Karate sets date for national champs

 THE Papua New Guinea Karate-do Federation (PNGKF) will be hosting the 24th National Karate Championships on July 6-7 at the Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby. 

Federation president, Carl Mari said the dates were chosen to allow karate mentor, Sensei Trevor Roberts of the ShotokanKarate Budokai in Australia, to bring in a guest referee to the tournament. 

The championships is only for karate schools and clubs affiliated with the PNGKF, and will only be for point contact kumité and kata , the major events in the 2015 Pacific Games.  

The deadline for team and athlete registration is July 4 and the federation expects all nominations to be handed in before then. Late registrations will not be accepted.  

The second karate training camp for the year started on Saturday at the Lamana and will continue until the tournament.

The camp is facilitated by Trevor and Mari is urging all members of the karate development squad to attend.  

He said the federation was running the camps targeting the 2015 Pacific Games, however  this would be the last camp where all the members were invited. 

After the camp, members will be divided into three teams – A, B and C – and only Team A would be invited to future camps. 

Membership is not permanent and is subject to an athlete’s performance. 

Mari said selected parents, friends and supporters would be invited to a one-day seminar on June 30 on karate competition volunteer roles.