Fifteen-year-old Alex Comeau will join teammate Trysten Deveau of Church Point and as many as 18 other Canadian karate athletes ages 12-20 when they travel to Jakarta for the Nov. 8-15 championships.
Comeau, who finished fourth in the U16 at the Canadian championships this past January in British Columbia, was selected to attend the world championships because he met all the mandatory selection criteria—and because he had his age going for him.
“Another athlete in my division placed higher at Nationals and was to go to Worlds, but he will age out before the start of that competition,” Comeau said. “Since I met all the criteria and was the next athlete in my division eligible to go, I was selected.”
The grade 10 student at Clare District High said the criteria was based on his attending a mandatory junior team training session in Toronto in July and competing in the junior Pan-American championships in Bolivia in late August.
“Two athletes in my U16 division aged out before the August competition so I was selected to compete,” Comeau said. “I was chosen to compete because my performance at the junior team training was satisfactory.”
At the Pan Am championships, Comeau lost his first fight 3-2 against the bronze medalist from Mexico.
“If you lose against a finalist you get to fight again, but this didn’t happen,” he said. “The competition is so much higher at this level so, even though I had to watch the rest of the fights, it was good experience seeing the different techniques.”
The brown belt karate athlete has been a member of the local Bushino Ki Karate Club in Church Point for six years and a member of the provincial team for two years.
Besides karate, Comeau plays hockey for the Clare-Digby Acadiens.
“There is an off-season to hockey but not for karate,” he said. “I try and train as often as I can and now that Worlds is coming up, I make time to train once or twice a day.”
Comeau said he is going to Indonesia with the expectation of improving in his skill and finishing as high as he can.
“Junior Worlds is karate’s Olympics and each country can send one athlete for each division,” he said.
Comeau is the only male in the U16 57-kilogram division, “and I know it will be tough but my goal is to win my first match. I was not expecting to go to Worlds so it is an honor to represent my province and country.”
EXTRA:
Karate rules, HD video https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=14&v=CnCs6KlxcGU
Fifteen-year-old Alex Comeau will join teammate Trysten Deveau of Church Point and as many as 18 other Canadian karate athletes ages 12-20 when they travel to Jakarta for the Nov. 8-15 championships.
Comeau, who finished fourth in the U16 at the Canadian championships this past January in British Columbia, was selected to attend the world championships because he met all the mandatory selection criteria—and because he had his age going for him.
“Another athlete in my division placed higher at Nationals and was to go to Worlds, but he will age out before the start of that competition,” Comeau said. “Since I met all the criteria and was the next athlete in my division eligible to go, I was selected.”
The grade 10 student at Clare District High said the criteria was based on his attending a mandatory junior team training session in Toronto in July and competing in the junior Pan-American championships in Bolivia in late August.
“Two athletes in my U16 division aged out before the August competition so I was selected to compete,” Comeau said. “I was chosen to compete because my performance at the junior team training was satisfactory.”
At the Pan Am championships, Comeau lost his first fight 3-2 against the bronze medalist from Mexico.
“If you lose against a finalist you get to fight again, but this didn’t happen,” he said. “The competition is so much higher at this level so, even though I had to watch the rest of the fights, it was good experience seeing the different techniques.”
The brown belt karate athlete has been a member of the local Bushino Ki Karate Club in Church Point for six years and a member of the provincial team for two years.
Besides karate, Comeau plays hockey for the Clare-Digby Acadiens.
“There is an off-season to hockey but not for karate,” he said. “I try and train as often as I can and now that Worlds is coming up, I make time to train once or twice a day.”
Comeau said he is going to Indonesia with the expectation of improving in his skill and finishing as high as he can.
“Junior Worlds is karate’s Olympics and each country can send one athlete for each division,” he said.
Comeau is the only male in the U16 57-kilogram division, “and I know it will be tough but my goal is to win my first match. I was not expecting to go to Worlds so it is an honor to represent my province and country.”
EXTRA:
Karate rules, HD video https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=14&v=CnCs6KlxcGU
