Sunderland kickboxing club brings home 10 gold medals, 12 silvers and four bronze after competing in three World Championships

This year a group of kickboxers from Sunderland have earned the respect of their competitors after showing high levels of determination and focus.
By Candice Farrow
Published 24th Nov 2019, 08:00 BST
Updated 25th Nov 2019, 17:37 BST

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Representing England at the World Championships in Niagara Falls. Picture: Dave ParkinsonRepresenting England at the World Championships in Niagara Falls. Picture: Dave Parkinson
Representing England at the World Championships in Niagara Falls. Picture: Dave Parkinson

Dave Parkinson, 29 a coach from Iron Fist Kickboxing Academy took a group from the club between the ages of nine to 29 to Niagara Falls to compete in the WKC World Championships.

Dave has been teaching kickboxing since 2011, it started as a part time job but is now a full-time career, and he teaches classes in Seaham, Hetton and Ryhope.

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This year, Iron Fist Boxing has competed in three events – The World Championships in Blackpool in October and two other World Championships in Scotland and Niagara Falls this November.

Medals across the board. Picture: Dave ParkinsonMedals across the board. Picture: Dave Parkinson
Medals across the board. Picture: Dave Parkinson

The youngest member of their group, Reece Rowland who is nine-years-old, competed at the ICO World Championships in Scotland and the WMA World Championships in Blackpool. He brought home three gold medals, seven silvers and three bronze.

Dave said: “They train from 6am, four days a week while at school and college, it shows a great level of determination and they just did really well.”

Reece went on to join the group of seven others in Niagara Falls including, Dave, Neve Clark, 10 , Jennifer Lauder, 11, Abbi Baird, 14, Keisha Gulliver, 16, Josh Hastings, 17 and Dylan Baird, 19 for the WKC World Championships.

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The team collectively won seven gold medals, five silver and a bronze.

Dave added: “People from other teams singled us out and told us how great and focus we were, by the end of the week we were getting handshakes from other competitors”

Related topics:SunderlandBlackpoolScotlandSeaham