Halifax brothers fighting for Team Canada at international student games

A lot of brothers fight, but Halifax siblings Jackson and Hunter Carroll do it six days a week — with good reason.

The pair are elite taekwondo athletes leaving Wednesday for the Summer Universiade in Naples, Italy.

After the Olympics, it's the second-largest sporting event in the world. It brings together more than 9,300 student athletes from 128 countries.

This will mark their second time at the event, which is open to post-secondary students, as well as people who were recently enrolled in post-secondary studies. Two years ago, the Carrolls competed in Taipei, Taiwan.

Competing brings them a step closer to their goal of one day fighting in the Olympics.

"It's sort of been the goal ever since I made my first [national] team in Grade 8," said Hunter Carroll, 20.  "There's only one thing on my mind to get accomplished and that's just the 2020 Olympics. Everything else are just stepping stones on the way up."

The Carrolls are among the 221 Canadian athletes who will be in Italy for the event.

Jackson Carroll, 22, said it's incredible seeing athletes from all over the world enjoying the sport he loves.

"It just kind of connects everybody and it feels amazing," he said.

Reaching the Olympics one day would be especially notable for the Carrolls because their grandfather competed in two track and field events at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Finland.

The Carroll brothers live and breathe taekwondo, and have been practising it for about 15 years.

Besides training six days a week, they run Scotia World Taekwondo in Halifax, along with their 16-year-old sister, Carrington Carroll.

"It's actually really nice, like, I know a lot of siblings aren't close, but this really brings us together, getting to have this experience all together and getting ... just a really good bonding experience," she said.

The Carroll brothers compete in different weight classes — 63 kilograms for Jackson and 68 kilograms for Hunter — so they don't have to worry about squaring off at the Universiade. But they both say they could take the other sibling.

The pair have different fighting styles, with Jackson being a fireball of energy who is aggressive, while Hunter, who is about six inches taller at 6-2, takes a more defensive approach and waits for his opponent to make a mistake and then pounces.

"It's funny because they aren't like that at home, so they're really serious when they're fighting, but at home they're like complete goofballs," said Carrington Carroll.

The Carroll siblings have had successful taekwondo careers to date. The three have racked up 18 national championships and medalled at many international events, with Carrington recently having won gold at the 2019 Pan Am Junior and Cadet Championships in Portland, Ore.

Expensive event

Competing in the Universiade isn't cheap. Participants have to pay $2,850 to U Sports, the governing body of university sport in Canada, as well as pay for their flights.

U Sports spokesperson Charonne Thomasos said national sports organizations — such as Canada Basketball or Volleyball Canada — may contribute toward an athlete's fees.

The schools that students attend may also help pay for the trip.

In the case of Saint Mary's University, which is where Hunter Carroll attends and is where Jackson Carroll graduated from last year, it doesn't provide any assistance to the two because they're not classified as U Sports athletes.

The university is providing support for a Saint Mary's athlete going to the Universiade for basketball.

The Carrolls receive some assistance from Sport Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation for their training, but their parents are footing the bill for the Italy trip.

Eleven athletes representing Nova Scotia universities are on Team Canada for the event.

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