Athlete Of The Week: Kyla Julien
PledgeSports have the pleasure of working with some phenomenal athletes and teams. Every Friday we will choose one of them as the PledgeSports “Athlete of the Week”.
This week’s winner is double British champion and reigning No. 1 British taekwondo athlete at 59kg, Kyla Julien. Kyla has joined forces with PledgeSports as she prepares to up her already impressive game and become an international taekwondo champion.
Kyla says that she is “just an ordinary girl following a real life dream of becoming an Olympic athlete”, but we think there is much more to the super-talented Yorkshire teenager than that.
So, we decided to catch up with Kyla to learn more about British taekwondo’s rising star.
How did you get into Taekwondo?
“I first got into taekwondo through school. We got sent a letter home for a new after school club and I just thought “why not?” Sounded quite fun.”
What are you ambitions for this season?
“This year my ambitions for are to place medals internationally in the 59kg class competitions and hopefully be able to go to the junior European Championships this year and also get gold in Nationals again for the 3rd year running.”
What do you say to people who think your sport is violent?
“I don’t believe this sport is violent at all, traditional taekwondo was first started and entirely used for self-defence. Never to go and attack anyone. The sparring side of taekwondo isn’t really violent either, you have to fight smart and tactically to win and you win on points, not knockouts.”
Who inspires you most?
“The person that inspires me the most in taekwondo is Bianca Walkden as she was out for a while with an injury but she never gave up she until came back and trained hard to be the best.
“Also, she’s won so many impressive medals but she never slacks. She still goes to training and trains so hard like she’s never won a thing, as she still wants more.”
If you could be any athlete in the world for one day, who would it be and why?
“If I could be any athlete in the world I would like to be Jade Jones. She’s the best girl out there in her weight and a double Olympic champion. Jade made taekwondo more popular and many girls of all ages wish they could be her.
“Also just like Bianca, Jade is still training and hasn’t just given up even though she’s a double Olympic champion and no British taekwondo player has ever achieved that before.”
If Kyla can claim a medal at any one of three major tournaments this year she will be given the privilege of representing Great Britain at the European Championships in 2017. However, the cost of training for, and travelling to, big events around the world is costly, bt it is vital Kyla competes in order to maintain her high ranking.
If you would like to support Kyla on her quest to the top of the taekwondo world you can do so by visiting her fundraising page here.
PledgeSports is a revolutionary crowdfunding and sponsorship platform dedicated to sport.
Are you or someone you know seeking funding for sport? We would love to help. Get in touch with us via email info@pledgesports.org or visit www.pledgesports.org and click “Create Your Campaign” to start raising money.
For all the latest sports news follow PledgeSports on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.