Rebecca Marshall competed in her first international competition at the 2018 Pan American Taekwondo Championships that was held in Spokane, Washington recently.
Being new to international tournament, Marshall set modest goals as she knew she was likely to face the best taekwondo athletes in the world.
The member of the Cascadia Martial Arts Parksville competitive team fought well and surprised herself against seasoned opponents to end up with a bronze medal in her weight class.
“It was an amazing feeling because it was my first international tournament at the senior level,” said Marshall, who earlier this year won a silver medal in her senior level debut at the Canadian Championships.
“I went in there with the idea of just getting experience, to being able to fight all these top athletes. It just progressed from one fight to the other. It was a great experience.”
One of the fights Marshall will never forget was against Julissa Diez Canseco of Peru. Marshall won that fight but only found out who Chamber was after the match.
“I didn’t know who I was fighting,” said Marshall. “I just went out there and did my fight. Then Master Dustin (Fee) asked me, ‘did you know who you just beat? She went to the Olympics in Brazil in 2016.’ It was obviously a good accomplishment for me.”
Fee said he knew who Marshall was going to fight but he kept that piece of information to himself as he didn’t want to unnerve his student.
“I rather have her not know,” said Fee. “One thing about Rebecca is she is always calm and relaxed, and she doesn’t get thrown off that easily. Maybe it would have made a difference but I just thought, it’s just some girl. That’s all she needed to know.”
Marshall advanced to the semi-final where she fought another seasoned competitor in Lima Leonor who is a member of Brazil’s national team. Marshall just fell short of advancing to the gold medal round losing 9-7. She is not disappointed. Overall, Marshall said, the experience was a huge confidence booster and motivation as she now knows she can compete against the best.
“Every time I go to a tournament I really see my potential and how much I grow each time,” said Marshall. “I think about what the next tournament has in store for me.”
With her latest achievement, Marshall’s desire to compete more has grown but she now faces a bigger challenge — how to balance school and training.
“I’d really love to keep doing it but university is just around the corner and it’s hard to
balance both,” said Marshall, who will be studying engineering when she attends the University of Victoria in September. “I just got back from a holiday and it just really reminded me how much I love this sport. I don’t know how I could give it up for university. It’s going to be really hard. I hope I can balance both. It’s going to be pretty intense.”
Marshall said she will try her best to continue train. She has learned to manage her time well so far as there are no idle moments for her.
“I like to keep myself busy,” said Marshall, who engaged in taekwondo training five days a week despite her very hectic schedule that involved school and also two jobs. “I love to be productive with my time.”
Marshall’s achievements has also inspired her fellow teammates at Cascadia Martial Arts. Two juniors, sisters Shelby and Jessie Bell took home medals as well.
Shelby, 15, reached the final of her weight class in the junior division but narrowly lost to an American competitor to settle for the silver medal.
“I lost by a point in the last few seconds, which was disappointing,” said Shelby. “I could taste the gold almost but then it slipped away which was very heartbreaking for me.”
Shelby’s younger sister, Jessie, 12, had only one fight in the girls 59kg Cadet Division. She ended up beating an American opponent to take home a gold medal.
“It felt good to win in my first tournament outside of Canada,” said Jessie. “My confidence is getting better everyday and I know if I train harder I can go far.”
The two male competitors of Cascadia at the Pan Ams were Sherman Campbell and Brett Swann. Campbell was in the tough and loaded 58kg weight class division. He lost to Costa Rica’s Oscar Pearson in the first round while Swann, in the 68 kg weight class, also bowed out in the first round to Egypt’s Wael Adelrahman.
Instructor Fee said he is proud of his students.
“Since nationals in late January this year we just kept training hard the whole time, five-days a week,” said Fee.
“I am really proud because this is a small town and we went not just against other clubs, we went against nationally ranked members. Rebecca beat an Olympian and that’s a very, impressive accomplishment from somebody from Parksville at a local club.”
The next tournament the Cascadia team is preparing for is the Canadian Open in September.