Winning silver a joyful thing

Michel Maillet of St. Bernard, Tyler Deveau of Church Point and Vincent Doucet of New Edinburgh were among the 19 athletes who represented Nova Scotia at the national championship.

The three were the only athletes from southwestern Nova Scotia to advance in the black belt competitions.

Maillet, a grade 11 student at Clare District High School, said the qualified for the nationals by winning their three provincial tournaments earlier in the year. “We were top in each of our divisions,” Maillet said.

He was the provincial champion for the 16- to 17-year-olds in the 68-kilogram weight category, while Doucet and Deveau were provincial champions in the 14-15 age group in different weight categories.

Nineteen Nova Scotia athletes aged 14-21 along with one over 40 flew to Calgary on July 24 and after a day of rest were weighed in that Wednesday. “Tyler and Vincent competed and advanced to their gold medal fights in their divisions on Thursday and I competed on Friday,” said Maillet. “There were 13 competitors in my division and I advanced to the gold medal round by winning my two first spars.”

Maillet said the gold medal spar against an athlete from Quebec started well. “We sparred for the two and a half minutes and everything seemed to be going well for me at first,” he said. “At the two minute mark I realized my opponent was getting the upper hand but I decided to give the last 30 seconds my best shot.”

Maillet said the match could have gone either way as it was an evenly fought match and expressed his satisfaction at having done his best. “I couldn’t have fought much better than I did and wasn’t disappointed with winning silver.” He added. “I guess I could say I was ecstatic because my first year at Nationals I came in fifth and last year I didn’t even place.”

This will be Maillet’s first trip to the Pan American Karate championships. “I am excited about El Salvador. I will stay where I am in my fighting and not try anything new.”

Maillet added that he is going for the experience and will do his best while hoping for the best.

Maillet and Deveau train out of Church Point with Anna Bartlett while Doucet trains in Yarmouth.

Maillet who has been in karate for nine years and is a first degree black belt said Bartlett referred them to Mitchell German, a world karate champion in Halifax. “My dad takes the three of us to Halifax every Saturday to train with Mitchell,” he said. “We leave at six in the morning for our nine o’clock training session that lasts an hour and a half, eat lunch and head back home.”

Without German’s help, Maillet said he wouldn’t have made it to Nationals.

His father, Paul Maillet, said all the trips to Halifax paid off and he and the rest of the family couldn’t be any prouder. “I took the boys to train in the city and watched how hard they worked,” said the elder Maillet. “I was in Calgary when Michel won the silver and it was a joyful thing.

Maillet said his son fought hard for the gold and knew how disappointing it was to miss out on the Pan-Ams the past two years. “I know how much he wanted to go the Pan-Ams and he finally made it,” he said.

Along with winning the silver medal at the Nationals, Maillet was named the junior male Kata Athlete of the Year in May by the Nova Scotia Karate Association for specific karate moves.

Earlier this month, Maillet was nominated for Cleve’s Source for Sport/New Balance Male Individual Athlete of the Month for July.

Maillet plans to continue with the sport at least until he graduates from high school. He also is actively involved in swimming, archery, piano and guitar but said it has been the karate that has enabled him to travel across Canada and provided the opportunity to meet many new people.