Katie came along to the first series of three Sarah Stevenson Inspires workshops in 2010, trained hard and had a great time, “Sarah Stevenson is my hero and role model, it was fantastic to train with her and all the others! – I really hope she runs some more!” said Katie.

The Sarah Stevenson Inspires workshops marked a real shift in Katie’s attitude towards training and her achievements at competition. Her dad told us “Katie as always trained hard and been committed to her taekwondo, but after the final workshop in 2010 we could see her training step up a gear and it has really paid off in 2011”.

In the last part of 2010 Katie took double Gold medals in Cadets and Juniors at the Dorset Open. In February 2011 she went on to take her first Cadet A-class medal as she won Bronze at the Swedish Open, closely followed by her first Junior A-class medal with a Bronze at the Dutch Open. Katie met tough competition in the early rounds at the German and Belgian opens and did not place but didn’t let this stop her and went on in May to take double Gold medals in Cadets and Juniors at the Dutch Masters. From there she became Cadet National Champion in June at the BTCB National Championships, something she has been working towards for the last three years.

Following the Dutch Masters, Katie got the fantastic news that she had been selected to represent Great Britain at the European Cadet Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia in July. Whilst she normally competes in -41/-42 Katie was selected to fight in the -44 weight category, and came up against a giant Belarus girl. Katie gave everything she had in all three rounds and fought tactically well but just wasn’t able to better the Belarus which meant she did not medal but the national team coaches were impressed by her performance in the heavier weight category and named her “most professional” female in the team. Katie really enjoyed the experience and says “I had a brilliant time; it was great to be part of the GBR Cadets and train with the coaches and my team mates. We all supported each other and learned loads and can’t wait to do it again!”

During 2011 Katie was also selected for the fantastic opportunity to train with the England Junior Development programme at the National Academy in Manchester, consisting of three 4-day camps. Following her performance in Tbilisi she was also rewarded with the bonus opportunity to train with the visiting Korean Juniors team alongside the England Junior European team; “a tough few days but well worth it!” she says.

Katie has been attending the 2011 Sarah Stevenson Inspires workshops and hopes to be selected for the National Junior Talent Squad later in the year, working towards selections for the World Junior Championships in April 2012.

Most recently Katie improved her best Junior A-class result by winning Silver at the 4th British Open in Manchester and over the coming weeks will be competing at the Dorset Open, Croatia A-class and French A-class amongst others.