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Campbell River NWSK Karate has huge haul at Pan Ams

Jenna Scott and the rest of the Shito-Ryu team returned from Gatineau with nine medals
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12-year-old Jenna Scott recently returned from Gatineau, QC., with another pair of medals to add to her already-impressive collection. Photo by Mike Davies/Campbell River Mirror

Nigel Nikolaisen has been a karate sensei for quite some time, running the Northwest Shito-Kai Karate (NWSK) dojo right here in Campbell River for the last 15 years or so.

A few years ago, while he was watching the sport grow exponentially around the globe, he thought it would be a good idea to expand his dojo’s offerings. He created a competition class alongside his traditional Okinawan karate classes for those who wanted to take their karate to another level.

His competition team recently made its second trip to the Shito-Ryu Pan American Championship – held in Gatineau, QC. The seven members of the team – aged 9-14 – returned from this year’s tournament with nine medals, five of them gold.

“Last weekend was definitely something I didn’t expect,” Nikolaisen says. “Well, I shouldn’t say that. They put the time in and are very dedicated and deserve to have done as well as they did. And let’s just say they definitely showed up last weekend.”

One of those dedicated students is 12-year-old Jenna Scott. She’s going into her ninth year of karate, and she loves every second of it – and always has.

“When I come in here, I can just be myself,” Scott says with a serious smile. “Something sparks and it just feels really good.”

That spark probably has something to do with the fact that Scott is a competitor at heart. Besides her karate career, she’s also a star basketball player and has done stints in just about every sport you can register in as a kid throughout her youth.

“I’ve always just loved competing in stuff, but I guess I stuck with karate because I just love it the most.”

She comes by that cometitive spirit naturally. Her grandmother held a brown belt in Taekwondo, “and she’s the one who first thought to put me in karate. And here I am,” she says with a smile.

Where she is, as she says, is in her dojo pulling medal after medal out of a box.

“These two are from seven-and-under – my first tournament, which was also in Gatineau,” she says, “and these ones are from Mexico when I was in 8-9, and these ones are from Miami when I was in 10 and 11, and these ones ares from last week, where I was in the 12-13 division.”

But what is it about karate itself that drives her – that she didn’t get from all the other sports she tried?

“I can take everything I’ve learned through karate and apply it to my life,” Scott says. “I don’t even really know how to explain it. I mean, it’s not just a martial art or fighting or whatever. It actually helps with life situations, and it’s really exciting when that just kind of naturally happens.”

Her other favourite part is the friendships she’s made through the years.

In fact, she loves it so much, she’s thinking she’d like to make it a career.

“I’d love to be able to teach it,” she says. “I think I want to be a karate and basketball coach.”

“That’s cool to see someone say,” says Nikolaisen. “When I was her age, it would have been unheard of for someone to want to make a career out of being a karate teacher. Now, it’s, like, kids could actually make this a career, and they’re recognizing that. It’s inspiring to see and it’s exciting to be a part of it.”

Here’s the entire NWSK team who traveled to Gatineau this time around, and their results:

Jenna Scott (12): Gold Kata, Bronze Kumite

Alexander Movold (14): Gold Kata, Gold Kumite

Kyle Barnes (14): Silver Kumite

Mackenzie Rutherford (12): Did not medal

Emry Clark (10): Silver Kata

Nolan Field (10): Gold Kata

Wynn Clark (9): Bronze Kata, Gold Kumite