Carmel student Shauna McKay is studying A Levels in Psychology and Biology alongside BTEC Level 3 Extended Certificate in Sport (Single). BTEC L3 Ext Certificate in Sport. She is also part of our Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS)

We caught up with Shauna and this is what she had to say:

“I’ve been training in taekwondo since I was 6/7 years old, so I’ve been training for around 11 years! I started from a young age because my dad used to train and he wanted to give me a hobby that would benefit me, especially in aspects of self-defence and discipline! Bonus: it kept me out of trouble too!

“I originally started training in a Poomsae Club (traditional and patterns) and I moved over to Sport Taekwondo in early 2021, at a new club, Whiston Taekwondo which does sport and traditional classes! I now regularly fight in a senior category for this club!

“On the 28th of January, a GB selection event for the GB Poomsae National Regional 2023 squad was taking place, at the actual GB Taekwondo Centre itself in Manchester! So I decided to give it a shot as to this day, I still love the traditional side of taekwondo too.

“On the day there were many physical assessments on ability, quality of your patterns, techniques, and kicks, you basically showed them what you can do! I went out that night and sat down to an email wishing me congratulations, as I had made it onto the squad!

“This means I have the opportunity to travel internationally and nationally competing in Poomsae, representing GB for 2023! These competitions are quite big and very competitive as you are competing with people around the world from other national teams. This also gives me the opportunity to train with people on the GB Poomsae team and attend training camps!

“This for me is a very exciting opportunity and has opened many doors for me as an athlete. My future dream, is to join GB for the sporting side of taekwondo and hopefully compete in the Olympics!”

We wish Shauna all the best for the future and hope all her dreams come true.