The Southern Cross Cup is a joint initiative of South Australia and Victoria and attracts a large number of students from both states as well as New South Wales.

This year was the first event held since the Cup was annually held in the 80s and 90s as the SA-Vic titles.

Judging by the support and enthusiasm for the newly revived event, the Southern Cross Cup will continue to be held annually with South Australia and Victoria sharing the opportunity to host.

The students from Whyalla had the benefit of training under Nationally acclaimed Japanese Instructor Nishimura Sensei during the two day training seminar before participating in the Championship over the June long weekend.

The JKA Whyalla Norrie dojo students enjoyed great success at the event with every student attending being awarded multiple trophies with one student Axel Molnar being awarded the ‘outstanding junior’ award.

“The club has gone from strength to strength,” Whyalla Norrie dojo head, Arne Risborg said.

“It’s great to see our students participating in these events and coming away proud of their achievements,” Mr Risborg said.

With over 12 dojos attending the event and over 200 participants, the Whyalla Norrie dojo was extremely proud to come second in the dojo medal tally, with Adelaide Metro dojo taking first place.

With the strong future of the club now apparent, Sensei Arne successfully applied to the Whyalla City Council for a grant to purchase a competition mat.

“The competition mat will not only aid our local training program but will allow us to host regional competitions in our town,” Sensei Arne said .

“We are very grateful to the Whyalla City Council for giving us this opportunity.”

With the 2009 Southern Cross Cup being held in Mildura, Victoria, the Whyalla Norrie students are training hard in preparation and look forward to the same success as achieved this year.

Sensei Arne said the club is enjoying a very positive year with senior black belts Sensei Simon Thorburn, Sempai Jim Watson and Sempai Paul Holmes adding much knowledge and experience that is invaluable to the students.