Wee County Taekwon-Do duo take on Europe's best

Iain Robertson • Published 20 Jan 2010 15:01 0 Comments

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Laura Smith and Sarah McMahan are suported by their mums Janet Martin and Nancy McMahon. (Picture by Jan van der Merwe)

TWO elite teenage Taekwon-Do athletes from Clackmannanshire have been selected to represent Scotland at the European Championships in March.

Sarah McMahon (15), from Tullibody, and Laura Smith (15), from Alloa, will be flying the Saltire when they take on the rest of the best in Barletta, Italy.

It is a remarkable achievement for the county to have two of the five members of the national junior team that will compete.

Sarah told the Advertiser Sport, "I felt really happy to get the letter that confirmed I was in, it is an honour to be picked by your country."

And team mate Laura echoed that sentiment, adding, "It will be an honour to represent my country at the Euros - it makes you feel proud."

It will be Sarah's second time representing Scotland at a European Championships after she picked up gold, silver and bronze, as the youngest member of the team - aged 13 - in Croatia two years ago.

She came back with a full haul of medals winning gold in the Special Technique event, silver in the Free Sparring event and bronze in the Junior Female Pattern event, which won them the team title for the first time ever.

"It was really good to be in Croatia representing Scotland," she said. "It was a big step going away and well worth it after winning gold."

Sarah took up the martial art 10 years ago when she was five and a decade on holds the highest belt attainable for a 15-year-old - the second degree black belt.

After Italy, the girls are targeting places in the Scotland team which will compete at the World Championships in Belarus at the end of the year and longer term are looking to compete at the Olympics.

St Modans pupil Laura hopes she can help the team to another top spot and build on the success she had winning gold at the 2009 UKTC British Taekwon-do championships held at Meadowbank Stadium.

She took up the Korean martial art aged just six, got her first degree black belt at 11 and second at 14.

Both Scotland team members are working hard to be ready for Italy by training four days a week locally as well as travelling to Shotts once a fortnight to work with the national squad.

That is on top of preparing for school exams - the fourth year pupils are currently studying for their standard grades. The girls are currently in fourth year of secondary school and have to juggle exam preparation with gearing up to represent their country.

"It is hard, but you have to do it," Laura said. I study before going along to the training sessions so it's quite tiring. But we need to do it as we want the gold."

The Korean martial art is particularly popular in countries such as Russia, Ukraine and the Czech Republic, with teams from these nations often afforded state funding that allows them to enjoy the benefits of training camps prior to major events.

That is a situation Sarah and Laura can only dream about - they get no funding to back their abilities. All the money has to be raised by them and their families.

So the pair need sponsors to help them get to Italy - money to cover the costs, which will amount to more than £1000.

In a bid to raise some much needed cash, the families will walk around Gartmorn Dam on 13 February in fancy dress carrying buckets to raise funds for Italy.

Any individual or business who would like to back Sarah and Laura's bid for European gold should contact one of their mothers. Sarah's mum Nancy can be contacted on 07948425413, and Laura's mum Janet on 07527196345.

The EITF European International Taekwon-Do Championships will be held in Barletta, in Puglia, from 10-14 March.

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