LATEST NEWS

Latest updates from across the academy

BACK
WKF YOUTH LEAGUE AND CAMP IN CROATIA
By Admin
02 July 2025 5:37 pm

Well done to Nephele and Benjamin who have just returned from the WKF Youth Camp, Youth Cup and Youth League events in Croatia!

Nephele was the first Academy member ever to compete at a WKF Youth League and Benjamin was the first at the Youth Cup, as well as being our youngest ever international competitor.

Both Academy members have previously had notable success at domestic events and were keen to gain more experience. The WKF’s Youth Camp was an excellent way to get this.

WKF YOUTH CAMP

The camp was held over three days, where Olympic, World, European and Premier League Champions were there to share their knowledge with 484 youngsters aged between 10 and 20 years.

The camp was split between kata and kumite. Nephele and Benjamin joined the kata camp, where they trained with JKS HQ instructor and 4-time WKF World Team Kata Champion, Arimoto Sensei, as well as Maho Ono Sensei, the current Female Kata WKF Premier League winner.

Throughout the camp, our duo got to practice katas including Jion, Papuren, Sochin and Unsu. They also focused on the kihon (fundamentals) to help them be at their absolute best during their kata performances.

Alongside the instruction, the camp also provided a fantastic opportunity to train alongside competitors from all over the world.

After the training was done, it was time for the Youth Cup and Youth League.

WKF YOUTH LEAGUE AND YOUTH CUP

The Youth Cup was a tournament for under 12s to gain valuable experience by competing against other children from across the world. Benjamin’s category saw competitors from 20 different countries take part. And with a high standard throughout it was fantastic to see Benjamin looking at home alongside a talented group.  Benjamin went out on a split decision, finishing 2-1 to his German opponent. Well done Benjamin!

The WKF Youth League is a tournament series held in five cities across the world in a calendar year. The event is Porec, Croatia is exceptionally well attended, with most categories reaching full capacity within a few hours of the booking slots opening.

Taking part in the Porec Youth League was a target Nephele had in her sights for 12 months and she’s been working diligently towards it over this period. It was fantastic to see Nephele make her Youth League debut as the first competitor to step onto tatami three in the Under 14s Female Kata event. Nephele’s performance was solid and the match was tight, but it was her Croatian opponent that went through, with a narrow 0.4 points lead.

Throughout the camp, cup and league, both Nephele and Benjamin conducted themselves exceptionally  and represented the Academy so well. Congratulations to them both! We look forward to seeing others following in their first steps in the future.