McGilloway inductedinto the Hall of Fame

The 13-year-old incredibly secured her fifth world championship title in four years and because of that became the first male or female from Northern Ireland to be entered into the Hall of Fame, something which really thrilled McGilloway.

The Hall of Fame is for fighters who have won a title at the WKC World Championship three years in a row. Emma won her first WKC world title in 2009 in Dublin and she won her second and third world titles last year in Portugal, before clinching her remarkable fourth title in Cadiz.

The Titans Kickboxing member, is also the only junior from Northern Ireland to ever win five world titles in four consecutive years.

The Lisfannon Park girl, who after ten fights not only secured a gold medal in her semi-contact category, but she also collected a silver medal in the light contact section.

“I really like kick boxing a lot and the whole experience in Spain for the World Championship was great,” admitted the St Cecilia’s College student.

“Getting into the Hall of Fame is really good and I’m really happy to be in it.”

Titans coach Willie Lowry was full of praise for his young member and he feels she can only get better.

“She is unbelieveable, she’s way ahead of her time,” admitted Lowry.

“Emma is just one of those students who you only have to tell her or show her a move once and she takes it in straight away. She’s totally dedicated and her fitness and training are a credit to her, especially being so young she’s always totally focused.”

While Michael Bradley, President of WKC Northern Ireland also believes the sky is the limit for the teenager.

“She has been unbeatable not just across Ireland but across the global and to do that at her age is incredible,” explained Bradley.

“It’s an unbelieveable that Emma is so good at two disciplines, semi-contact and light contact and it’s a great achievement to get into the Hall of Fame.

“She is a role model for every kickboxer both on and off the mat and she is a credit to her parents.

“Although she is fighting at a younger age group now, she will again be fighting in both the semi-contact and light contact category next year but it’s going to get harder because she will be moving into the 13-15 age group section, but I fully expect her to raise her game again and continue her success because she is a remarkable kickboxer for someone so young.”

What a year it has been for Emma; she also secured all the major honours in Ireland including the Irish National semi-contact title, the Irish National light contact accolade, the WKC Northern Ireland semi-contact and light contact honours as well as the Mugendo Association of Ireland title and several other titles.

There were over 1,100 competitors in all categories and along with McGilloway, team WKC Northern Ireland returned home with one gold, 5 silver and six individual and one team bronze

Emma, who started the sport of kick boxing seven years ago, now starts to wind down as her season starts to come to an end.

However she will be competing in the ‘Best of the Best’ competition in Dublin on Saturday, December 3, before the Northern Ireland Home Nations competition at the beginning of January.