Southern area inter-County tournament 12.5.24

At the Southern Area Inter-County tournament on the 12th May 2024, George White, Graham White and Caleb Nichols represented the County of Hampshire along with competitors from the junior light weight, kyu grade and dan grade categories. George and Caleb’s category (junior heavy weight) won a bronze medal and Grahams category (Kyu grade) won a gold medal. Three other county’s competed at this tournament, these were Sussex, Surrey and Kent. The tournament was held in Gillingham, Kent.

Some of the weight classes were split via grades, for example dan grades who were in the same weight class as lower belts were placed in a separate class. It was a team effort meaning each player in their respective weight class would play someone of the same weight from the other counties, this meant that each representative had three matches unless there was an injury or other occurrence. Overall it was a fantastic experience attended by many high level competitors and I was amazed by the standard there, especially the level of respect the competitors there showed to each other even after being beaten.