Karate star in fight to fund tournaments

SOUTH AFRICAN under-21 junior and senior ladies karate champion Tasneem Cozyn has qualified for two international tournaments.

Tasneem, 18, a second dan blackbelt, is a Muizenberg High School prefect and matriculant. She is also a member of the Proteas karate team.

Tasneem has qualified to fight in the Croatia Youth Cup in June and the WKF Junior Karate World Championships in Indonesia in November, but she may not be able to compete because she does not have enough money.

Before that she fights in Johannesburg in the 2015 AU Sports Council Championships from May 27 to 29, testing her skills against fighters from Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Zambia.

Tasneem has been doing karate for the past 12 years and has been the national junior ladies under-21 champion for the past four years.

She became the national senior ladies under-21 champion this month.

“Over the past 12 years, it has been difficult for my parents because they have to do the fund-raising for me. I’ve been to Portugal, New Zealand, Australia, Dubai, Greece, the US, Turkey and, in between, various cities in the country to compete as well as each overseas trip,” she said.

Dylan Hammargren, Tasneem’s coach, said she is also a five-time world champion in all styles in her age group.

Helene Rossouw, spokesperson for Cultural Affairs and Sport Department MEC Theuns Botha, said that athletes can request financial assistance from the department, but must apply a year in advance.