Over 1200 youngsters from 69 ries are gathering this week in Umag (Croatia) to participate in one of the most popular events of youth Karate in the world: the WKF Youth Camp & Cup. 

Over 1200 youngsters from 69 ries are gathering this week in Umag (Croatia) to participate in one of the most popular events of youth Karate in the world: the WKF Youth Camp & Cup. 

It is the 12th edition of the event promising karatekas of ages 10 to 20 gather with Karate legends in four days of true celebration of the sport. As it happened in previous years, the WKF Youth Camp & Cup is breaking all participation records thus demonstrating the tremendous impact of karate in young ages. 

The 12th WKF Youth Camp & Cup was officially opened by WKF President Antonio Espinós on Tuesday. The head of Karate’s international governing body pointed out the importance of hosting this event for the WKF, and thanked all the attendees for making the camp a success.

As in previous editions, the coordination of instructors will be carried out by former World and European champion and current WKF Athletes’ Commission chairman Davide Benetello. 

The kata section of the camp will have current World champion and World Ranking leader Sandra Sanchez of Spain and former World and European champion and WKF Technical Commission member Luca Valdesi of Italy as instructors. 

Meanwhile, youngsters will learn from top-level instructors in Kumite, namely recently crowned European Games champion Stanislav Horuna of Ukraine, former World and European Champion Ivan Leal of Spain, former World and European champion Sara Cardin of Italy and former World and European champion Predrag Stojadinov of Serbia. 

The event started on Tuesday with the first training sessions; the activities will continue until Thursday when the U12 WKF Cup will be held. On Friday, the participants will move to Marija and Lino Sports Hall for the U21 WKF Cup.