Noelle’s father took her to
her first karate lessons when she was just four years old. As a former
student of the Shotokan discipline, Mr. Kanaga knew that studying the
martial arts would help his daughter obtain the skills necessary to defend
her in life as well as develop the self-determination and self-awareness
that she has indeed developed.
Noelle began sparring against adult men at the age of ten with the
blessings of her father. Those sparring sessions and the necessary extra
training needed to become more competitive at that level helped lead her
to achieve the rank of first-degree black belt at the tender age of
eleven.
Noelle’s progress was sure and steady from there. At 13 she received
her second-degree black belt and at 16 her third degree in March of 2001.
Noelle began to compete in karate tournaments in 2001 and won regional
tournaments in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. That set up her
successful tryout for the Delaware Karate Team under the guidance of head
coach Michael Graves from Wilmington.
The Delaware Karate Team traveled to Houston for the USA National
Karate-do Federation Championships last July where Noelle was the bronze
medallist in kumite – fighting – in this competition for the National
Title for all 16-year old girls. She also placed second in the
Pan-American Team Trials for girls aged 16-17 in the middleweight
division. The top two finishers qualified for the USA Karate Team and
would compete in the 2001 Pan-Am Games in Trinidad in November of 2001.
But the 2001 Pan-Am Games were canceled because of the attacks on our
country on September 11, 2001.
Noelle stepped up her training even further at the Olympic Training
Center in Lake Placid, NY with the other members of the USA Karate Team.
There, coaches from around the country and Japan including Sensei Tokey
Hill and Sensei Hidenharu Igaki, lectured, trained, and tutored the team.
"It was one of the best experiences of my life," Noelle said.
With the Pan-Am Games off of the schedule it was off to Akron, Ohio for
the USA National Karate Federation Championships, an offshoot of the USA
Karate-do Federation (the current national governing body for karate).
At this tournament, Kanaga was undefeated in kumite and won the gold
medal as the 2001 National Champion for all 16 and 17-year old girls. This
qualified Noelle for the National Karate Federation Team, her second
placement on a national team, which is preparing for international
competition in Greece in October of this year.
Noelle recently added two silver medals to her collection at the Arnold
Schwarzenegger Classic in Columbus, OH for girls 16-18 in kumite and kata.
This was one of the few tournaments drawing national competition that uses
rules currently in place for Olympic international fighting.
With a third place at Nationals in Houston, the second place finish at
the Pan-Am trials, and the National Championship, Noelle became the only
girl in the entire country to place in all three of those prestigious
competitions in her age bracket.
Fortunately, Noelle has not needed to employ her fighting skills in a
real life situation, but karate has helped her learn how to challenge
herself and become a better person and a better athlete. At Tower Hill
School she also plays varsity level sports and helped the Hillers win
state championships in Lacrosse and Field Hockey during the past two
years.
"The basics of karate carry over into other spheres of my life. I
have tried to apply the confidence, perseverance, and discipline, which I
have learned from my karate training, to my academic studies and team
sports," she said.
It would be difficult to argue those points with Noelle, but who would
actually do so anyway?
To have an athlete considered for a Special Profile, contact Marshal
Manlove at DESports@aol.com
