A TAEKWONDO coach said he was ‘incredibly proud’ of two young martial artists who have become British National Champions.

Ryan Lightley, lead coach and instructor at Summerlands Taekwondo in Kendal, led 11-year-old Violet Benson and 10-year-old Charlie Newton to victory at the British Kyorugi National Championships in Sheffield between October 5 and October 6.

Violet fought her teammate and fellow competitor Georgia Colvan in the final of the -41kg Female Cadet category to win gold for the second consecutive year.

With the match tied at 13-13 going into the third and final round, Violet edged ahead to win on superiority by scoring the most amount of head kicks, resulting in Georgia taking home her third consecutive silver medal at the National Championships.

(Image: Violet Benson (left) and Georgie Colvan (right). Credit: Summerlands Taekwondo) Lightley said: “I’m incredibly proud of the way the girls handled the circumstances.

“They went into the ring as competitors, fought their best fight and came off as friends and teammates. They handled the pressure so well and demonstrated true sportsmanship.

“Fighting a teammate is never easy and thankfully not something we have to do often in a competition capacity.

“However, the girls showed such humility and maturity that that alone made me immensely proud to mentor such well deserving kids and showed we are doing something right.”

Charlie was crowned champion in the -36 kg Child Male Category in his first national championships having only been training for 15 months.

The final saw each competitor take a round culminating in a final round which resulted in Charlie leading the way with a 12-point gap in the first 30 seconds to ensure the prestigious gold medal.

(Image: Charlie Newton winning gold in the the -36 kg Child Male Category. Credit: Summerlands Taekwondo)

Harry Westmorland was disappointed to only come away with bronze after being undefeated all year.

He was forced to withdraw due to an injury which was a huge blow to the club and Harry himself having been quietly confident he could potentially go all the way.

Elsewhere, Hugo Benson and Hollie Lightley competed but sadly did not make it to the medals on this occasion.

Lightley concluded: “All our fighters have trained tremendously hard this year, sacrificing nights out with friends to train three times a week alongside their other numerous extra-curricular activities.

 “The fact that we have returned yet again with more national medals speaks volumes in my opinion and teaches the importance of hard work and commitment which we as a club try to instill in our players.

“This brings our tally to six national champions since 2021 when we began and numerous national medals.”

Summerlands Taekwondo group currently has spaces available in their children’s classes between five and eight-years-old.

To get in touch, contact 07963 414597.