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Siblings take top honors in
competition
Akaela, 17, and Ishmael, 12, McGinty are not your
typical brother and sister. Instead of fighting with one another,
the two fight other children – and are pretty good at it.
Both are members of the Fayetteville/Fort Bragg Judo Club and
represented their club, state and country over the summer at the
USA Judo National Junior Olympic Championship at Walt Disney World
in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. and the Junior U.S. Open in Fort
Lauderdale, Fla. Both competitions featured judo athletes from
around the world competing for top honors.
When Akaela, now a senior at Terry Sanford
High School, was in seventh grade, her brothers were going to a
wrestling camp. She noticed that there was a girl wrestling and her
love for the sport took off from there. She said that she loved the
sport and was able to out-wrestle all of the guys on the team,
except one. Her dad, a former high school wrestler, was proud of
her accomplishments, but thought that as she got older, judo might
be a better fit. It was.
Akaela, a brown belt judoka, placed first in the female,
70-kilogram, international division at the National Championships
and third in the female,
70-kilogram, International Judo Federation
division at the U.S. Open.
“I love judo and the workout that you get from it, the spirit
of it and pushing myself to my limits,” said Akaela, who also
runs cross-country and swims. “It’s fun and I like that
you can be yourself in the sport. You go out there and do your
best, it’s not discriminating.”
Akaela also lifts weights at home with her dad and aspires to be
the first girl on her school’s weight-lifting team, as well.
She is also preparing for her future, hoping to be accepted to the
United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. She said if she
doesn’t get her first choice of attending USMA, she hopes to
attend a different college on a swim scholarship.
Ishmael, a seventh grader at 71st Classical Middle School, has been
taking judo with his sister for the last five years. The purple
belt judoka placed second in the boys, intermediate 2, 53-plus
kilogram division at the National Championships and at the U.S.
Open.
“It’s competitive and fun. When we started, I found my
favorite sport,” said Ishmael, who also swims.
“It’s fun to compete with other kids and I learn a lot
from it.”
He said he enjoyed competing in Florida and was excited that he and
his sister got to compete together.
The two are often taken to practice by their father and biggest
fan, Chief Warrant Officer Three Paul McGinty of 3rd Special Forces
Group.
“I’m very proud. They’ve both done very
well,” said McGinty. “It’s always a good time
watching them fight and they have great instructors. Every one of
them is a positive influence for the kids.
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