Inverness athlete ready to make Scotland debut in biggest competition of her life at Karate Commonwealth Games in Birmingham
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SOPHIE Howarth says she is ready for the biggest competition of her life as she will make her debut for Scotland at the Karate Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
The Inverness third dan black belt athlete is looking to take home a medal when she competes in the Kata category tomorrow (Thursday).
Howarth (29) who is a professional coach at Karate Alba says she is going to be stepping up a level to any competition she has competed in before.
But after impressing selectors to be called up to the national squad, she is determined to be in contention to win a medal.
"It's the biggest competition of my life, I am taking the step up to the next level," she said.
"I got the call up six weeks ago, so it has been a quick turnaround to be ready for Birmingham.
"I had to go to Stirling once a month to train and selectors watched my performance before I decided to put myself forward for selection.
"When I was being considered for selection, I just let my natural ability take its course, you do the hard work beforehand and then go out and enjoy it."
Howarth started karate when she was eight-years-old, when she was encouraged by Karate Alba head coach Dolina Ross, who is a family friend, to take up the sport.
Howarth quickly made an impression and became Scottish junior champion when she was nine and Scottish senior champion when she was 18.
She has also competed in the Irish International Open and won a bronze medal at the British National Championship.
She will be competing in the Kata section, where athletes perform a sequence of moves of self defence and are given a technical score and an athletic score.
Howarth is relishing competing on the international stage and against opponents she is largely unaware of.
"I don't know much about my competition, they are from across the Commonwealth and I have not been up against them before.
"I have only really competed against opponents from the home nations during my career so this is a new experience for me.
"I would like to get through a few rounds and I am aiming for a medal position. I need to go out there and give it my all."
Howarth will also receive lots of support from her students at Karate Alba in Inverness.
She says she enjoys coaching and the opportunity of passing on her experience to help younger karate athletes achieve their potential.
"I enjoy training my students as it is great to pass on what you know," she said.
"It is nice to see children developing their karate ability and helping grow their confidence.
"It is also great to get them involved in competitions, we took 30 students to their first competition back in June.
"Being able to passing your knowledge on is a great feeling."
