Three youth athletes from the Sunshine Coast earned top-five positions at the BC Winter Games in Fort St. John last week.
Thirteen-year-old Leah Pearson-White helped her Vancouver Coastal Zone 5 team take top spot in the Team Kata Girls competition, in which three competitors demonstrate synchronized karate techniques that are scored by a panel of judges.
The Halfmoon Bay athlete also placed fifth in the Intermediate Kumite competition, a freestyle combative event.
To top off the Games, Leah was honoured by Karate BC with the Female Sportsmanship Award. Athletes are nominated by coaches from each participating zone.
The green belt has been training at Kaigan Karate in Roberts Creek for the past two years, said her mother, Wendy White. Before that she had been dancing since the age of about two. “I think that’s why she has progressed as fast as he has. She has that little bit of finesse,” White said.
With the sportsmanship and podium finish under her belt, Leah is expected to take advantage of more off-Coast opportunities with a newfound drive and focus. “When she went up to the Winter Games, she met people and girls who do what she does. There’s only one girl in our dojo because it’s so small. Other dojos have 200 kids in them,” said White. “She’s come back with new friendships. She’s just over the moon. She said that was the best time of her life.”
Karate wasn’t the only sport that rewarded finesse at the games.
Two figure skaters had top-five finishes to round out the Sunshine Coast showing. “The Sunshine Coast Skating Club (SCSC) is so very proud to have such great representation and fabulous results from these two skaters,” said coach Daryl Austman.
Lucy Watson, 13, placed second in the juvenile ladies category, and said she was “grateful for the opportunity of being selected for the Winter Games.” The Gibsons figure skater said she trained hard and was satisfied with her results, and as with Leah Pearson-White was able to connect with athletes from across the province.
“I enjoyed getting to know the other skaters and I had the best time. Thanks to my professional coaches, Lesleigh [Farr] and Daryl, I felt very prepared and am glad I could make the SCSC proud,” Lucy said.
She was joined by another SCSC athlete, Cooper Jones, who placed fourth in the pre-novice men’s category.
“It was the largest sporting event that I have ever participated in. There were a lot of sports there. There were athletes there from all over the province and all the athletes were very friendly, and I made new friends there,” said the 14-year-old Sechelt skater.
More than 1,000 athletes from across B.C. compete in 15 sports over three days at the BC Winter Games, which are held every two years. The average competitor age is 14. The event is meant to expose elite athletes to the intensity of large, multi-sport events.
