Team Rage kickboxers had a fantastic year
Club members bag medals as well as provincial and national colours
“Seeing your students achieve during these competitions makes one feel good about the future of the sport,” said Darrin Opperman.
He is the head coach of the Team Rage Kickboxing club that trains at the HWA-Steve Eden Training Centre in Roodepoort.
The kickboxers had quite a sterling year, bagging medals at the Great North III tournament, the South African Championships, as well as the Gauteng Championships. “Although we had quite an eventful year with many ups and downs, I am proud to say that our students really showed that hard work pays off. Our juniors definitely deserve a special mention,” said Darrin.
Five members of the club received their Gauteng colours at the recent Gauteng Championships, while Dyllan Opperman and Karen van Jaarsveld was awarded their South African colours during the South African championships where they won a silver and gold medal respectively.
During the Great North III tournament, 18 fighters were entered and they brought back 32 medals – 18 gold, 12 silver and two bronze.
The junior achievers were:
– Shaun Lombaard (silver medal)
– Brandon-Lee Friedlander (gold medal)
– Ryan Boshof (three gold medals)
– Kyle Jonker (one silver medal and one bronze medal)
– Dyllan Opperman (one gold medal and one silver medal)
– Bianca Bota (four gold medals)
– Charné Botha (two gold medals and one silver medal)
– Zanel van Eeden (one gold medal and two silver medals)
– Clarise Luyk (two gold medals and one silver medal)
– Nicole le Roux (one gold medal, one silver medal and one bronze medal)
The senior achievers were:
– Marlize Jonker (two gold medals and one silver medal)
– Tracey Scheepers (silver medal)
– Mina Lombaard (one gold medal and two silver medals)
Four of the fighters – Clarise Luyk, Ryan Boshof, Dyllan Opperman and Karen van Jaarsveld – were identified during this tournament to be part of the International Training group.
The club grading also took place recently, and was successfully completed by many of the students. The following students sucessfully graded to their next belt:
– Dyllan Opperman (8th Junior Dan)
– Mina Lombaard (Senior Black Belt)
– Mark Moolman (Purple Belt)
– Ryan Boshof (Blue Belt)
–Clarise Luyk and Bianca Bota (Green Belt)
– Brandon-Lee Friedlander and Charné Botha (Orange Belt)
– Willem Carstes (Red Belt)
“I would like to encourage the community to visit our club, to come train with us. We train anyone from the age of eight years old, and we do light, light kick and ring contact fighting. Should you want more information, contact Mina Lombaard on 084 669 6388,” Darrin concluded.
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