Geraldton excel at nationals, with representatives bringing back medals and an Australian captain

Geraldton’s Alicia France has reached the pinnacle of her sport after being selected as the Australian women’s captain for the upcoming ISKF World Shoto Cup in London. The karate competition is held every four years, with competitors coming from all over the world. The Australian side was selected during the nationals competition in March, which seven Geraldton representatives took part in. Each member that travelled came back with a medal from either singles or team competitions but the star was France, a long-time member of the Geraldton Karate Academy who is no stranger to the World Titles. “I got selected on the Australian team for the women’s and I got selected as captain as well, so that was a really big achievement, a big honour,” France said. “This is my first time as captain. I have been a member of the Australian team the past two world titles … once in 2012, we went to Philippines and then in 2016 we went to South Africa.” This year will be the first World Titles held since 2016 after the 2020 World Title in London was cancelled due to COVID. France’s instructor over her 30-year career has been Geraldton Karate Academy head Pasco Constantine, who also happens to be her dad. “I was very much proud as a father, but also as an instructor,” he said. “I was super proud of team, that was icing on the cake, when my daughter is announced a women’s team captain. In my heart I always believed if (Franks) hangs in there, she will get it one day.” Several other Australian representatives have called Geraldton their home at some point in the past. “We’ve got a couple of guys from Perth that are former Geraldton boys … and now they’re representing Australia as well,” Constantine said. “It’s big, especially for country people. We’ve got to do a lot of travelling unfortunately but that’s the way it goes … if you want to achieve then you have to do the hard yards.” France said the captaincy was a big moment to make her children proud and to become a role model for future students. “I am a mum now, so I think it’s a really great thing for my kids to see that role that I’ve taken on and being able to lead Team Australia into worlds,” she said. “It’s an honour, it’s something honestly I don’t really think I truly considered it as something in my karate career, but to then be given the opportunity to be not only a Australia team representative but captain of the team … it’s a really great achievement and I really want to do Australia proud.” France and the Australian side have a long road ahead of them before the ISKF World Cup in London in September. The now-team captain will have hours of hard work and training ahead of her with the team that includes six WA women, but France said she was excited for what lies ahead. “It is a lot of responsibility. I am really proud of our WA members, I’m so excited to have them come along for the journey so that we can all get together, we can train together and we can develop together,” she said. “It is a hard push to get to the world titles. It’s a lot of training, hours of commitment, but it’s made easier when you’ve got other team members to train with and keep me motivated and on target.” People interested in joining the Geraldton Karate Academy can visit geraldtonkarateacademy.com.au/.