to beat  to get her 1st place trophy! (Oops, the photographer  chopped off the 4th place winner.)	Vicky got 2nd in Sparring  after beating the yellow-belt on the left in a sudden death overtime match.

Click here to see more pictures
from the March 2000 Tournament.