A smaller Team of 24 represented South Australia at the 2009 National All Styles Australian Championships but had their best result ever. Eight National Titles, five Runners Up and four Third Places went to the SA GKR team members, beating the previous record set in 2007 in Sydney, both in National Titles and medals won. Most team members and their families again chose to stay at the same location and the team spirit off the competition floor again was manifested in the ring. Friday night saw many Team members dine together but all had an early night to prepare for Day 1 of competition.

As usual, the Tournament started with the March in and formalities by NAS President Silvio Morelli, along with Officials and Competitors "fair play" oaths. The rings were quickly set up again for competition, with Forms events in all rings, starting with the Juniors. Whilst all our Juniors competed well, most in the top half of their divisions, only Daniel Andrew claimed a placing, finishing Third in 14-15 year 10-5th kyu section. Senior competitors fared a lot better and the results started coming our way. Cory Burnside won Male Intermediate Forms, Steve Tyler took out the Novice Veteran section and Kate Jamieson was second in Female Advanced. John McDonald and Jenny Miller placed second in Demonstrations, as did Jason Spiteri and Tegan Miller in Junior Demonstrations. John McDonald also took out second place in Creative Weapons. Senior Syncronised Forms saw Alan Gillert, Daniel Tregenza and Beau Beaumont take out the Male event, with Dragana Calic, Jenny Miller and Kate Jamieson taking out the Female event. State Team Sparring also saw success to the SA teams, solely comprising GKR members. First up, the Male Team beat NSW, but then lost to the eventual winners Victoria. They then took on the ACT team for third place. They lost the first bout, but then took out the next three bouts in succession to take the Medals. Great effort by Daniel Tregenza, Beau Beaumont, Jeremy Thompson, Alan Gillert, Corey Burnside and Nik McDonald. The Girls first up took on the Victorian Team, led by Sam Palmer and Lisa Beasley. In a great effort, the girls took out the bout 3-2 to advance to the final. NSW progressed through and faced the SA girls. In a fantastic effort, the South Australians took out the Team event for the very first time, including Dragana Calic beating Claudine Chicheportiche, and it was a very happy group of Zoe Tyler, Kate Jamieson, Tamsin Stanton, Dragana Calic and Jenny Miller that accepted the State vs State Sparring Shield.

Sunday was Sparring day, and once again the Juniors did not fare well. A number got through to the second round but no one to the medals. Again the Seniors fared a bit better, with Corey Burnside winning the Male Intermediate section and Kate Jamieson taking out the Female Advanced section over Zoe Tyler for a 1 - 2 finish for our girls in a big division. Jenny Miller and Chris McDonald faced each other for third place in the Female Veteran Advanced Sparring, with Jenny taking the points. Tamsin Stanton just missed out on the third place medal to finish fourth in her Female Intermediate division as well. Our Male Black Belt competitors made either 1st or second round exits, except for Beau Beaumont who took out the Male Lightweight event. Dragana Calic was our sole Female Black Belt competitor and did very well in a large division to just miss out on a medal in finishing fourth in the Female Heavyweight section.

The finale of the Sunday was the Champion of Champions bouts. Samantha Palmer had won two divisions (Open and Heavyweight) so she waited for the Lightweight and Middleweight winners to spar to determine her opponent for the Champion of Champions bout. After a close fight it was the middleweight winner who advanced to the final. Sam had a tight bout but came out on top for her third successive CoC Title. Beau went on to compete in the Champion of Champions event but fell to Dean Gould in the first semi-final. Luke Croxford faced Ashley Fleming in the other semi-final and in a close bout, it was Luke who took the bout and progressed to the final. The final of the Champion of Champions bout saw first Luke and then Dean take the lead, with scores tied at the bell. It was sudden death to determine the winner and after one unconfirmed point, it was Luke who took out the title for 2009.

Our representatives were about half of the South Australian contingent and certainly did their bit to enable South Australia to tie for third place with Victoria in the Presidents Cup points average. Most of the Team celebrated their success at a BBQ Sunday evening, along with parents and partners. Coaches Robin Copini and Jeremy Thompson were delighted with the performance and conduct of all our team and the potential for future years. Well done to all competitors on a very successful 2009 Tournament Season, it was a fitting result for a great year.

Forms Photos: Jenny Miller, Jason Spiteri, Chris McDonald, Mary Bambacus, John McDonald, Tamsin Stanton

Sparring Photos: Tegan Miller, Jeremy Thompson, Jordan Haffner, Daniel Tregenza, Jeremy Thompson, Beau vs Dean, Beau vs Dean, Beau vs Dean, Beau Beaumont, Daniel Tregenza, Jeremy Thompson, Jeremy Thompson,

Thanks to John McDonald and Shaun Williams for Photos.

A more comprehensive report on all competitors, along with photos, will be added over the next few weeks as they come to hand.