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This year’s National Team
Championships will see eight Areas, one Affiliate and one Home
Country compete against each other for National Team titles.
The event will take place
this Saturday 17th July at Walsall Campus Sports Centre, University
of Wolverhampton.
The teams will battle it
out to gain the most amounts of wins in their pool. Points are
also awarded for how the players win the fight, which come into
play when two teams are drawing.
In the finals, the competition
really starts to heat up if two teams have the same amount of
wins and it comes down to just one fight to decide the winner.
The Combined Services Team
will be a strong bunch to contend with this year, with most of
them being medallists from the Inter-Services Championships last
November.
Team Manager Sami Smithson
said, “We have to work around who is available and who is not
on operations overseas, but this year we probably have the strongest
team we have ever had.
“It’s a really enjoyable
event with a good buzz around it, plus it is great to be given
the opportunity for us to compete against the Areas, which you
don’t in all sports,” Smithson further said.
Last year’s winners in
the Women’s competition was the Southern Area and they are back
to defend their title.
Team Manager Simone Callender
said, “We have a good chance again this year as half the women’s
team were winners from last year.
“We have good rivalry with
the Northern Home Counties and are looking forward to fighting
their teams again this year.”
“Team events are the best
to watch and the cadet, juniors and seniors all support each other
so it is a brilliant atmosphere,” she added.
The London Area is fielding
a team in every group, plus a second team in the senior men’s
competition.
Team Manager, Dave Dunsford,
was happy to have full backing from the London Area Committee
and said, “This is a good experience event for our squad to attend
and the Committee recognised that it was money well spent last
year and that it is important to support our squad.
“We are travelling to Walsall
on a big bus with players from all over London. For us, it’s a
great bonding event for our players and coaches and we all have
London t-shirts to wear to show where we’re from.”
Integral to the development
of this event is BJA Director Mac Abbotts who describes the National
Team Championships as: “an event that has always been close to
my heart.”
“There is something special
about the National Team Championships, it brings the Areas together
and the support is brilliant,” he said.
“We are really proud to
bring it in house and it is good to hear so many Areas will be
represented. It has always been a premier event and we look forward
to taking it forward.”
Supporters from across
the country will be cheering on their Area, Home Country or Affiliate.
The Combined Services team have encouraged local supports and
some higher ranking officers to attend and watch them progress
throughout the day.
Tickets will be sold
on the door at £5 for adults and £3 for children/senior citizens
and the BJA merchandise stand will be selling personalised hoodies
and t-shirts.
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