Rebecca Barton-Hagger, MA Linguistics student in the Department of English Language and Linguistics, has been awarded the title of Sportswoman of the Year 2019 at the Team Kent awards.

Rebecca is the squad captain and coach of the University of Kent Karate club (ranked sixth nationally) and a member of the England Karate team. She recently qualified for the EUSA Combat Championships – the European universities championships in karate – taking place in Zagreb, Croatia, in the summer.

At BUCS (British Universities and College Sports) Rebecca won two bronze medals, Senior Female Kata and Female Team Kumite. At the WUKF European Championships, which took place in October 2018, Rebecca won two gold medals, one silver and one bronze, and took the title of Female European Heavyweight Champion 2018.

Rebecca comments on the balance between sporting life and academic life, and describes how her studies in Linguistics help to maintain a balance with her sporting commitments. Rebecca said: ‘Karate provides a good stress relief, and helps give a clear head for my studies. It is good to have a balance; the difference is massive but in a good way.

‘Winning the Team Kent Sportswoman of the Year is a huge honour – I still can’t believe it! It has been a successful year for me, but it certainly did not come without its challenges, so it is also a big confidence boost as I begin my preparations for the European University Combat Games in Croatia this summer. Karate has always been an enormous part of who I am, and being able to continue my training and international competing alongside my degree would not have been possible without the support from both Kent Sport and my academic school.’