Birkenhead lad takes on the Commonwealth
Tuesday, 25 November 2014
Birkenhead lad Aaron Bretland
recently made his dream come true by competing in the Commonwealth Taekwondo
Championships last month in Edinburgh, thanks to sponsorship support including
Birkenhead based national training company, CPL Training Group. He successfully
took home a bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Taekwondo Championships held
in Scotland,
Aaron, who is just 15 years old,
took up the Korean martial arts sport eight years ago after being the victim of
a spate of bullying. “He’s never looked
back,” said Dot Bretland, Aaron’s grandmother and his biggest supporter. “He really took to the sport and it’s now
his passion. He’s very talented and is hugely committed, training every evening
after school”, she added. “It is a
massive honour to compete for your Country and Aaron is very excited.”
Last year Aaron became British
National Champion and last month, when he competed in the Under 55 weight
category.
Daniel Davies, CPL Training
Group’s CEO said “The team at CPL
Training Group are very proud of Aaron and his achievements at the Commonwealth
Taekwondo Championships. He’s an inspiration to other young people as he’s
shown that with hard work and commitment you really can achieve great heights”
A black belt competitor, Aaron has reached 2nd
grade Dan, a grading for those with black belt.
As well as daily training sessions overseen by Lisa and Peter Hankin at
the TKD Academy in Liverpool, Aaron trains for several days every month with
the British Training Squad in Manchester. Earlier this year, he trained with
French, English and Spanish Taekwondo champions at a training base in Majorca,
as well as competed in both Austria and Holland.
Aaron is supported, by CPL
Training Group, who’s CEO, Daniel Davies, first found out about Aaron through
his grandmother at their local Asda. Dot was packing bags at the checkout in
return for donations towards Aaron’s taekwondo funding when the two met. Since
then, Davies and the team at CPL Training Group have followed Aaron’s progress
and supported him with funds for training and equipment. “We are
grateful to Dan and the team at CPL Training Group for all their support for
Aaron. They recognised in him a young lad with drive and determination as well
as great potential. CPL Training Group, alongside other supporters are helping
to make his dream come true”, concluded Dot.