Tennessee Randall is studying for a Master’s degree in Psychology at Swansea University. She is a European Kickboxing Champion and World Championship winner, and is on the Swansea University Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS).
Tennessee has 15 years of kickboxing under her belt, having been introduced to the sport at the age of seven with her sister, in their local leisure centre in Llanelli. It wasn’t long before Tennessee made her mark, winning the World Championships as a junior fighter in August 2016. Once at a senior level, Tennessee became the recipient of a Silver medal in the European Championships, also in 2016. She won gold in 2018 in Slovenia at the Senior European Championships and gold at the 2019 WAKO World Kickboxing Championships in Turkey, the first time she had won the world title at senior level. She is currently hoping to qualify for the World Combat Games in Kazakhstan in 2021.
Kickboxing for Tennessee is very much a family affair, and her father has been her coach from the beginning. Tennessee says: “My Dad knows what motivates me; he’s brilliant and we work well together. We run our club together coaching kickboxing and even our grandparents are involved so it really is very family orientated.”
Tennessee has always been competitive, wanting to win every event on school sports’ day. “I just loved sport.” she says.
She also finds sport helps with her University work: “Although I enjoy studying it can be quite stressful having to deal with deadlines and exams. I feel like sport is a sort of escape and being involved in sport my entire life I know how important it is to stay active as well as do something that I enjoy.”
When asked about advice for women looking to take up kickboxing, Tennessee says: “With kickboxing, you don’t have to be a fighter, it gives you so many other life skills as well, such as perseverance, discipline and confidence.”
Swansea University is proud to have awarded such a hardworking and inspirational sports woman a select sports scholarships. The University wishes Tennessee every success and hopes she can stand as an example to student athletes around Wales and the world.