Tallaght Martial Arts are in ‘shock’ after winning Club Award

“IT WAS fantastic and a shock for the club to win this award, with so many fantastic clubs in South County Dublin,” said Tallaght Martial Arts official Dave Heffernan who was presented with the Club of the Year Award along with club stalwart Martin Bannon.

“It was brilliant for our club to win the Club Award.

Our sporting results are fantastic, but the club is so much more than the competitive side of Martial Arts.

“It’s about developing strong confident young people, working in our community, volunteering, giving back and creating roles models for our younger members to emulate,”.

“Since our beginning, TMA has been supported by The Echo, as have many Martial Arts clubs and competitors in South County Dublin, so for TMA to be selected for this award in its 30th year is very special”.

Celebrating its 30th anniversary, the club which started in St Mark’s Junior school Springfield in March 1993 with only six members, has over the years gone from strength to strength and now has a full time Martial Arts Centre in Whitestown Industrial Estate.

Tallaght Martial Arts members Martin Bannon, Dave Heffernan, Jodie Browne and Stephen Jones with
Mayor Alan Edge in The Plaza Hotel

The club has thought Kung Fu, Kickboxing and Sport Karate to people of all ages and has become World renowned for its ability to produce World and European Champions at all levels and recently had three athletes qualify for the European Games.

The club started last year with the Junior National Championships at which the club won 24 Junior National titles across all age groups while in the Senior National Championships TMA won nine Senior National Titles.

The club competed in four major international events including the European Olympic Games (EOG), the first time Kickboxing took part in the EOG with Ireland qualifying with eight athletes – five were from Tallaght Martial Arts, They also competed in the Junior European Championships at which the club won one gold, three silver and four bronze medals.

The Senior World Championships saw nine athletes qualify and they returned with four gold and four bronze medals, a result never achieved by any Irish club before.

Tallaght Martial Arts club officials Dave Heffernan and Martin Bannon receive the Team of the Year Award from David Kennedy, editor, The Echo and Colm Ward, Chief Executive of South Dublin County Council

The year ended with the World Combat Games, Ireland only had one athlete qualify for this event and Jodie Browne won Gold to complete a fantastic year.

The club will now focus on competing in the Irish Junior and Senior National Championships and then the Junior World Championships which take place in Budapest, Hungary in August.