Description
Hi, I’m Lachlan Ellis, I’m 16 years of age and I have been selected as a member of the New Zealand National Team to travel to Ireland to compete in the 2017 International Taekwondo World Championships!
I started Taekwondo when I was 10 years old because of being picked on in school. My parents also encouraged me to take on the sport so that I could learn how to stand up for myself. Over the past 6 years, I have worked very hard to get through each grade and was awarded my black belt in December 2016. Fortunately, my coach at the Mosgiel Club was going for his second Dan at the same time so I was able to train with him for a significant duration of time. We did lots of extra training, biking and went for runs together. My coach and I trained 7 days a week for six months. Taekwondo has been a great discipline for me and I have learned a lot about myself. In the past year, I have been assisting with coaching at my club. I have competed at the Regional and National competitions for the past 4 years now. My highlight was winning gold in sparring at the Oceania National Champs that were held in Tauranga last year.
So far this year I have had to travel to Auckland for 3 high-performance camps so that I would be able to attend trials for the team – I tried my best and never expected to get in. I ended up spending over $1000 of my own money which I earned last year. My Mum is able to help cover some of the costs, however, I really need your help to get to Dublin this year! I am doing my very best to save this money and will be fundraising here at my club in Mosgiel as well.
