The city of São Paulo, Brazil recently hosted the 2024 Pan-American Karate Youth Championships. Two separate events took place from August 26 to September 1, 2024. On Wednesday, the Pan-American Youth Games Qualifying event was held while the Junior Pan-American Championships were held from Thursday to Saturday.

Newfoundland and Labrador’s own Sensei Wing Au of Tsuroka NL Karate-Do officiated at both events in Brazil as part of a contingent of Canadian officials.

Also at this event, Sensei Au and other Karate Canada Officials challenged the PKF testing in order to improve their qualifications. Sensei Au passed the tests and is now qualified at the Kumite Referee ‘A’ and Kata Judge ‘A’ levels. Karate NL would like to congratulate Sensei Au on officiating at these two events and passing the written and practical tests necessary to achieve this qualification.

The path to achieving international certification is not an easy one and Karate NL is always looking for individuals who are interested in qualifying as provincial, national, or international officials. If you are interested, then please reach out to your Sensei who can pass your contact information along to the Karate NL Officials Committee.