Blitz - June-July 2017

MEDAL SHOTS

Qld karate kid seeks sponsor for

Olympic quest

With the possibility of an Olympic
berth becoming ever closer, 16-year-
old Queenslander Alannah Schramm is
on a mission to tackle the world’s top
sport-karate tournaments in 2017 — but
she’ll need sponsorship to keep her
dreams alive.
With 10 years of training already under
her Black-belt, Schramm has accumulated
an impressive trophy haul, winning both
the Australian Karate Federation (AKF)
National Championships and Australian
Open championships for the last three
years running, as well as the last two
Oceania Championships (2014 and 2016).
Having reached a highest world ranking
of third in her division, she has also won
bronze at the Commonwealth Karate
Championships 2013, silver at the US
Open International Karate Cup 2014 and
fifth place at the Junior Karate World Cup
in 2015.
Schramm’s mum, Diane, said her
daughter is now focused on trying to
make selection for the AKF team for
the 2017 World Championships in Spain
and next year’s Youth Olympics in
South America. “Alannah is extremely

dedicated and committed — she has

been doing karate since she was six

years old,” said Diane. “She’s very

determined and has achieved some

amazing results.”

However, for Aussie karateka to stay

globally competitive, they must travel

frequently interstate and overseas

for tournaments and training camps,

incurring considerable costs for them

and their supporting families. “To

date, we have self-funded all of her

international trips to Europe, Asia, the

South Pacific and USA,” said Diane, “but

as parents, we know we now need to

pursue some form of sponsorship to

assist in taking her to the next level.

“As a fit, healthy, dedicated

young woman who has also had

exceptional academic success at her

school, we feel she would be a very

worthy and committed ambassador

for any organisation... [we] would be

appreciative of any type of support and

of course would look to make sure it was

mutually beneficial.”

Schramm can be contacted via

Instagram and Facebook.

Martial arts family take on bullies

As a Black-belt in various styles of martial
arts, Sensei Mark McConnell was continually
being approached by people who were
scared for their physical safety or that of
their children, and were looking for help. The
instructor of many years decided something
needed to be done — but the issue was too
big for one bloke, or even his whole family.
So, along with wife Lynda and son Joshua,

both martial artists, Gold Coast-based

McConnell founded the community action

group Free From Bullying.

“Recommendations from experts in the

field of bullying indicate that we need to

create community alliances to combat this

problem,” said McConnell. “From schools to

businesses, churches, the police service and

the wider community, we need to combine

our efforts to make a real impact and

save lives.”

Since starting the organisation almost two

years ago, McConnell has recognised the need

to deal with bullying and violence on two

fronts: present and future.

“With our newspapers filled with stories

of bullying, abuse and domestic violence, we

are striving to make a difference in society,” he

said. “While education is the way to changing

the future, which we are working towards,

people still have to deal with the present and,

in particular, their physical and mental safety.

“At Free From Bullying, we are aiming

to provide as many resources as possible to

help those in need, from information sheets

to community workshops, DVDs and links

to counselling.”

Coinciding with this year’s National Day of

Action Against Bullying in March, Free From

Bullying organised a community event called

‘4Warned is 4Armed’ where instructors from

four different martial arts ran workshops.

McConnell hopes the event will be one of

many, and encourages instructors to get in

touch and get involved in future initiatives.

To find out more, visit freefrombullies.org

Alannah Schramm in action at

the QKF State Championships

Bullying has been recognised

by Gold Coast’s council as a

problem worth tackling

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